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Marks Hot Dogs (Hot Dogs cuisine)  $

 7.25
JaT Rating

48 S. Capitol Ave, San Jose, 95127  (Directions)


408.926.0923


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Orange Orb Hot Dog stand serving San Jose since the 1936.


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 2/8/2006
Rating: 7
My photo gallery 		Marks Hot Dogs is a hard place to miss with the orange paper mache looking thing called a San Jose landmark. You're probably wondering why the orange? Someone told me these orange balls were a stopping station for travelers back in the 30s or 40s. They would serve orange juice and other snacks. The sign says they've been around since 1936 with a couple of moves here and there, looks like they've settled nicely into their new location.

You gotta love the drive up service. Leave your lights on and the lady will come out to your car for ordering. I would love to see this type of service at Arinells in San Francisco. Unfortunately we didnt get to try the car hop thing but ordering at the table is equally as easy. With a giant menu on one of the walls, there's 3 of hot dogs and Terry and I were able to sample all three of them.

chili dog - tasted like hormels, not my kind of chili. Being from the LA area, its all about California Mud and nothing else. The beans overwhelmed the taste of the hot dog and smothered the bun to the point of sogginess. no snap on the dog.

regular dog - much better than the chili dog, the dog on this one didnt have a snap to it either. Maybe they boiled it too long, maybe the casing needed to be a bit thicker. Im not sold on the dog mixture either, I doubt its 100% beef but more of a mix of pork and beef. The tomato was dull and cheese could have been melted. Bun was ok, fluffy.

I consider myself a hot dog connaisseur and have even dedicated a Los Angeles section for hot dogs. I rate hot dogs very seriously and if you like hot dogs as much as I do, you'll be in for a big disappointment at Marks Hot Dogs. If you're with the kids who arent too picky on their type of meat and snapiness of the dog, Im sure it will be a big hit. Id rate a 6.5 for taste and bump it up to a 7 for friendly service and drive in.
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 724
Reviewed: 2/8/2006
Rating: 7.5
My photo gallery 		I heard nothing about Marks Hot Dogs before visiting, except that the place was an eyesore and they had been around for a long time. I rarely eat beef, but I always make an exception for a good hot dog, but again that isn't very often. So this was going to be a unique experience for me.

We pull up and I am impressed that they offer order-from-your-car service. That is something you don't see at all anymore. I saw the lady walking up to folks sitting in their cars in the lot. And others were eating away in their cars.

I didn't want to get the Jatmobile trashed more than it already is, so we excited and sat in the nice covered dining area and waited for the lady to come take our order.

I was feeling particularly hungry so went with a kraut dog and a cheese dog. And a vanilla shake. Might as well go for broke.

The food arrived fairly quickly in a paper bag for easy take out dining if we wanted. We also paid and tipped at that point.

The cheese dog was up first. The cheese was a lot less prevalent than Kaspers, my favorite place. The rest of the ingredients were average. The dog itself was kind of generic tasting but had a snap. The buns again were steamed but nothing too special here.

The kraut dog was loaded with kraut and mustard. It was a better dog, but again most of the same ingredients were used and they weren't too special. I did eat it all though.

The shake was standard soft-serve stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary but at least it wasn't so cold that you mangled your straw trying to suck it up. It went down easily. Good stuff.

Overall the prices here at Marks Hot Dogs are cheap when compared to other hot dog places, the service was good, and the location is unique, but the dogs themselves, the really important part - just didn't cut it in my book. They left a little to be desired. I probably won't go out of my way to return, but I am glad I experienced it once.
 
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