Yocco’s Hot Dog King

Hot dog places are often as much about the place as about the dog. That’s why we recommend that if you visit Yocco’s you head to the original downtown Allentown store rather than the newer branches. From the outside, the downtown location looks like a corner bar. Step inside to a narrow room with tables beyond the grill area and ordering counter up front. In keeping with the corner bar theme, there is a double-size self-serve cooler filled with beer, including the largest collection of oversize bottles we’ve ever seen.

The hot dogs are very well cooked, browned and crusty Hatfield franks (pork and beef, we think), and the standard garnishes are chopped onion, brown mustard, and Yocco’s sauce. This famous sauce is applied judiciously, and the thin, dark, barely-hot cumin-flavored liquid seeps into the bun, leaving a glistening moraine of very finely ground beef scattered along the dog. The combination is irresistable. Three of these pups make a nice five-minute lunch, though you may find yourself picking up another dog or two on the way out, as we tend to do.

Yocco’s is also known for their side of deep-fried Mrs. T’s pierogis (which don’t really interest us), but you can’t get ’em (or any other side dish) at the original location. Chocolate milk is the favored beverage. There are burgers and sausage sandwiches, and cheesesteaks with Yocco’s sauce, and there’s a rack of potato chips to select from if you must, but really all you need know about are the dogs, served with that familiar and knowing urban-dog-house attitude.