Facebook – one of my favorite sources, in addition to Wikipedia – had an article on about Ted’s Hot Dog’s 90th anniversary that was published in the Buffalo News.
This photo is of a Ted’s in Western New York.
It the discussion that followed the article, I learned that there was a Ted’s in the Phoenix area! Well, I just had to check it out.
One day, when I was finished administering a test near their Tempe location, I went there for dinner.
Some things looked very similar to the Western New York locations. There’s the big neon sign.
The hours sign with the familiar hot dog character.
There he is again!
However, the landscaping kind of gave away the location. That doesn’t quite look like Buffalo!
While I was waiting for my hot dog to be cooked, I noticed that they had the Buffalo News in racks for us to read. Cool!
Dinner!
My seat was near the door, and I heard three men pausing to discuss things. I do love to eavesdrop! They were discussing Buffalo, and so I stuck my nose in the conversation and asked them if they were from Buffalo. We chatted for a bit, and it turns out that one of the men was the grandson of the original Ted! His name is also Ted.
He graciously posed for a photo with me.
What a fun dinner!
There was some bad blood within the “Ted’s” family, which lead to the creation of “Theodore’s” here in Buffalo. V-e-r-y similar menu. I ate there a couple times. They’re shut down now, due to an unpaid tax situation IIRC.
You missed a very important point – was there malt vinegar for your fries???
Yes, yes there was!
I didn’t know that! Thanks for the information, Craig.