Hiram's
Jan 11, 2004
nWe took friends visiting from the Netherlands to a food joint you probably won’t find in the "Where to eat" lists: Hiram’s Hot Dogs.nWe try to go when the weather warms and we can put the top down on the Volkswagen and eat our dogs with the sun beaming down but braved bitter cold to share this little place with our friends. nThis dive eatery off Lemoine Avenue in Fort Lee, N.J. has been in the business of serving Thumann’s hotdogs since 1928. My father-in-law went as a kid to Hiram’s to get these oil cooked dogs and not much has changed- the menu is still just hotdogs, hamburgers, french fries, onion rings and soda or beer. nHave them straight or with cheese, chili or red-onion sauce. There is a steady buzz from the open kitchen, six small tables crowded with a counter with another handful of seats and covered pots of self-serve saurkraut and relish sit on the counter by the door (ask for chopped white onions). The walls are covered with clipping and photos, the restrooms in the back are accessible only from outside and it fills with a clientele that cuts every which way across the social, ethnic and economic strata of New Jersey. The place is full of strongly held and voiced opinions (ask anyone behind the counter about the Rangers, for example), but the main one is that Hiram’s serves the best dogs in New Jersey.n