Dirty Dogs with the Works at New Way Lunch 100th Birthday
Last weekend was the 100th birthday of New Way Lunch in Glens Falls, NY, and they rented the Farmers’ Market for a great big party. Highlight of the day was a hot dog eating contest, and 5 cent hot dogs for those lucky enough to make it to the front of the line during a 30-minute window.
The eventual winner of the hot dog eating contest. Note that he removes the dogs from the box to save time during competition
New Way is a local institution from the days Glen Falls was packed with factories (many in the paper industry) and it was originally open 24 hours to accommodate the workers who stopped by after their shifts. It’s in the fourth generation of ownership by the same extended family, and now has satellite locations in nearby Warrensburg and Queensbury.
The only days they closed were FDR’s funeral (a government mandate) and during an ice storm in 1964. (They actually tried to stay open and cook on propane stoves with lantern light, but an employee knocked over a lantern and the place caught on fire.) The only time they ran out of food was on VJ Day. If you had boned up on such company history on their “our story” page, you could have walked away with prizes like a New Way Lunch gift card during the trivia contest.
Final seconds of the hot dog eating contest at New Way Lunch 100th birthday party. Click here to watch the video.
The hot dog eating event was a somewhat feral affair, with the crowd chanting “eat eat eat” and a guy in Jersey Shore-style sunglasses threatening me because he felt I was getting in the way of his nephew’s view of the consumption. The winner downed 16 dogs in 15 minutes and won $500 cash; the runner-up ate 15 dogs and got four $50 gift cards, enough to buy 100 more hot dogs, a fact that produced some chuckles from the group. The rules included “no throwing up” and nobody did though one guy came very close.
People have been standing in this line for close to an hour for 5 cent hot dogs.
After the contest, I got into a very long line for my own chance at a 5 cent dog. Missed that offer but paid a buck, a discount from the usual $1.80. In my opinion it was a decent dog, but not as good as the mini-dogs served 50 miles down the road in the Troy/Watervliet area. The size is somewhere between those tiny weiners and a standard frank, I’d guess six inches uncooked. (New Way gets its weiners from Old World Provisions, whereas the other places use Helmhold.) The meat sauce was a bit watery and the buns gummy, probably because they weren’t able to steam them as in the shop. It still made a satisfying nosh, and I don’t think I’ll wait 100 years to return… especially because the New Way stores offer a variety of Greek-diner specialties, not just dogs.
