O'Betty's Red Hot

Much like Rice Krispies, a hot dog should snap, sizzle and pop. O’Betty’s Red Hot in Athens, Ohio takes pride and ensures their all beef hot dogs will “snap” as you take a bite. O’Betty’s was founded in June 2003 and is captioned by Ryan Stolz and manager Kory Fuller according to O’Berry’s Red Hot. With the 20th anniversary quickly approaching, the famous and long-lasting establishment deserves another review.

When you enter the restaurant, you are hit with an overload of varying shapes and colors. It is eclectically decorated with leopard print tablecloths, red and gold trim and mustard yellow walls, something that feels very intentional for a hot dog shop. As you continue back into the smallest building in Uptown Athens you are met with disco lights. The walls are covered in a variety of signed art. Most are outlined by a gold-colored picture frame. The best word to describe the amount of art and decor is… distracting. However, at a local, hole-in-the-wall hot dog shop, I want distracting colors and artwork. It makes me enjoy every second at the establishment. My eyes are never bored and my brain is always stimulated.

The menu is much more organized. You have two options at O’betty’s: hot dog or fries. There are a few specialty sandwiches and sides, but these are the two sections that have kept O’betty’s a popular name in the community. The fries are hand-cut russet potatoes, twice-fried. There are five different fry options, and although they are delicious, my focus for this review is hot dogs. The hot dog menu has 12 different options, including a vegetarian dog that can take the place of any beef dog. Each option is vastly different than the other.

I tried the Mata Hari, a beef dog with O’betty’s chili sauce, and the cool sweet & creamy cole slaw. The fresh cole slaw is what first stuck out to me. It balanced the heavy and well-spiced chili sauce. The chili had a slight kick that was also balanced by the light cole slaw. The cole slaw was not a mayonnaise soup like many establishments have. However, I wanted more flavor. It provided a light pairing to the chili but didn’t provide a flavor difference. On its own, cabbage tastes like nothing. In a slaw, flavor needs to be the highest priority, and I think the chili was given more effort than the slaw.

Chili and hot dogs are ubiquitous, especially in Ohio with the popularity of Skyline chili. As a local shop, I think it was important that the quality of O’Betty’s chili sauce beat its competitor, Skyline. Without a doubt, they achieved that goal. The texture was very similar to Skyline, but the pieces of beef were smaller, and the sauce was thicker. It was made for a hot dog. If it were any thinner, the bun would not have been able to handle the moisture and would have completely soaked the toasted bun. The chefs understand this and combat the issue by providing an ample amount of Chili that won’t soak through.

My second dog was the Vara, a vastly different style from the Mata Hari. This dog was a flavor punch. An all-beef dog with sauerkraut, bacon bits, horseradish sauce and thousand island dressing. The Reuben of hot dogs. The proportions of a Reuben are very important. A significant determinant is whether the rye bread is thick or thin. That determines how much filling is needed. The ratio of sauerkraut, horseradish, and thousand island dressing is delicate. In the hotdog, there was no rye bread that brought a robust earthy flavor. This changed the classic proportions. The horseradish and sauerkraut needed to be prominent, but because there is no rye bread, and the bun is sweet it can’t be doused in thousand island dressing, something also sweet. I was impressed by O’Betty’s. The sweet, charred bun was covered in a hefty serving of sauerkraut and a layer of horseradish sauce. There was a minimal amount of thousand island dressing that helped take away the power of the horseradish, sauerkraut combo. It was very well done.

O’Betty’s Red Hot is known as a late-night spot by many college kids, but I encourage you to take time out of your day to dine in. It has completely changed my perspective on the establishment. Go out of your comfort zone when you order, and get something that might seem like a crazy idea. At a place like this, it is generally the best on the menu.