Brimstone here with another Tidbit in Allentown, PA! The Fearsome Four were back together again... The Food Hound Elite - Etan Wish, Luscious, Mina Sanwald and me; ole' Brim! Today we visited a tiny little place (literally) who packed powerful flavor in EVERY bite! Willy Joe's has been in business since 1945 when factories overran Allentown and business was thriving. This location was originally owned and operated by William & Josephine (hence the name Willy Joe's), and this spot was, is and always will be a name to be reckoned with! Current owner Rich and his partner bought into the establishment at some point in the eighties and opened up a second location (also in Allentown). Once Josephine was ready to retire, she invited Rich and his wife Holly to take over the spot where it all began. And so we begin...
We started off simple with what locals call the Dog Everything... raw onions, mustard and home made chili sauce on a steamed bun. I'll start by saying the hot dog had the allure of a NYC dirty water dog; but without all the concern for your health! The dog was juicy, had a light crisp to the skin, and packed a really nice flavor which worked really well with all the condiments on it. Even without ketchup on it, (if I wanted the full experience from when Josephine was in charge) the flavor was bold and well blended. Now the kicker was that it'll only set you back $1.30 with EVERYTHING!!! Meanwhile, only an extra .24 cents for their special cheese! Nothing crazy, nothing fancy... just a good old fashioned tasty Hot Dog.
Note: Mina says that the flavor of the special Chili sauce was enhanced while drinking the Chocolate Milk. WINNING.
The next hidden treasure that we sampled was comically called the SOB... Steak On Burger (should have been for Sss' Only for Brim!). The Hounds sucked that bad boy up stat! Unreal, a cheese steak burger with banana peppers, that yummy chili, pickles, onions and their secret Steak Sauce that was BOSS - all nestled on a freshly steamed Kaiser roll! I'm naming this one my personal WIN of the day. Quickly to follow were the Chili Cheese Fries and NOTHING is better than fries that STAY crispy with all the trimmings hot and dripping on top! The cheese is off the hook; a blend of cheese whiz with some other secret cheesy ingredients - Mmm cheese! Did I say cheese?
One trending topping at this spot is the delicious specialty steak sauce, this stuff is addictive... once you eat it; you just can NOT get enough! Quite literally, this BOSS of a sauce made our two cheese steaks unbelievably amazing! The Allentown Cheesesteak (I was quickly corrected that this is certainly NOT a Philly Cheesesteak) was bursting with flavor, the extra splash of chili added to the love; but the special sauce tied everything together to truly make this work. Lush claimed his favorite was the Chicken Cheesesteak which he attempted to eat right off the griddle. That sauce yet again rocked the taste buds! There was no special seasoning on the chicken; all the flavor came directly from the sauce which has been homemade here for years. We all agreed that they should bottle that sauce up and give everyone the opportunity to indulge in its awesome-sauce-ness.
Lastly, we were treated to the Chili Con Carne (of which Mina grabbed a second container to go); an original recipe created by Rich's mother! Mina opted to choose the chili as her WIN for this location. The chili was smooth, meaty and offered a blend of vegetables & spices - a slight burst of 'hotness' leaves a nice taste while munching and the meat simply melts in your mouth. They let this awesome stuff simmer for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours which really makes a difference... thumbs up! Seriously, if you are looking for some fast food with history and tons of flavor... you'll need to stop by this little gem. Fast and very friendly service, fantastic food and well worth a visit! Lesson to be learned here is to never judge a book by its cover and BIG things come in small packages. This one gets the Food Hounds Seal of Approval! read more
