The pizza thing is no surprise. I'm curious about hot dogs though. How tough is it to make a hot dog? Im a chili dog man, myself. I mean, it's a hot weiner on a bun. How do they get that wrong?? As for pizza, if you grow up in NJ, you get the best pizza in the country. Forget NY. NJ has the goods. It makes it hard to eat pizza anywhere else. Forget the midwest, or the west. they havent got a clue.
Okay, here's the thing. The Hot Grill in Clifton, and a couple of other places like Hyram's (either Fort Lee or Edgewater, I can't remember for certain), would actually deep fry the hotdogs -- that didn't make them greasy, as anyone who has deep fried a turkey knows. It just makes the skins quite crispy and imparts a unique flavor to the dog. Now here in the South, where I think they would deep fry a watermellon if you gave them a chance, they for some reason exclude the hot dog from deep frying consideration. I've never understood that.
The other thing the Hot Grill had going for it was the chili -- they guard the recipe jealously, and it is pretty amazing.
You need to make a point of going to Rutt's Hut if you want to claim knowledge of Jersey Hot Dogs!
Here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965713/posts
Rutt's Hut Party and Paterson, NJ, Waterfall Trip--All Freepers Welcome (Rain or shine)
Get by to see those falls too.