I don t know if you ve been following this whole g...

I don t know if you ve been following this whole gentrification thing, nor do I know when the last time was you were near downtown Charlotte, but the amount of gentrification that has taken place in this area is one of the most astounding things I have ever seen in my life. In place of what was once overrun with dilapidated, derelict industrial buildings from another era and another economy are now brand new high rises occupied by beautiful modern apartments and businesses. I was positively awestruck by what I saw. Had you walked thirty years ago the streets I drove today, you likely wouldn t have survived. And if you had, you certainly would not believe what it looks like today.

One of the restaurants that is an important cog in the wheel of this overhaul is JJ s Red Hots.

A self proclaimed hot dog joint and not a restaurant, they are very popular and patronized by a wide array of different people.

They proudly serve Sahlen s wieners out of Buffalo, but I ll be honest: this is not one of my favorite franks, for they are very mild. But JJ s chars them to perfection and they have a natural casing. These two things elevate them to a higher status than they otherwise would have. In addition, the hot dogs are served on dense potato buns, which I was not thrilled about.

It may sound like this is adding up to a negative review, but the aforementioned shortcomings are more than redeemed by the quality of the accoutrements and service.

The man who took my order was both kind and helpful. I settled on an all the way dog, a Chicago dog, and a Southern girl, which has pimento cheese and bacon.

The Char Heel= the all the way dog. Both the slaw and chili were excellent. If this had been an all beef wiener or Sabrett, it would have been nearly perfect.

The Joliet Jake= Chicago Dog. It had all the correct trimmings and was probably my favorite dog of the day.

Southern Girl: the pimento cheese was very good and the bacon was okay, but it was oddly reminiscent of bacon bits (but it was not).

All of the above would have been approaching perfection if the wiener was stronger and the bun was lighter.

They also have a small pickle bar with about a half dozen homemade pickled items which were very good.

As one might expect in an eatery in a heavily gentrified area, the price was very high $4.29 per hot dog.

This is one of the relatively few hot dog recommendations that Our State magazine actually got right in their 2016 article about best hot dog joints. But even then, it s really the entire experience of the revitalization of this area rather than just the hot dogs alone.

In either case, JJ s is worth a stop if you re in Charlotte Town.