October 22, 2020
Google/Street View
Johnny's Hots is located at 1234 Delaware Avenue in Fishtown, just across from Penn Treaty Park. Food & Wine credited the shop with the distinction of Pennsylvania's best hot dogs.
If you haven't been dining out during the last few months of the pandemic, you may be cycling between feverish bursts of frugal cooking and indulgent periods of delivery and take-out, trying everything you can find on GrubHub or whatever platform you use.
Given how much restaurants are hurting during these times, the spread-the-love approach is a good way to go.
You can add another place to your list if you want to get out of the house and you're in the mood for the best hot dog in Pennsylvania, according to Food & Wine.
The magazine ranked the best hot dogs in each state in the country, landing on Johnny's Hots in Pennsylvania. Here's what they had to say about the Fishtown spot, located at 1234 N. Delaware Ave., just across from Penn Treaty Park:
The service is perfunctory on a good day, the vibe is pre-gentrification Fishtown, and the crowd is as down-by-the-docks as it gets around here these days. In other words, Johnny’s Hots is the perfect place to introduce the unsuspecting to the very best kind of Philadelphia, the no-bull**** kind, starring a reliable cast of characters that can be found lining up at strange hours, as early as five o’clock in the morning. After years of attrition, this is also one of the last best places in Philadelphia for one of the city’s more under-appreciated meals: the long hot (a sausage/dog combo type deal), topped with a cod and potato fish cake, and a bright, crispy pepper hash made with cabbage and apple cider vinegar, flecked with red peppers for color. Don’t fight it—just eat it. This was meant to be.
Johnny's Hots also is known for its breakfast sandwiches and cheesesteaks, making it a solid bet to visit regardless of your appetite or the time of day.
The Philly area has welcomed several hot dog chains over the past few years, from the Original Hot Dog Factory in Center City to Pink's Hot Dogs at the King of Prussia Mall. Three of the best hot dogs in the U.S. are located at the Jersey Shore in Wildwood, according to The Daily Meal.
But if you're looking for an old-fashioned hot dog business that has withstood the test of time, you can't do better than Johnny's Hots.
