WOODLAND PARK — The new hot dog joint Lover Dogs on McBride Avenue boasts that its unique cooking method means less grease without a loss in taste.
While air fryers (and convection ovens) aren’t new, Lover Dogs’ almost exclusive use of the method is, said owner Wayne Mills.
There are solid reasons why many restaurants haven’t used the air fryers. The conventional wisdom among food professionals is that air fryers aren’t as efficient as deep fryers, that the end product isn’t as tasty and they are difficult to clean.
We tried Mills’ hot dogs and can say that they are tasty. The dogs are crispy but not dried out. We tasted the all-the-way chili dog and the sauerkraut dog.
Both were tasty but with the sauerkraut on top, you could really appreciate the quality of the hot dog, which he imports from upstate New York.
“You get the crisp but you don’t all the grease,” Mills said.
His toppings, chili, cheese, sauerkraut and pulled pork, to name a few of them, are tasty. Mills is especially fond of his take on the Cuban sandwich which pairs a pork hotdog, pulled pork (which is imported from West Virginia), Swiss cheese, pepper slaw and Cuban sauce.
He spent two years perfecting the technique looking for the right airf rying oven and perfecting his toppings. He also spent time on getting his beef chili just right.
Old-school hot dogs at Lover Dogs
Always a fan of hot dogs, Mill said the seed to open a business was planted years ago when his brother Gene got him to try a Hofmann hot dog while visiting upstate New York. It was love at first taste.
“There’s no additives like you get in so many hot dogs,” Mills said. “They use only prime cuts.”
Mills, who is taking a second bite at operating a hot dog restaurant, said he especially likes the way Hofmann Sausage’s dogs crisp up. Lover Dogs uses three types of hot dogs — beef, beef and pork and a jalapeno-beef frank.
Lover Dogs also uses the air fryer to make fries, tater tots, pizza, wings and quesadillas. The restaurant also makes burgers and gelato.
Wayne Mills’ first hot dog shop
Mills is part owner of Passaic Plaza home of the first Lover Dogs, which opened in 2020 on Main Avenue close to the Clifton Border. It remained open for a year.
The hot dog place in Passaic was closed by Mills who has since rented that space to a sushi restaurant. He moved the hot dog shop to Woodland Park because he said he likes being by the river.
He said the hot dog business is more of a hobby. His full-time job is that of real estate developer, building and occasionally someone who retrofits buildings in Passaic.
He has found a young protégé, Jonathan Carvente, who shares his passion for hot dogs, to train and run the business for him.
Lover Dogs’ 2021 disappearance did not go unnoticed by New Jersey’s legion of hot dog fans.
Jeff Ananson, a moderator of the immensely popular Jersey Hotdog Joints Facebook group, said that since it closed in 2021, hot dog fans have been yearning for its return.
Since word got out of Mills’ intention to reopen in Woodland Park, people have been asking when the shop would open, Ananson said.
Mills said he had been looking for a riverside location when he found the site at the former Dee’s Florist.
Good to know: There is no off-street parking, however, when we visited there was parking available on both sides of McBride Avenue. The shop has no tables yet, but Mills said he has been approved for two tables on the small deck overlooking the Passaic River.
Lover Dogs is located at 686 McBride Ave., Woodland Park, 973-307-3107.
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