Note since the original review we have returned to this establishment several times and have seen them improve. Reviewer one would now rate the food higher particularly the grilled polish dogs.

Name Of Establishment	O & J Hot Dog Heaven
Address:	609 I street
Phone Number:	209-827-9450
Website:	Unknown
Prices:	Low
Date Of Review:	March 11, 2006
Check out the Official Merced County Health Inspection of this Restaurant - If that link isn't working try this link (note: these links are slow to load)
Our Overall Numeric Rating	+
Summation Opinion:

On March 11, 2006 our family decided to try out Hot Dog Heaven, a new hot dog "eatery" located in the heart of the old down town Los Banos shopping area (I street, next to the Peppermill).

As we pulled up to the curbside parking we noticed that there are tables and chairs on the sidewalk, but we decided to eat indoors. The inside of Hot Dog Heaven is decorated with Coca-Cola items and various posters. The front of the eatery is an small stage for bands to set up and an overstuffed, comfy old chair lending to a homey feel. On the wall there was a whiteboard with a Bible verse written out. The family that runs this establishment is unashamedly Christian.

There are several varieties of hot-dogs to choose from (Polish, Linguicia, HOT and traditional) as well as a couple of sizes: six or eight inches. You can order your hotdog with our without chili and there is an area set up to load up all the extra trimmings like onions, cheese, condiments and more. The owner said that they will start offering French fries this summer which will be a nice addition to the menu -we weren't personally too keen on the chips. We were also informed that if you order a root beer float, you can keep filling up on the root beer as much as you'd like.

The prices were reasonable and you can order a "meal" that comes with 'free refill' soda and chips.

The hot-dogs were good. They weren't the best we've ever had, but they weren't the worst either. The hotdog buns were very soft and fresh and the meat was appropriately hot and tasty. My husband said his chili tasted homemade and it wasn't the way he likes it, but I had a bite and thought it was pretty darn good. Neither one of us thought the fancy kettle fried chips were all that great.

Our sodas were just right (we got them from the fountain ourselves along with plenty of refills) and the kids were really very satisfied with their food. We were happy to see that the hotdogs were large enough to fill the kids up.

The service at Hot Dog Heaven was really friendly. A husband and wife team owns this small Los Banos restaurant and Jeannie served us personally with her young son helping out.

Flyers posted at each table said that there is Karaoke every Friday from 6 to 9 PM. They also had bands listed to play on Saturdays (which might make for some fun times for those that are into that sort of thing).

Everything is kept very clean, including the restrooms which were impeccably clean. Interestingly, my husband noted that there was a changing table in the restroom. This is an especially nice touch for a "family-friendly" restaurant and is uncommon in most small establishments.

Overall our lunch at Hotdog Heaven was a pleasant experience and I think the environment is perfect for an outing with the kids. This is a good, clean, friendly place to eat. In my opinion Hotdog Heaven sells shines the most on its friendliness and old-fashioned simplicity. It's "happy" and "fun" and you feel good supporting a true family business. Their logo states that they offer "Good Old Fashion American Style" and I think they do a decent job of this.

Specific Opinions By Reviewer One
Overall Rating :
Food:
Service:
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:	Very tidy and well kept - little decor touches
Romance Factor:	Hot dogs on your 25th anniversary?
Family Friendliness:	Family run business with kids helping out.

Specific Opinions By Reviewer Two
Overall Rating :
Food:
Service:
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:	Baby changing table was a surprising addition for a small place like this
Romance Factor:	Some may enjoy bands and karoke
Family Friendliness:

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More About Our Los Banos Restaurant Reviews

In this section, the staff of Our Los Banos .com shares our personal opinions on the restaurants that we patronize in the City of Los Banos. We would like to stress that we are not professional reviewers, that we have had little or no training in the food arts, and that we are simply expressing our own personal views and opinions on particular visits that we made to the establishments under consideration.

Subjectivity. We make no pretense of the fact that we are not objective. As with art, food is a subjective experience subject to personal opinion and even whim. Some people love a particular artist's work while others can not stand what is put on canvas. Picasso comes to mind. Similarly people's appreciation for a particular chef's abilities are uniquely their own. While our tastes are very eclectic and we enjoy a tremendous variety of different types of food, we do not expect our readers will agree with all of our opinions and views. We DO encourage our readers to try each of the places that we have reviewed and then you can discuss (politely and in a positive fashion) your experiences and opinion of our review in the Los Banos Forum section.

Merced County Health Food Facility Inspections Site

Finally, we strongly encourage our readers to make use of a truly wonderful online resource we discovered last year. Merced County has put together a very cool Food Facility Inspection website which discloses the results of the County Health Department's last few inspections of each restaurant. The results are sometimes quite fascinating and are always interesting. Beware however you may not want to eat at certain places once you read some of the more dramatic entries. We at Our Los Banos .com very much appreciate and support the county of Merced putting these Department of Health food facility inspections online for the public to see.

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