- [Tom Daldin] On this tasty episode of "UTR," it's all about mustard's best friend, the hot dog.

We'll have a frank at Bills, find Detroit's best coney, yum at Yesterdog, and meet Hotdog Man himself.

We'll even enjoy a sausage or two at Nowicki's.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places and things that make Michigan the best doggone place to live.

(light upbeat music) - [Announcer] The Stahls Motors Music Experience features a collection of automated music machines neon signs, gas pumps, and 150 years of automotive history More info atstahlsauto.com - [Tom Daldin] We've been around the world.

- [Jim Edelman] But there's one place we keep coming back to.

- And the more we explore, the more we realize it's the place to be.

I'm Tom Daldin.

- I'm Jim Edelman.

- And this is- - [Both] "Under The Radar Michigan."

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) Well, we may not know exactly what's in a hot dog, but one thing we do know for sure, we sure love 'em.

Yep, the hot dog is our most popular taste tempting tubular treat, and they've been around for as long as baseball.

And if you've got a dog in your hand, it usually means you're having fun in more ways than one, because not only are you enjoying one of America's favorite foods while you're getting mustard on your shirt, you're also probably at a picnic, a ballpark, a cool casual eatery or some other fun event.

So to celebrate our good friend, the frank, we bring you our first ever "UTR" Hot Diggity Dog Special.

And to start things off, we head for a very special town called Ypsilanti for a super cool and super tiny hot dog drive-in.

(screen whooshing) Well, with meal number two in my tummy, I put my Classic Corvair in drive, cranked up the tunes, and trucked over to my next eatable adventure.

And in the blink of an eye, because it's right across the street, I pulled into Bill's Hotdog Stand and Drive-In on East Michigan Avenue.

It's seasonal, but was still open for me to sample.

Now some people call this little mustard colored building with the crooked sign endearingly odd, but I call it eclectic diner done right.

So I put her in park and commenced to making my order.

- Can I help you, sir?

- Oh yes.

Can I see a menu?

I don't see a menu.

- Oh, we don't actually have a menu, sir.

- You don't have menus here?

- Yeah, no, it's just hot dogs.

- Well, can I see the manager?

I'm confused.

- Yeah, no problem, I'll go get him for you.

- And just so you know, your R's crooked.

- Oh yeah, that's signature for us.

- Oh, okay.

I didn't know.

Well, with no menu to meander, and everyone else there knowing exactly what to do, I thought I'd find out what I didn't know from Jim Doe.

Okay, lemme get this straight.

You're not Bill, you're Jim, and you guys don't have menus?

- That's correct.

- Well, before we even get to that, I have to tell you, I'm really impressed with this place.

As soon as you pull in, a really nice young gentleman comes up immediately to the car, calls me "sir", asks me what I want.

I mean, you don't get that kinda service much anymore.

- Yeah, that's true.

That's why we try and make it like a family atmosphere here.

Very friendly, want you feel comfortable, want you keep coming back.

- Yeah, I mean the parking lot's perfect.

That is the cutest little building I ever saw.

Do you like fold that up at night, and take it home with you or?

- Yeah, you probably could.

But it actually started in 1939, and all they had was the front half of it.

- Yeah.

- And then they got busier and added on the back half.

- Well, who was Bill?

- I never got to meet Bill.

He's a little younger than that, but.

(both chuckling) But I think he'd be pretty proud of what we've done with the place.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- And you guys don't have menus because it's an icon.

People probably all know about this place who live around here, right?

- Yeah, and it's a simple menu.

We have the homemade chili dogs, homemade root beer, a couple Pepsi products, and chips for side items, so we keep it simple and easy.

- That's my philosophy.

You do a couple things really well, and become known for those things, and it just makes like life simpler, and then you do a good job.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So you guys make your own root beer?

- Yep, every day.

Every morning we come in, make the homemade chili and homemade root beer.

So when you come in, you get the same product every day.

It's always fresh.

- Right.

Where'd you learn to make root beer?

I've always wanted to make my own root here.

- Yeah, well they had the recipe when I started here, so.

- Oh, so it's an old, old recipe.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- We kept everything the same.

- Yeah, I mean, is that mustard yellow?

- It's safety yellow.

(both chuckling) - So, yeah.

I mean, how long have you lived in Ypsilanti?

- I've been here since '79.

- Since '79?

- Yep.

- What do you love about the area?

- I'd say the people, yeah.

There's a lot of good people around here.

My family all lives here.

And you know, I started off here in 1994 as a car hop, just as a summer job.

- [Tom Daldin] Really?

- Yeah, then I worked my way up to being a manager in the 2000s, and then was able to get a piece of it a little bit later.

- I'm proud of you, Jim.

I mean, that's awesome.

- Yeah, American dream, huh?

- Yeah, well it is.

I've met so many people doing this show who started at a place, and some of them moved away or whatever, and they ended up coming back because it's your roots.

That's where you're from, your family's there.

And they end up owning or running the places that they started their first job at.

So yeah, that's commendable, that's cool.

It's like you said, it's a mystery.

You pull in here, somebody comes up, asks you what you want.

You're not even sure what it is yet, but so I should get a coney dog.

- Yeah, definitely.

Chili and mustard are specialties around here.

- Okay, and then you got fries?

- Just plain ruffle chips for side items.

- Ruffle chips, okay, yeah.

And then your homemade root beer.

- Yes, sir.

- Okay, I'm a root beer aficionado, so I'll let you know what I think.

- All right, you put us to the test.

- Okay.

I think I'll like it.

I like everything.

(both chuckling) Yep, this little cash only place is part drive-in, part hotdog stand and all right in my book.

In my book, it has a funky cool feel that I swear makes the dogs taste even better, 'cause you know, sometimes the best food comes from the most unlikeliest of places.

So I would definitely place Bill's Hotdog Stand and Drive-In on your drive-in diner bucket of fries list.

It's a pure Michigan tiny treasure.

(screen whooshing) Well, as you might expect with "UTR's" legendary and almost endless appetite, we literally made it only about 300 feet west on Michigan Avenue before we stopped at connected, yet separate iconic eateries who've been slugging it out for supremacy for over a century.

Yep, our first stop is the Tale of Two Coney Islands, Lafayette and American.

Now, they both think they were first, and they both think they're best.

What do I think?

Well, I think I'm gonna go eat a couple of coneys.

Yum.

For as long as anyone around here can remember, Lafayette Coney Island has been an icon that serves up Detroit style coneys.

The place is raw, real, and full of character and characters.

But what makes these supposedly the best?

Let's find out.

How long have you been making coneys?

- 40 years.

- 40 years?

- 40 years working here, yeah.

- Wow.

- Serving conies.

- That's back when I had a full head of hair.

- Yeah, me too, same thing.

- What's the secret of a good coney?

- The chili sauce.

The chili sauce, we got Lafayette homemade chili.

Lafayette homemade chili.

I've been making that for 40 years too also.

- [Tom Daldin] Oh my, well you do something for 40 years, you get good at it.

- [Lafayette Coney Island Employee] Oh yeah, it better be good.

- Now, in the olden days, if you ask for ketchup, they give you a little bit of a hard time.

I remember that.

Does that still happen or?

- Still happen to some people.

We say no ketchup, but not on the coneys.

No, we got the fries, we put it on the fries.

- [Tom Daldin] Oh, it's for your fries, not a coney?

- [Lafayette Coney Island Employee] Not on the coneys, not on a coney, but people, they still do it.

But no supposed to put it on the coneys.

- You guys are right next to American Coney Island.

- [Lafayette Coney Island Employee] Yeah.

- Who was here first?

Were you guys here first, and who's the best?

- We are first and we are the best.

Since 1914, yeah.

- So since 1914?

- Yes.

- So you were first and you guys are the best?

- [Lafayette Coney Island Employee] Yeah, the best.

- Okay.

Because the truth be told, I've had your coneys before, but I'm gonna try one.

What kind of hotdog is this?

- Dearborn Sausage.

- Oh, Dearborn.

I eat it with a fork 'cause of my mustache.

- Yeah.

(Tom laughing) - You try.

- Dearborn sausage and your buns are so soft, and the onions.

That's a coney.

- Thank you, thank you for choosing Lafayette.

- Well, that was both interesting and I'll admit tasty.

Now it's time to quietly and carefully head next door to another icon, American Coney Island for a bit of a rebuttal on a bun.

I have to tell you.

- Yes.

- The atmosphere in here is- - Isn't it cool?

- Oh my gosh, when you first walk in, you don't realize how big it is, and then you walk to the end.

I wanna own that table at the end.

- That's the best table in the house.

- [Tom Daldin] Oh my gosh, with a panoramic view of the city.

It's amazing.

- [American Coney Island Employee] Isn't it beautiful?

- Now, I was next door, and I have to tell you that they claim that they are the best.

- Yeah, of course.

- And that they were here first.

- Well, yeah, they've been doing that for years.

But I mean, anyone can print a piece of paper and say, "I started in 1924."

Just Google it.

- Right, but you guys have been here, you guys were the first the first?

- Yes.

My grandpa invented the coney.

That's him right there.

- [Tom Daldin] Yeah, I was gonna say Coney Island is out east, but this is- - No out east to Coney Island is an amusement park that sells hot dogs.

- [Tom Daldin] Oh, okay.

But this is a- - In Detroit, it's an actual food, it's a thing.

- Gotcha, gotcha.

Here it's this, chili, mustard, onions.

- Which by the way, all 17 of the food groups are right here by the way.

- Yeah, you know everything, yeah, exactly.

- So what's the secret to a great coney?

- So the hotdog's proprietary recipe made for us by Dearborn sausage.

The chili is our own chili company.

We have our own factory, we make it specifically for us.

- [Tom Daldin] Right, yeah.

- And then a tangy mustard, and that's what makes this combination great.

When you bite into it, it's the natural casing.

90% beef, 10% pork with a lambskin casing.

- And you won't yell at me if I put some ketchup on it?

- That is not good.

- Darn it, I was hoping- - The ketchup is for the fries.

- Okay, all right, okay.

- I mean, if you really want to, that's fine, but not recommended.

- Right, right, by a true coney aficionado.

Darn it!

- And you're not supposed to use your fork and knife, but hey, you just lift it up and eat it.

And according to what my brother says, the more napkins you use shows you how better the coney's gonna be.

- Right, speaking of food, excuse me.

- No, no, yes, don't let it get cold.

But we'll get you another one if it does.

How many napkins you using?

Don't be scared to use some napkins.

- I'm sorry.

(Tom laughing) - Yeah, there you go.

(Tom laughing) - Well, you heard it from both sides.

They were both first and they're both the best.

But if you don't know who to believe, believe you me, both Lafayette and American serve up a great coney, so try one of each and make up your own mind.

It's a fun and filling way to discover a true Detroit classic.

And if you'll excuse me, I think I need another napkin.

(screen whooshing) You know, for years, mankind's been trying to invent a better hot dog.

Well, I got news for you.

We don't have to worry about that anymore, because they did it right here and they did it 35 years ago.

Where have I been?

(smooth upbeat music) Yesterdog is a crazy, fun, eclectic place that has a cult following so big, they could probably apply for tax free status.

It's located in Easttown, Grand Rapids, and has been serving up delectable dogs for generations.

- This place is a legend.

- It's way different than any other hot dog place.

- We used to skip school to come here during lunch when we had open campus.

Don't tell my mom.

- It really hits the spot every time, never disappoints.

- You can't get a better hot dog than Yesterdog.

- Yummy hot dog.

- Hey, hey.

- [Tom Daldin] Hey, hey.

Even the former mayor of Grand Rapids loves Yesterdog.

- There's nothing like it.

It's a unique experience.

It's got a lot of Grand Rapids memories, and Bill keeps it that way, because he knows what people want.

- The mayor is of course talking about the mad dog inventor of Yesterdog himself, Bill Lewis.

What made you decide to get into the hot dog business?

Running from the law?

- Yeah, I was running from the law, and I heard, you know, that there was gonna be a recession or two coming up in the next 35 years, and unemployment was gonna skyrocket, and so I wanted to have a job that I wasn't gonna lose my job.

- Right.

- The customers would have to fire me instead of just one guy.

So I wanted to play the safe side.

- Well, after 35 years, and lucky for all of us, Bill still hasn't been fired, and he's pretty humble about his success.

- I didn't do it.

- Oh, it just happened?

- It just happened on its own, and I'm just lucky.

- Well, I'm guessing that the dogs had more to do with it than luck.

But one thing I can say is that we sure felt lucky to find Yesterdog right here in Grand Rapids, one of Michigan's and the Midwest's greatest cities.

(screen whooshing) There he was, Eaton Rapids one and only Hotdog Man.

(screen rattling) (light upbeat music) Mark McGee is loved by this entire community for two reasons.

One, he and his wife Krysta and their son Christian are absolutely wonderful people.

And two, they own Mark's Hot Diggity Dog Hotdog Stand, where they serve up tasty gourmet hotdogs for all, including us, to enjoy.

So Mark, you're the Hotdog Man.

- Yes.

- Are you a superhero or is that your X-Men power?

- It's a little bit of both.

- [Tom Daldin] Well, you're already kind of famous.

I mean, you've already been on TV once, weren't you?

- [Mark] Yes, yes, we have been.

We taped a show on the Food Network called "Food Court Wars."

It was hosted by Tyler Florence.

- [Tom Daldin] And you actually won?

- Yes, yes, we did.

And our winnings were, we got a year of rent free in the food court of the Lansing Mall, and now we're planning on building a restaurant here in town where we started it.

- [Tom Daldin] Now whose idea was it to start a hot dog cart?

- [Krysta] It was mine.

We were at a busy yard sale, and I looked around and I was like, "Hey, you know, if we had a hot dog stand, or like a grill and some condiments, we could probably make some money."

And all of a sudden, you could see the wheels turning.

- Yeah, see, I knew like right there.

I was like, "Dude, she's right, you know?"

So, I just started doing some research, and over the course of a couple years of saving some money, and I was like, "Man, we can really do this."

So I went out and bought a hotdog stand, and came downtown Eaton Rapids and set up right down the street.

Crazy story, right?

Actually in front of the building that we just bought.

- Well, sidewalk food vendors, food trucks, that's all becoming a very popular thing right now.

- Absolutely.

- 'Cause I think people like, it becomes a part of the tapestry of the town, and it gets people out, it gets people to connect, and it's just great to have that connection.

- There is something different.

A lot of the customers that are Lansing Mall food Court, they'll come up and they'll say, you know, "This is good, but the hot dog cart is so awesome."

And I just feel like, it's just because you're outside enjoying the weather.

It's just a different feeling and a different experience.

We don't do anything differently.

- [Tom Daldin] Well, you can't go wrong with a hot dog.

- [Mark] I feel the same way, thank you.

- Speaking of can't go wrong, you can't go wrong living in a place like this either.

I mean, what do you love about this town?

- It's great, it's beautiful.

I mean, the downtown is amazing.

The people are nice, and it's just a great place to live, and it's a great place to you know, raise your family.

- Obviously, you're doing a very good job.

- Well, thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you for being so good.

Oh wow.

(Krysta laughing) It turned out that Eaton Rapids urban air and Mark's Hot Diggity Dogs had everything we needed to fill up, have fun, and at the same time, help this great hometown thrive.

(screen whooshing) The more we looked into Nowicki's Sausage Shoppe in Alpena, the more we found out how much people love this palate pleasing place.

But what's not to love?

We're talking about sausage.

Plus at Nowicki's, five generations have been developing unique sausage since 1917.

(light upbeat music) Now to make sure I left no sausage unsampled, I checked in with the current generation, Brian Peterson.

First of all, I can't believe that your family's been making sausages for five generations.

I mean, five generations ago in my family, they were troglodytes still trying to forage for sustenance, It's like, how did it all start?

- Came over from Poland and it was Louise, it was the female was the first sausage maker, and her husband, and they had Nowicki's in Roger City.

And they bought a stuffer, and kind of in the market, she was making sausage.

And as generations kind of went on, like in the '70s, the convenience store kind of came in, and like the corner grocery store kind of went away.

So my family kind of went from a one stop shop grocery store, you know, you could get delis and everything that you would get at a corner store.

Now we kind of went, "Well, what do we do best?

Sausage."

And we stayed in that lane and- - Wow, five generations.

And I was gonna ask you, how do you come up with all the different sausages?

I mean, 'cause I'm sure you do some creative twists.

- I think I'm eating something, and you're like, I can make that into a sausage.

(both laughing) - [Tom Daldin] That'd be a good sausage.

- [Brian] Right?

- [Tom Daldin] This is the best sausage in a cup I've ever had!

(Tom laughing) - I really like the chicken fajita brat was one of the later, the buffalo chicken brat.

Those are some newer ones that we came up with.

And that was just it.

We started doing Franks.

So we do all pork shoulder hot dogs, and they're awesome.

And my kids are eating 'em, and they're like, "Dad, why don't you make a cheese dog?"

And I had like, it was like, I need a VA moment.

I'm like, "I don't know."

And so we started making cheese dogs.

Well, I love this place, because not only can you come here and just get a mess of really cool sausages to take home, but you can actually get a brat, right?

So you can sit in the back and eat.

- Yeah, we got seating for about 50 in the back, and we got that little ice cream shop in the front area.

And then we do six different flavors of brats every day, and we'll do wings.

So on Wednesday, today we got smoked wings.

Thursday, we do brisket, ribs and pulled pork.

And Tuesdays, we do Taco Tuesday.

So we make our own soups and chilies.

- [Tom Daldin] Are they actual tacos or they taco sausages?

- No, it's like a taco bar.

You build your own, and it's by the pound.

But we have a lot of workers over here with Lafarge, so they come here for lunch.

So for them it's really convenient, 'cause there's nothing as close as us, so we make a nice convenient lunch.

They pop in, pop out.

It's a very symbiotic relationship.

- Now you guys do special events, you guys do catering?

- We do catering.

We're actually we're gonna do a wedding upstairs this summer.

So that'll be our first wedding outside of our own.

And then we do the three events, Posen Potato Festival, Nautical Festival, and Alpenfest in Gaylord.

- You got a truck or?

- We got a food truck.

- Oh, awesome, and who wears the hot dog suit?

- Well, we draw straws on that.

(Tom laughing) I'll say Brian Junior does probably the best job in it.

If you go watch on like Facebook and stuff, if you see a guy dancing around, it's him, and he has a good time with it.

- What did you want to be when you were a little kid when you grew up?

- Well, a sausage biker.

- There you go, right answer.

(both laughing) Well enough talking about these tantalizing, taste tempting tubular treats.

It was time for Tommy to sample some sausage.

And I have to say that every sausage I sampled was sensational.

And again, Laura was right.

The people here are wonderful.

If you're within a day's drive of awesome Alpena, make it a "UTR" day trip, and stop at Nowicki's Sausage Shoppe.

Trust me, the sausage lover in you will say, (Tom speaking in foreign language).

And as an added bonus, my favorite word, Brian invited us to dinner right down the street at his restaurant, The Old Polish Corner, and there's nothing old about this place.

It's cool, comfortable, and has an amazing selection of Polish fusion palate pleasing plates that'll blow your mind.

It's a restaurant you definitely need to check out.

(screen whooshing) Since you guys are so used to us showing you a lot of the best places to go in Michigan, I thought why not take you to The Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti?

For real.

It's The Wurst Bar, all right, as in W-U-R-S-T, and it's a funky, cool watering hole and artisan sausage eatery that's attracting foodies from all over Michigan.

Jesse Kraniac and his business partner, Jim Seba have put together one of the most unique dining and drinking experiences we've been to in a long time.

You know, for the worst bar in Ypsilanti, this place ain't so bad.

- No, that was the plan.

- Well, so you actually had a plan.

- Yeah.

- Unlike us.

Who came up with the name The Wurst Bar?

- Well, myself and our bar manager, Jeff Sanchez, when we opened, we were big burger fanatics.

So we go over all over the place, you know, coast to coast, trying hamburgers, and everyone's got the best, the best, the best.

So we've been working on a hamburger for a few years, and we said, "We should advertise the worst hamburger."

And then Jeff's like, "Well, we should make sausages."

'Cause we'd already been messing around with some sausage recipes and that pretty much was it.

- Now your chef is Chef Dan, he's the sausage man.

- [Jesse] He is the sausage man, yes.

- [Tom Daldin] Now how did you find him?

- I found him on Craigslist.

- So you can find anything on, my son always tells me you can find anything on Craigslist.

You found a sausage chef.

- I was looking for someone who was kind of based in a new American style cooking, and we were gonna incorporate classic sausage recipes into more modern style food trends.

So a lot of our food is definitely geared towards foodies.

You know, each one of our sausages has at least 15 ingredients in it.

They're heavily spiced, they're going on brioche, they're going on pretzel buns.

Nothing's going on a regular hotdog bun.

Our burger's got, you know, a proprietary blend of sauce that goes onto it.

When we go on the grill, everything's scratch made like I said.

- What made you pick Ypsilanti to open this business?

- Well, it was kind of a no brainer for us.

It's got such an eclectic artistic community to it, so aside from the college campus, there's this whole group of Ypsilanti residents that kind of, they're just a little bit different than a lot of other places you would go to, more of an art or like an artistic community.

It's very geared towards creativity, and that's a really fun community to live in.

- Now if you're looking for a creative chef who's totally committed to his craft, Dan Klenotic's your guy.

He's the reason the menu at this place will blow your mind.

Yeah, sausage is kind of a running theme on our show, and I'm not even sure why, but how did you become a sausage chef?

- I would say through trial and error, to be honest with you.

About a year ago, when I opened up The Wurst Bar with Jesse, he had a menu in place for the most part, based on unusual and usual meats.

So we put that together with a variety of spices, and we just blended spices to meat, to fat, taste it until we got brats that I thought were better than we could find anywhere else.

- [Tom Daldin] Where'd you grow up?

- I grew up in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

- You grew up in the UP?

- Yeah, I did.

- Oh, then you're a Cudahy fan, right?

- Oh yeah, don't you know?

(both laughing) Yeah, we put a lot of time and effort, a lot of our kitchen, it's very prep intensive, 'cause everything we do is from scratch.

Our topping is roasted pepper, so caramelized onions take time, you know?

Everything we do, we pickle peppers in house, Kimchi.

- What's the most rewarding thing for you about what you do?

- I would say the burger is probably the most rewarding thing for me.

We sell that burger for a very honest price.

I believe it's 5.95.

The meat that goes onto it is a large chunk brisket, it's beautiful.

We break it down every single day and grind it, so we know where the meat comes from.

We're not trying to sell a burger for 13, $14.

We're trying to make it available for everybody, and when it comes out, I just think it's a fantastic product that I'm very proud of.

- The best place to go is The Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti.

Besides, what's the worst that can happen?

Exactly.

(screen whooshing) Well, if this show didn't make you wanna down a couple of dogs, I don't know what will.

Oh, and don't tell anybody, but actually I prefer ketchup on my hot dog.

- [Producer] Boo.

- Well, I switched to ketchup because I couldn't get the mustard stain outta my shirt.

Yeah, that's it, as far as you know.

(light upbeat music) - [Announcer] The Stahls Motors Music Experience features a collection of automated music machines neon signs, gas pumps, and 150 years of automotive history More info atstahlsauto.com (upbeat rock music continues) (light dramatic music)