Treat Your Tired Dogs - And Yourself - to a Wonderful Taste You Will Relish

If you are satisfied squirting thick and gooey yellow mustard on your hot dogs, you do not need to read this post. This one is for the adventurous tube steak eater; those searching for something more to top off their ‘dogs.

Traveling through southeast Maine, Betsy and I stumbled upon a roadside “joint” that seemed to have attracted a lot of customers; all lined up at the window ordering fast food. From the look of things, the place seemed long since established and – no doubt – popular with the locals. We decided to pull off the road and see what all the attention was about.



As we usually do when visiting a new food establishment, we asked some of the other customers, “What’s good here?”

“This place has the best hot dogs around and you have to order them with Flo’s Relish,” one fellow in line recommended.

“Flo’s Relish?” we asked.

“It’s like hot dog relish on steroids,” explained this nice fellow. “It’s what make’s Flo’s hot dogs better than anyone else’s”.

And, so we ordered our hot dogs Flo’s-style and ended up going for a second round; something we rarely ever do with fast foods that are ordinary and unremarkable. The hot dogs were great and the Flo’s Relish made them even greater.

Flo's Hot Dogs is located on Rte. 1 in the seacoast area of Maine, in Capeneddick, between York and Ogunquit.

Florence Stacy bought the business in 1959 and operated it for 14 years, then sold it to her son and daughter-in-law, John and Gail Stacy, who have operated it ever since. By the way, Gail is often behind the window and she is known by many regular customers as “the Hot Dog Nazi”. You either follow her ordering protocol or endure her stern look of impatience.

Ordering is easy at Flo’s. There are only two types of hot dogs: the "House Special" (Flo's relish, mayo, and celery salt) and the "Loaded" (Flo's relish, green relish, mustard, onions, and celery salt). Just get the House Special and get out of Gail’s face. These are small steamed hot dogs ($2.50@), so order yourselves two right off the bat.



Now, as for that Flo’s Relish we’ve been talking about. Flo's famous relish works well with many condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup. It is also very good on: hamburgers, steak, ham, eggs, beans and just use your imagination…

So, how would we describe this great relish? It’s dark - in color - and a bit chunky in texture. Call it a pleasant blend of sweet and sour ingredients. A food critic describes Flo’s Relish as “a bit relish-y, vaguely chutney-like and altogether mysterious”.

Yes, it remains “Mysterious.” Only two people know the ingredients, said co-owner Gail Stacy: herself and a company employee she has hired to produce a bottled version ($7.95). When pressed, Gail will say only that it contains onions, molasses and "spices." Whatever is in it – it is darn good stuff and worth buying on location or ordering online.

There are various unofficial recipes on the web for Flo’s Relish including this one. You can try it at home, but unless you have actually had the real thing, you will never know how close you have come to copying the mouthwatering taste of Flo’s Relish.