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00:00Rutz Hut famous hot dogs.
00:02We're gonna find out why.
00:03If you ever had a better hot dog than that, you wouldn't know.
00:05I want to take a bath in the relish.
00:08Since 1928, mind-boggling.
00:10Famous hot dog is called a ripper
00:12because it's deep-fried until the casing of the hot dog rips.
00:16That sounds yummy.
00:18The relish is just as famous as the hot dogs.
00:21It's been featured on USA Today,
00:23numerous Food Network shows and travel channels.
00:25It's also listed in the book,
00:26A Thousand Places to See in the USA and Canada.
00:30Before You Die.
00:30Just like you, I'm wondering how they've been in business for a hundred years almost
00:34and what made them famous.
00:36Let's get inside.
00:37As you know, the Greeks, we always bear gifts.
00:39Can't go with empty hands.
00:40Nice to meet you.
00:41I met you. We were couples together.
00:43Oh, really?
00:44How you guys doing, man?
00:45Good, good, you.
00:45Thanks for having us.
00:47In the llamas.
00:48We're out finding famous places, right?
00:50And we know that it's not by accident.
00:52We know that there's a lot of hard work, a lot of hours.
00:55We want to hear the story.
00:55We want to hear, you know, how you guys got here.
00:57Places started in 1928.
01:00Abe Rut was the original owner.
01:01That's where the name Rut's Hut comes from.
01:03Fathers and uncles bought it for him in 74.
01:0674 is when my dad opened up Jimmy's, too.
01:08There you go, son.
01:0950 years.
01:10Yep.
01:10We're in our 96th year here, looking to hit that century mark.
01:13Like you guys, we all grew up in the business.
01:15As far as hot dogs go, this is very well-known.
01:18It's been voted number one in the country six years in a row.
01:20The place is legendary in the sense that, you know, when you say, let's help people, it's synonymous to hot
01:25dogs.
01:25Although we have a full menu.
01:27What percent of your sales are hot dogs?
01:30Oh, it's the number one seller.
01:31Yeah, by far.
01:32It's like crab cakes for us.
01:33Yeah.
01:34People come here for a hot dog.
01:35The fact.
01:36The fact.
01:37Thank you very much.
01:38I'm going to try my first one in a little bit.
01:40Oh, you're definitely going to try.
01:41All right.
01:42There used to be a few hot dog spots here, down the road here.
01:45Four of them, to be exact.
01:46So they all kind of did business off of the overflow of this establishment, and it's heyday.
01:50I've heard the history from the customers through the years.
01:52So, you know, it was this, Birtland's, Cavanaugh's, and Neely's.
01:56Four places.
01:57Wow.
01:57And at the end was a dairy cream.
01:58Could you confirm that for me?
01:59Birtland's.
02:00There you go.
02:00Across the street, where the jade was.
02:01How many are still open?
02:03No.
02:03None.
02:03This is the only one.
02:04So when they built the highway, those places essentially went out.
02:07Wow.
02:07The old man that, the original owner, they wouldn't shut him down.
02:10He had an in or something.
02:11He had approved him.
02:11He did X amount, blah, blah, blah.
02:13And this stayed here.
02:15That's awesome.
02:16That's why we're still here.
02:17Geographically, it's not a great location.
02:19It's a delocation.
02:20Yeah.
02:21That's how we are too.
02:22But we got the parking right just like you, and it makes it, you know, a destination spot.
02:26It's not just a bar area.
02:27It's a front counter area.
02:28It's a dining room.
02:29The whole nine yards.
02:30But we have bike nights, cars.
02:32We can do a lot in our parking lot.
02:33We can drink in our parking lot, which there's not too many places that can do that.
02:36We've been on in since 28.
02:37That's awesome.
02:38How old were you when you started working here?
02:40My first job was a busboy here.
02:42Cleaning tables with the waitresses that were here 50 years at the time.
02:45I knew more about the place than my father and uncles, you know?
02:48Did they build onto it at all over the years or was it just what it was?
02:51The customers don't like too much change.
02:53Of course.
02:54As you can see, it changed a little bit.
02:56Yeah, yeah.
02:56Just enough.
02:57In the front counter, we just put those new monitors up in the front, so you got this yin-yang
03:01where people are like, oh, why'd you change it?
03:03I love it.
03:04It's evolution, you know?
03:05But I tell them, as long as the food doesn't change, don't worry about it.
03:07Yeah, exactly.
03:08That was one of the toughest things for me at the restaurant, taking my dad's menu from
03:13what it was to what it is now.
03:15It just hurt, you know what I mean?
03:16Because you would hear it from the guests, you know that it was, you know, your dad's
03:19baby.
03:20I've been doing it long enough that I know that, oh, you change the sign and it's like,
03:24so these signs here are actually, those are the signs we are places, believe it or not.
03:28Really?
03:29Yeah.
03:29A lot of times people come like, that's the right price.
03:33For now, at least.
03:34That's awesome.
03:35I mean, we can't change that.
03:36Even if the price you change, that's going to stay there and, you know, that's the way
03:40it's got to be.
03:40Yeah, no, of course.
03:41I love it.
03:42It uniquely ruts hot.
03:43You can hear about it, read about it, but once you experience the hot dog, it all kind
03:47of meshes in with, you know, why everyone talks about the hot dog.
03:50We read about a wedding that they did here, I guess?
03:53Oh, yeah.
03:54This guy loves ruts hot.
03:55So, he was wearing a yellow suit, like the relish.
03:58He took his wedding pictures there and then he had an actual, like, ceremony.
04:02Like that, like that.
04:03Yeah.
04:03He's in a band and he named the album Rippers.
04:06Really?
04:07I swear to Christ.
04:09That's great.
04:09Yeah.
04:10The customers are really, like, extremely long.
04:13Of course.
04:14So, when you guys took it over, did any of the menu change?
04:17The things that are newer, like buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks.
04:21I'll show you a menu from the 50s.
04:23You have one here?
04:24Oh, yeah.
04:25Oh, that's awesome.
04:26They had a lot of things here, man.
04:28It's like oysters and the apple, like nuts.
04:30That's awesome.
04:31We serve roast duck here.
04:32Yeah.
04:32So, I got a call yesterday from some girl in South Jersey, from the Asbury Park Press
04:36or something.
04:37She's like, what don't they know about?
04:38I'm like, there's so many things.
04:40It doesn't matter what you're going to move for.
04:41We have roast chicken.
04:42We have liver.
04:43We have it all.
04:44People are coming every day.
04:45They're not coming for hot dogs.
04:47Yeah, of course.
04:48So, they eat, you know, specials, whatever we have at the given moment.
04:52Are you open every day here?
04:53Every day.
04:54Every day.
04:54Seven days.
04:55365?
04:57No.
04:57We're 365.
04:58We close four days.
05:00Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, and Easter.
05:01Got it.
05:02How many days are you here, personally?
05:04Me?
05:04Too many.
05:05Too many.
05:06Right now, I'm here seven days, man.
05:08I know the story.
05:08I know the story.
05:08It's ours, so we got to protect it and watch it, you know?
05:11But that's what made you who you are, right?
05:12I mean, that's what people look forward to coming and seeing.
05:15I know what these people order before they walk through the door, you know what I mean?
05:17And I tell people that start here, I'm like, don't get offended when they walk
05:20right by you and come to, you know, they go to a face that they're familiar with,
05:23they're comfortable with.
05:24Talking about yesterday, spend more time with, you know, your guests and your employees
05:29than you do your family.
05:30So you better enjoy what you're doing, love what you're doing, and it's a good feeling
05:34for them to miss you, you know, in a certain spot.
05:36So my old man, God rest his soul, said go to school.
05:39Sorry for your loss, too.
05:40No, thank you.
05:41Go to school and get an education.
05:43But it treated your family well, right?
05:46Yeah.
05:47And you don't have any regrets about it, right?
05:48No.
05:48But, you know, we all went to school, but we all wound up in it.
05:51When it's in your blood, it's in your blood.
05:52Yeah.
05:53You can't get out.
05:53It's not for everybody.
05:56It's not for everybody.
05:57So you keep looking at your wife.
05:59She knows, she knows what she signed up for.
06:00Yeah, listen.
06:01It is what it is, man.
06:03This is what we chose to do.
06:04Let's get behind the scenes and have you show us some stuff if you don't mind.
06:07Sure.
06:07This is a homemade relish, this is a specialty here, and this is a mustard.
06:10Look at that.
06:11That's a super recipe.
06:12That's what the, this is what we're known for here.
06:16All right.
06:16So this is what we call an in-and-outer.
06:19What is it?
06:19In-and-out.
06:20Right.
06:21This is a ripper.
06:22The term ripper is because you see how they're ripping?
06:24That's why we call them rippers.
06:26Got it.
06:26This is a weller.
06:27And this is the extreme.
06:29It's called the creamier.
06:30This is petrified.
06:31It's as hard as a counter.
06:32When somebody orders it, I hit that.
06:34So what is the difference here?
06:35You're frying it for longer?
06:37It's fried.
06:37It's petrified.
06:38Creamier.
06:39Medium rare, medium, medium well.
06:41Well done.
06:42No, this is built.
06:44Not well done.
06:45This is, you know, killed to the end.
06:47So when somebody orders from me, I give them what I think they're going to enjoy.
06:51You know, I go for this or this.
06:54This is light.
06:55This is like, you know, as soon as it pops up.
06:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:58You can serve that.
06:59You can eat a hot dog roar, right?
07:00So it's like baloney.
07:01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:02People see us on programs and I don't know why the only thing they remember is a cremator.
07:07I always tell them.
07:08I say, you know, you don't jump off the bridge with the first shot, right?
07:10Work your way up to that.
07:12The more cooked it is, the more crunchy it is.
07:14Got it.
07:14What do you put on yours?
07:15Okay.
07:16We just put a chili dog on the menu.
07:18Okay.
07:18In 96 years, we've never seen a chili on a dog.
07:21Wow.
07:22George and I go back and forth.
07:23You know, I'm a traditionalist.
07:26George is very progressive.
07:27You know, we've been going back and forth.
07:28I know it's people that enjoy it, but I'm more of the, this is the way we've always
07:33got it.
07:34Got it.
07:34Yeah.
07:34Anyway, so we've now got it on the menu.
07:37All right.
07:37Can you bring those social crayons up for us?
07:39They're not in season, right?
07:40They're not in season right now, but we have some other items that I got over there.
07:44Oh, yeah?
07:44Yeah.
07:45If you want to check them out.
07:46Wow.
07:47All right.
07:47This is the way you're going to eat this hot dog.
07:50If you ever had a better hot dog than that, you're going to be now.
07:53I promise you, you haven't.
07:56That combo, you can't beat it.
07:57You got the sweet and the spicy combinations.
08:03Got the olive I started, right?
08:04Oh my God.
08:05Now it all meshes in, right?
08:06Look at the skin on that.
08:09So a few years back, this guy from, you've heard of Eater?
08:13Mm-hmm.
08:13And I know this guy's a customer and he's like, you know, we're doing a segment for Eater.
08:17He's an Englishman.
08:19And he's got this guy and he's saying, you know, a Weller, you know, creamer, blah, blah, blah.
08:23He goes, I like the Wellers because it has a concussive crunch.
08:26If you see my reaction to that guy when he says-
08:28All right.
08:29I do one of these.
08:30I'm like, what?
08:31All right.
08:31Crunch.
08:31I think in English you want to come up with the adjective of a concussive crunch.
08:35It works.
08:36That's what describes it.
08:37A concussive crunch.
08:38All right.
08:38So the more cooked it is, the more-
08:40This is great.
08:41The crunchier you're doing.
08:42Yeah.
08:42This thing's amazing.
08:43That, what you have there is a Weller.
08:44Love it.
08:45With obviously the chili relish.
08:46It's a bit messy, but-
08:47I love it.
08:48I believe in the product, man.
08:50I believe in what we do.
09:01Of course.
09:01I'm not selling you quality.
09:03I'm not selling you BS.
09:04I love it.
09:04It shows in the product, man.
09:05It shows.
09:06That's what you're telling people.
09:07They're looking at these menus.
09:08They're like, oh, you changed your menus.
09:10Uh-huh.
09:10I said, we had pushed, you know, like the old Pepsi signs where you put the-
09:14The letters.
09:14Right there.
09:15Like that?
09:15Yeah, yeah.
09:16Correct.
09:17Obviously, these are our regular customers.
09:19That's bike night.
09:20Oh, wow.
09:20Like my dad's menu, the food reminds me of.
09:24I think the oldest menu I have is from 1933.
09:28Seafood Newberg.
09:29Yeah, look.
09:30Baked Italian sausage.
09:31Oyster fried platter.
09:33Fish filet of soul.
09:34Yankee pot roast.
09:35$1.25.
09:36Yankee pot roast.
09:37Tops rolling.
09:38Fresh fried filet of soul.
09:4080 cents.
09:41Look at these prices.
09:43Fish and chips, 55 cents.
09:46Oh, my gosh.
09:47Oh, here's the other part.
09:48Barbecue on a roll.
09:49Beef, 25 cents.
09:51So we have these customers who are just fanatics about the establishment.
09:55They take that.
09:56Oh, my gosh.
09:58I love it.
09:59Here, I'm going to show you exactly the different variations of the hot dog.
10:03God, that looks good.
10:05Try it with the mustard.
10:06I am, I am.
10:07With mustard and relish right now.
10:08Rudd's Hut, famous hot dogs.
10:11We're going to find out why.
10:15I want to take a bath in the relish.
10:18Oh, my God.
10:18Look at the crispy skin on the hot dog.
10:22What?
10:23So we got to get you some relish for the relish, brother.
10:26Try it out with your crab cakes.
10:28Yeah, right?
10:29Got behind the scenes.
10:30It's not an overnight success.
10:32Got mustard everywhere.
10:33Simply amazing.
10:34Now we know why it's famous.