JJ's Red Hots will serve its last hot dog on Sunday
The Dilworth restaurant opened in 2012 and gained fame in 2019 when it was featured on The Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"
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One last bite: JJ’s Red Hots plans to close its last location in Dilworth after 12 years of serving up hot dogs; ‘We just couldn’t shred enough cheddar to keep it going’
JJ’s Red Hots, a Charlotte restaurant staple, will permanently close Sunday. The restaurant opened in 2012 in the Dilworth neighborhood.
by Lindsey Banks
JJ’s Red Hots, the popular Dilworth hot dog joint, will serve up its final dog this weekend after more than 12 years in business. The restaurant is permanently closing its East Boulevard restaurant on Sunday.
The company announced the closure in an Instagram post on Monday, saying: “We just couldn’t shred enough cheddar to keep it going.” Over the years, JJ’s has served up 3 million hot dogs to over 1.5 million guests, according to the Instagram post.
JJ’s Red Hots once had three Charlotte locations, in Dilworth, Uptown and Ballantyne, and saw fame in 2019 when it was featured on an episode of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” show on the Food Network.
The mission behind JJ’s Red Hots is “to create joy,” the company says on its website.
On Monday, the restaurant carried on with business as usual, its tables filled with people stopping in on their lunch breaks to get some of the company’s signature dogs, such as the “Southern Girl” with pimento cheese, JJ’s slaw, bacon and mustard,” or the “Chili-Cheese Coney” with house-made chili, cheese and onions.
“I guess all good things come to an end,” an employee said Monday.
The “Char Heel” is a popular menu item at JJ’s Red Hots. It’s a hot dog topped with housemade chili, slaw, diced onions and yellow mustard for $6.
The Charlotte Observer first reported the news on Monday. The Ledger reached out to the owner on Sunday for confirmation about its closing but didn’t get a reply.
JJ’s Red Hots will continue to operate its food truck, the employee told The Ledger, so fans can still partake of its dogs around town.
Lindsey Banks is a staff writer for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
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