One of Charlotte’s Favorite Festivals of the Year Features Unlimited House-Made Sausages, 30+ Craft Beers from 10 Local Charlotte Breweries and Live Music from 3 pm – 7 pm at Original JJ’s Red Hots in Dilworth
JJ’s Red Hots is ready to show off its sausage again at what has become one of Charlotte’s favorite and perhaps most unique and aptly-named annual events: SausageFest.
JJ’s, famous for serving the Queen City’s best hot dogs and hand-crafted artisanal sausages, as well as exciting house-made sides and toppings, will flex its culinary muscles at the 5th annual beer and sausage tasting festival on Saturday, November 5th from 3 pm – 7 pm.
This year, the Charlotte-based Hot Dog King is getting a little help from Cheerwine®, who is providing free Cheerwine, the one-of-a-kind soft drink with a legendary taste, supplying the commemorative 9 oz. gold-rimmed commemorative tasting glasses and bringing back “The Legend,” which was featured by JJ’s as a Dog of the Week in August.
For $40 during pre-sale (highly recommended, as the event has sold out every year) or on event day (unless sold out during pre-sale; designated drivers are in for $25 and kids under 10 admitted free), SausageFest guests can enjoy unlimited house-made sausages (made exclusively for SausageFest), 30+ Craft Beers from local Charlotte breweries and live music.
“This is always our favorite day of the year and for a small hot dog joint, this is a really big deal for us. Every year, we get to show Charlotte what JJ’s is all about – hand crafted, delicious food served with passion,” said JJ’s proprietor Jonathan Luther, whose band The Whisky Dollars will perform live as well as local favorite Time Sawyer. “It’s become a completely collaborative event and with Cheerwine, the one-of-a-kind soft drink with a legendary taste, and some of Charlotte’s favorite brewers, this promises to be our best yet … a family-friendly, dogs welcome kind of festival you simply won’t want to miss.”
The event will be staged, rain or shine, in the parking lot of its original location in Dilworth (1514 East Boulevard – no worries, plenty of parking a couple blocks away) from 3 pm to 7 pm on Saturday, November 5th. Ticketholders can keep the 9 oz. souvenir Cheerwine/SausageFest tasting glass.
JJ’s will feature the following sausages – all made in-house:
- Chorizo and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa ‘Nacho Pie’ w/Cojita Cheese
- Crawfish Stuffed Andouille w/ Remoulade
- Smoked Turkey Sausage with Wild Turkey Bourbon BBQ Sauce
- Blue Blaze Braised Bratwurst with Spicy Sauerkraut
- Fontina Stuffed Italian Sausage & Peppers w/ Housemade Pomodoro Sauce
- Sahlen’s Italian Sausage topped with Cheerwine Rubbed House-smoked Shredded Pork, Borracho Beans, Onion strings, House Cheerwine BBQ Sauce
- Austrian ‘Kasekrainer’: Smoked Beef and Pork Sausage stuffed with Swiss and Emmenthauler cheese w/Horseradish Mustard
- Middle Eastern ‘Merguez’ Lamb Sausage w/ Pistachio, Mint & Apricots Served w/Tzaziki and Grilled Lemons.
SausageFest will feature craft beer from The Unknown Brewing Company, Blue Blaze Brewing, Legion Brewing, Sycamore Brewing, Sugar Creek Brewing, Triple C Brewing Company, Good Bottle Co. pouring Wicked Weed Brewing, Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill, Thirsty Nomad Brewing and Hyde Brewing.
“World-class sausage is one of JJ’s most popular items so when we first opened, we decided for one day a year, we were going to put a no limits sign on them. It was then that SausageFest was born,” said Brandy Newton, JJ’s director of marketing and brand development. “It’s our day and we fully expect to rule the world on November 5, sucking down local craft beers and hand-made sausages with 250 of our closest friends.”
SausageFest 2016 will take place as the JJ’s brand remains on an all-out winning streak, one that began with its inception in 2012. The brand raised national eyebrows for two years running by being honored by Fast Casual in its annual Top 100 Movers & Shakers list. JJ’s is the smallest chain to ever make the list and the only Hot Dog/Sausage concept to receive the honor. JJ’s also swept all of Charlotte’s Best Hot Dog awards in 2015 including the Charlotte Observer’s Readers’ Choice Best of Charlotte 2015 award for Best Hot Dog, And JJ’s ‘Char Heel’ dog won Charlotte Magazine’s BOB award for Best Southern Hot Dog.
Most recently, JJ’s was named by Tabelog as One of The 10 Most Unique Hotdog Joints in America and was cited by Spoon University as The 50 Best Foods to Eat in Charlotte Before You Die, as one of 10 Hot Dog Joints Across the State by North Carolina’s Our State magazine and nabbed Creative Loafing’s Readers’ Pick for Best Hot Dog in the 2016 Best of Charlotte poll.
JJ’s Red Hots is the premier purveyor of “hand-crafted” char-grilled hot dogs and sausages with two locations and several portable vehicles in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The restaurant concept is built on solid, hardworking values and is modeled after venerable establishments like Ted’s in Buffalo, NY, Gene and Jude’s in Chicago, and many others. Still, JJ’s is a true American original featuring house-made, scratch prepared sides and toppings served alongside time tested, revered American brands like Weber’s Mustard, Martin’s Rolls, Cheerwine and Coca-Cola. Perhaps most proudly, JJ’s Red Hots serves smokehouse hot dogs from Sahlen’s Meat Packing Company in Buffalo, NY. Sahlen’s is a 146-year-old company that remains family owned and operated, and makes, in our opinion, the best hot dogs in the world.
