There are a few topics guaranteed to start food fights in south Louisiana — just mention tomatoes and gumbo in the same sentence, and you’ll find out.
One issue bound to spark impassioned debate in the Acadiana area is whether chili dogs always come with a hot dog. A lot of people reading this will be surprised that’s a debate at all, because we all grew up knowing that a chili dog is a hot dog with chili on top — right?
Not so in New Iberia, where a “chili dog” conjures up something else entirely, at least for longtime residents. Local diners and drive-ins like A-Bear’s Diner, Caribbean Ice Company, Duffy’s, Cool Scene and Dawg House all offer a version of a chili dog that, according to local lore, has been around since at least the 1950s.
That was the heyday of spots like Viator’s Drive-In and Freez-O Drive-In, which became famous for their chili dogs, consisting of a smooth, flavorful chili (with no beans) generously scooped onto a po-boy bun. Viator’s closed in 2018, and Freez-O shut their doors in the ’90s, but their version of a chili dog — no hot dog to be seen — has lived on through many generations of Iberia Parish residents…