I was first turned on to Fairbury Meats "Tom Boys" by my friend Chuck Ellis at a football tailgate in Iowa City. Chuck is the meat manager of the Hy-Vee store on 132nd St. in Omaha and he brought a couple packs out to cook on the grill after a game one time. I had one and thought, "Man, these are GREAT!"
Chuck told me that Fairbury Meats was a small company located in Fairbury, NE, south and west of Lincoln, near the Kansas border. They make a number of meat products in the plant, but they're kind of famous for their hot dogs. They make a red-dyed hot dog that is served at University of Nebraska football games. That's what Chuck had, the red ones.
During one of my travels to Omaha, I stopped off at Chuck's store and picked up a couple dozen of the hot dogs. They're just great hot dogs. All beef, no filler, tasty, juicy. One of the best hot dogs I've ever tasted. The problem is that I don't get out to Omaha all the often any longer and they're only available in the Hy-Vee's in Nebraska. Chuck gave me a control order number to use one time to order here locally from a Hy-Vee, but I just haven't gotten around to doing that.
But I'm now out of Tom Boys since my last trip to Omaha last summer and I think I have to order some up since I don't anticipate being in Omaha anytime soon.
My friend, Craig Evert, who grew up in Nebraska, seconded my love for Fairbury's Tom Boys. In fact, he sent me this picture of fine dining with a couple Tom Boys (it's the same picture for the opening blog in this category). It really doesn't get any better than this.
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