The Gallery of Sandwiches: Round 4 "The Combo"

I have previously posted about various epic sandwiches that I've encountered. Some were old favorites, some were touristy must-haves, but this one is a little different.

I have been driving past this sign for something like 9 years, now.

It was really the "Home of the Combo" that got me. First of all, I thought maybe they were claiming to be the first place to have the standard drink/fries/burger combo, which seemed hilarious somehow, like it was a thing that had had to be invented. Like this tiny place was battling all the fast food joints, by still laying claim to it. Then, I kept imagining all the many and wondrous things that The Combo might include.

Every morning and evening I would drive past and sometimes there would really be quite a line at Marty's, so I got more and more curious. I kind of liked the idea of not knowing what "The Combo" was, though, so I avoided googling it or looking on yelp, or trying to learn about it at all. I avoided it, because I had a dream. A dream in which I would just walk up, with no idea what it was, and just order The Combo.

Unfortunately, as indicated by the Vienna Beef sign, and the burger-shack-like vibe, this dream was bound to involve some kind of mysterious meat concoction. And even more unfortunately, as wonderful as they are, a huge percent of my local friends during this period of mystery were vegetarians, so recruiting someone adventurous enough to head over and just eat whatever Marty's was ready to dish out was tough. So, for years I remained thwarted, because really, that's the kind of adventure for which you need a partner in crime.

Fortunately, I met Feeesh. I told him about the mystery of Marty's, and like with most things, he was totally game. It took us a long time to get around it, but finally, today, out of the blue as we were pondering lunch, he asked "Hey, you wanna try The Combo". At which point I almost jumped out of my chair bouncing with excitement, and off we went.

Just like in my dream, we walked up, and just ordered The Combo... behold...

Turns out, The Combo is a hamburger (made of beef freshly ground by them each day), topped with standard burger toppings, plus a sliced up hotdog! (and, for the truly brave, it can include chili. We decided to experience The Combo in its pure non-chili form, since we were newbies. Also, because we didn't want to have heart attacks on the spot). I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it... which obviously makes the whole thing even more awesome.

The Combo is not for the faint of heart, I ate it 7 hours ago, and have no inclination whatsoever for any kind of dinner. But, the burger was delicious, and freshly grilled right in front of you, the hotdog was delicious... all in all, mmmm. (in addition, even though I didn't test its powers in this regards myself, I would suspect that this might be one of the highest forms of hangover food).

Now that I've gone, I let myself look up Marty's on Yelp  and apparently it has been there for years. If you're local and craving a fresh burger, it may be worth a shot- they also have an assortment of other things, including turkey burgers, but we stuck to our Combo guns, so I can't vouch for the rest...

All in all, quite a dream-satisfying weekend lunch.