Tacoma’s favorite hot dog shop will air on the Cooking Channel this week

Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue has again attracted the attention of national television.

The Cooking Channel’s show “Food Paradise” will air an episode featuring The Red Hot, the beloved beer and hot dog shop, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. It is also available for free on the Cooking Channel GO app (Apple and Android).

Look for The Red Hot’s segment, with chef Joel Milasich, around the 20:55-minute mark.

Called “Click on the Link,” Episode 12 of Season 14 was filmed on Nov. 15, 2018, according to a story in The News Tribune.

At the time, the show was run by the Travel Channel, which Discovery, Inc. now owns. The Cooking Channel is a joint venture between Discovery and Nexstar Media Group and a spin-off of the Food Network.

Co-owner Chris Miller thought the film crew was there last summer, but his brother Stu Miller recalled it happening two years ago. They just learned of the Nov. 4 release date last month.

“I thought it was just not coming out,” Chris Miller told The News Tribune in a text message. “They never gave us a set time.”

It was supposed to be released earlier this year, he believes, but it’s possible the pandemic played a role in the delay.

The show runners also asked The Red Hot crew to stay mum on details, including what specific dishes they discuss in the episode.

The sausage-themed episode visits eight restaurants in total. The description mentions a chorizo burger in Jacksonville, Florida; a venison hot dog in Austin and pizza in Dallas; a sausage sampler in Portland, Maine; a surf-and-turf platter in Nashville; a sausage and beer pairing in Baltimore; and a po’boy in Los Angeles.

Referring to The Red Hot, it simply says, “There’s comfort food classics in Tacoma, Washington.”

The restaurant will sell a special from the show on Wednesday and Thursday.

Asked if they were nervous given the delayed release — they received no preview of what would fall into the final edit — Chris Miller said they were definitely excited.

“It’s just weird because we would normally have a watch party or something,” he said. “Now, with COVID, it’s different. We don’t want huge crowds. So it’s kind of weird to not be making a bigger deal of it.”

The popular destination was previously on an episode of Chefs vs. City, a competitive eating show from the Food Network. “The Tideflats” hot dog, served open-faced with all the fixings, is also featured on a Food Network list of “24 Over-the-Top Hot Dogs.”

Miller hopes customers will watch at home and order a special sausage for takeout.

The Red Hot closed for the initial stay-at-home orders, leaving kegs of one of the city’s best beer lists idling in fermented despair. When the bar announced its reopening — for takeout beer only at first — in June, fans lined up immediately. Now you can sit indoors, at half-capacity, but takeout of hot dogs and Crowlers remains a standard option.

“Click on the Link” airs on the Cooking Channel Nov. 4 at 6 p.m., and will re-air at 10 p.m. You can also find it on the Cooking Channel GO app.

The Red Hot

▪ 2914 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-779-0229, redhottacoma.com

▪ Sunday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

▪ Order takeout food and beer online or by phone

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 1:00 PM.