Interesting, tasty and pricey.
LOL Thats what I was trying to say about the $78 post earlier. For a reg sized dog, just cant see paying over $3. Remember balking at the $3 dogs at the Brick several years ago (1st season) and refusing. Couldn't even get onions on it! The only eating place in the entire place that had onions was the onion fried burger place and they wouldn't do raw. The various places said it wasn't cost effective for them to do the prep on the onions. AT the time, for $3/dog only have to sell a couple to cover the labor in peeling/chopping a whole #50 bag of them!
The bottomline is that this place is just like Big Truck Tacos: an overpriced food venue that for some reason is really "hip" right now. Even so, it is very nice to see local businesses popping up along 23rd and dressing the neighborhood up, being as how scummy 23rd can be.
I went the other day for take-out. I got the Liberty dog (kraut and brown mustard) and the Windy City Dog (a chicago dog). Raw, uncooked buns. Good kraut. Good fries. Nice clean atmosphere in the place. Definitely does not live up to the "Amazing Hot Dog!" slogan.
This food is no different than an Oscar Mayer wiener you'd make at home. ALSO I asked for extra relish to go and was told "we dont have any to give out for to-go orders." THAT blew my mind and really makes me not want to go back.
Well, it wasn't *amazing*, but it was good and probably reasonably priced if you don't fall into the trap of thinking "it's just a hot dog". Big Truck has the same problem - "it's just a taco", but it's not - it's good quality ingredients put together in an enjoyable (and abundant) package – it just has a “cheap” name.
There is enough variety on the menu that I would like to try it a few more times, assuming it does not become like Big Truck and become more of a hassle to get into than the food is worth. The 11-12 lunch crowd today was very manageable.
The two of us had the:
Tatonka ($7.00) - excellent, but I'm not sure what I got was actually a bison dog. It was indistinguishable from the beef dog in color, taste, and texture. With a bison dog it is probably worth $7.00 considering this could easily be a meal with no sides.
Sweet Caroline ($4.50) - good but not outstanding. Didn't get finished.
Fried pickles ($4.00) - very good. Thicker batter than I am used to, which is a good change. The pink sauce was similar to onion blossom sauce - I was expecting a little more given the pedigree of the place.
Potato salad w/blue cheese (3.00) - Initially I really liked this, however after eating a few bites the cumulative aftertaste was very unpleasant. I couldn't exactly place the taste, but it was like the potatoes had been cooked or marinated in some kind of flavored vinegar.
A few notes:
They should be commended on the smoothness of the operation. Big Truck was a mess for the first couple of months. Mutt's runs like it has been open for years.
If they are going to serve knife and fork hot dogs, I wish they would serve them on something other than paper. The paper gets soaked and rips and tears then you have to pick it out of every bite.
The worst part of the experience is the pressure to turn tables. We didn't even get our last bite down without someone coming by to clear dishes and asking multiple times if we were done yet with the side dishes. At this point the restaurant wasn't even full. It was extremely annoying.
Ick. I hope they read here or a friend who does reports back to them if you dinna mention it. Let's face it, if you wanna eat paper in your food, there are way cheaper places for that, and in some of them, having the paper flavor might even be a plus.
If you dinna mention it to the manager, you should the next time you experience it. Pressuring a customer to get out is a good way to loose long term business. Of course, a polite expression and a "Thank you, but you're providing a tad more service than I desire today" will probably also make the point.
Update: I got an "all-american" dog from Sonic yesterday for 2 bucks. It has mustard, ketchup, onions and relish... so good. It beats Mutts out by a mile.
Do you guys know what the crowd is like at lunch?
I work on the Southside, and a group of us are thinking about heading up there for lunch.
Is the line as bad as Big Truck?
No, it's not nearly as bad as Big Truck. You'll hit a normal rush at noon, but if you arrive at 11:40 a.m. or after 12:30 p.m., you ought to be fine. And even arriving at noon won't be the end of the world. If it's a large group of you (more than six) I'd show up at 11:30 a.m. or at 1 p.m.
Thanks man!
I passed this for the first time yesterday. Is it any good? How does it compare to say Coney Islander?
We ate lunch there today, pretty dang good, much better than Man Bites Dog in Austin. I had the Boardwalk (traditional chili cheese with mustard and onions) and we shared a basket of Pups (mini corn dog nuggets), fries and my sister and nephew had the Fried Pickles as well. Will definitely have to take my wife there when we are doing the final move from Austin to Denver.
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I haven't tried it yet but one of my co-workers told me a few days ago that he had just tried it because he had heard so much about. He said the food was inedible. I didn't ask for specifics but he said he would never go again. I wouldn't rule it out just because of that but it gives me pause.
Dont get out that way much so have only been there one time. They were very accommodating when I told them about this thing I briefly saw on one of the food network shows by a place in MO called an Okie Dog (didn't catch why it was called that). Anyway, it was a hotdog wrapped with a piece of bacon, dipped in cord dog batter (no stick) deep fried and served on a bun. They gave it a try and it was tasty (but I really couldn't taste the bacon). Other than that it, the place seems a bit pricey for a hot dog place but they arent run of the mill hot dogs either. Think someone called them gourmet dogs and anytime you add the word gourmet in front of something it is probably going to cost you a bit more. Other than the price thing (value for the money) that was my only issue with the place. if in the area with some extra cash to burn and something different, I would go back.
I don't ever give much credence to reviews/reviewers that are so over the top. I could see where someone might not like a particular restaurant for whatever reason - but to claim an obviously popular restaurant's food is "inedible," says more about the reviewer than the restaurant.
Brian, Brian, Brian ... you clearly never went to Applewoods after it was sold by Dick Stubbs to an out-of-state owner. I agree, the use of "inedible" is often out of line, but when it came to the ruination of Applewoods, good god, that word really fit.
YALL need to check out tacoville ,,,man they got awesome hotdogs!!!!
Shouldn't that be awesome TACOS? LOL
Amen. I *always* ask "So what was so bad about it?" if someone says "It sucked" or "It was inedible" or ....... Then I give credibility to their opinion after trying to figure out what they like and how well it aligns with what I like - could be none at all or a lot depending on their answers. It's like the Urbanspoon or Yelp reviews that say "Great food, good service, love it!!!!!!". Absolutely no useful information at all in that type of review.
nm, double-posted for some reason.
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