HTeaO

[Paseofreak]

Cheap (not) thrills for the image seekers. Mutts and Backdoor a smashing success? Not so much. Read the reviews.

[Teo9969]

Cheap (not) thrills for the image seekers. Mutts and Backdoor a smashing success? Not so much. Read the reviews.

Backdoor admittedly I don't know as much about, but Mutt's seems to be doing just fine when I'm in there (once every 40 days or so), always between a steady pace and busy. You also included Big Truck with that, and that place is undoubtedly a success.

I'm not saying they're God's gift to the restaurant world by any means, but they're fine options. None of them have dismal urban spoon ratings (<70%), and considering their casual nature, that's fine. Perhaps a bit expensive, but they've also done a lot for 23rd early on. Hopefully they work on getting better (I saw Big Truck finally put some more items on the menu), and more than likely they'll have to over the next few years as OKC's food scene continues to explode.

Anyway…I'd not have said anything, but I guess we just have very different definitions of "crap"

[Paseofreak]

There is no doubt they have done enormous good for 23rd Street and they are geniuses at marketing. I completely give them unending credit for that. But I can go to 12th and Penn, 23rd and I-44 or two dozen places south of Reno and get far superior Mexican food for half the price or less than Big Truck offers. You need go no further than Culbertson to get far better barbecue for about half the price if you take into consideration serving size than Backdoor serves and you don't have to put up with bad barbecue resulting from no one working there understanding what good barbecue is, not to mention their crazy take on nouveau barbecue, especially sauces. As for hot dogs in OKC I'm at a total loss to offer up anything but Chili Dog Express as competition, but they also use such a big dog that it's either dog or dressing and a complete mess to eat. But, I give Mutts a two of five against other hot dog places I've been in other cities. Bottom line, IMO the group doesn't respect what they're making at all and simply throws stuff on top of traditional food. I don't know anyone that eats at any of them after the second or third time. It's gimmickry. Honest opinion. Sorry if it disagrees with yours.

[Roger S]

Cheap (not) thrills for the image seekers. Mutts and Backdoor a smashing success? Not so much. Read the reviews.

I don't think you can measure success on reviews alone.... I haven't been in Back Door for dinner since they opened but they are usually operating at, or near, capacity for lunch.

As many times as they have served me overcooked meat I'm not sure how they are doing it but they are doing it...... As I commented on my FB page when they served me bologna jerky a few weeks ago "Maybe everyone else was eating salads...".

[Teo9969]

There is no doubt they have done enormous good for 23rd Street and they are geniuses at marketing. I completely give them unending credit for that. But I can go to 12th and Penn, 23rd and I-44 or two dozen places south of Reno and get far superior Mexican food for half the price or less than Big Truck offers. You need go no further than Culbertson to get far better barbecue for about half the price if you take into consideration serving size than Backdoor serves and you don't have to put up with bad barbecue resulting from no one working there understanding what good barbecue is, not to mention their crazy take on nouveau barbecue, especially sauces. As for hot dogs in OKC I'm at a total loss to offer up anything but Chili Dog Express as competition, but they also use such a big dog that it's either dog or dressing and a complete mess to eat. But, I give Mutts a two of five against other hot dog places I've been in other cities. Bottom line, IMO the group doesn't respect what they're making at all and simply throws stuff on top of traditional food. I don't know anyone that eats at any of them after the second or third time. It's gimmickry. Honest opinion. Sorry if it disagrees with yours.

Man, it's not that I think you should have to like it, but your criticism is not valid based on the fact that you don't understand the concept of the restaurant. That you categorize Big Truck as Mexican Food is pretty demonstrative of how far your vision of what every "taco" in the world should be and the vision these restaurant owners had when they opened. It's not Mexican food, it was never intended to be Mexican food. It's American culinary served in a small flour/corn tortilla. Same thing with the hot dogs, and same thing with the BBQ. Their intent was never to be traditional or to try and cover up their inability to do traditional. I promise you, if these people were interested in doing traditional, they'd make it happen, but quite frankly, it bores them.

This same ownership opened Pizzeria Gusto and (part of them) own the Metro. They're not Michelin Star restaurants, but these people are not inept.

[soonerguru]

Big Truck is still pretty solid, easily the best of the concepts. Gusto is very good, but quite expensive and not as good as it could / should be.

[Paseofreak]

Man, it's not that I think you should have to like it, but your criticism is not valid based on the fact that you don't understand the concept of the restaurant. That you categorize Big Truck as Mexican Food is pretty demonstrative of how far your vision of what every "taco" in the world should be and the vision these restaurant owners had when they opened. It's not Mexican food, it was never intended to be Mexican food. It's American culinary served in a small flour/corn tortilla. Same thing with the hot dogs, and same thing with the BBQ. Their intent was never to be traditional or to try and cover up their inability to do traditional. I promise you, if these people were interested in doing traditional, they'd make it happen, but quite frankly, it bores them.

This same ownership opened Pizzeria Gusto and (part of them) own the Metro. They're not Michelin Star restaurants, but these people are not inept.

Well, thank you for defining my understanding of food. I assure you that I've been at both consuming and preparing it for quite some time. But that matters not. What matters is if, through throwing s**t at the wall they make it better than or equal to what is traditional and it sticks. Quite simply it does not. Go read the menu for BTT. Entirely presented as Mexican dishes. The fillings are overwhelmingly presented as Mexican. Yet they sorely lack in flavor and texture and rely on the five sauces to make the dish. The sauces help a lot, but it remains boring, sometimes texturally queezy and well beneath the level of a multitude of places south of Reno. Backdoor fails to execute good barbecue before adding their "special take" and the sauces are departure for departures sake without achieving a good sauce. Like Blech! Weak, weird and why? I absolutely cherish hot dogs, but Mutts has lost the trail. Every single thing they serve that is named as a representation of a classic dog completely lands off center to the point that it no longer resembles it's namesake enough to reference the original. I don't care of they are bored or not. They are not adding or improving beyond the traditional. They may be able to knock the traditional out of the park, but they chose not to. It's mostly an excercise in culinary name dropping on familiar ground that fails to improve upon the original. American culinary? Hell no! There are a multitude of far, far better original American innovations and takes on classics than to even consider these among them. That said, if you like it, by all means eat there as much as you can afford and make them wealthy.

[David]

I would have sworn Pete asked us recently to be generally polite about local establishments.

[Roger S]

I would have sworn Pete asked us recently to be generally polite about local establishments.

He did but he never tried to dissuade any of us from giving out honest opinions.

[Mr. Cotter]

Big Truck is still pretty solid, easily the best of the concepts. Gusto is very good, but quite expensive and not as good as it could / should be.

I have the opposite opinion. Big Truck, while really very good, is more expensive than several other taco places in town that I like better. Gusto provides a nice dining experience, excellent food that is different than any other pizza in town, and, I feel, comes at a a really good value. Lunch for two, with an appetizer, soda and tip is about $30. We'd spend $20 at big truck to eat on a dirty pick-nick table.

Since this is the Mutt's thread, I'll reiterate my opinion on that restaurant: I won't pay $5 for a store bought hot dog, no matter how many toppings are added.

[no1cub17]

What an embarrassing thread. My wife and I love Mutt's. We don't go there more than once a month or so, but when we do, it's such a refreshing change from the usual restaurant fare. What's wrong with all of you crying about paying $5 for a really tasty hot dog? AND they have vegan options! No doubt their business could be better - in fact they scrapped their falafel dogs as they weren't selling as well (we should've gone more often I suppose) - but their vegan dogs are just amazing. Try the vegan pitbull and tell me it's not worth $5? Seriously? What is wrong with some of you. Their specials and other options are usually excellent and tasty. Awhile back they had a fried catfish sandwich which was just delicious. I hope the new owners keep Mutt's largely the way it is.

[zookeeper]

What an embarrassing thread. My wife and I love Mutt's. We don't go there more than once a month or so, but when we do, it's such a refreshing change from the usual restaurant fare. What's wrong with all of you crying about paying $5 for a really tasty hot dog? AND they have vegan options! No doubt their business could be better - in fact they scrapped their falafel dogs as they weren't selling as well (we should've gone more often I suppose) - but their vegan dogs are just amazing. Try the vegan pitbull and tell me it's not worth $5? Seriously? What is wrong with some of you. Their specials and other options are usually excellent and tasty. Awhile back they had a fried catfish sandwich which was just delicious. I hope the new owners keep Mutt's largely the way it is.

Thank you. I, too, hope they don't change Mutt's much. I love it (and the food) just as it is.

[jrod]

Hear, hear. Don't change a thing Mutts. I had no idea we had so many Michelin judges on this board! To say there isn't a good dog at Mutts is absurd. Did Kathryn piss you off at some point Paseofreak??

[jrod]

Also, Paseo, re: the "reviews". (Per Yelp) Mutts 4/5, Backdoor 3.5/5, BTT 3.5/5... They're not exactly one star joints.

[Colbafone]

The mutts in Edmond has closed

Signs are all taken down and everything. I am sad

[tsou89]

Never like it when a business isn’t successful but I’m not surprised. Didn’t see very big crowds there and there’s a lot of competition within a few miles. I only went twice but both time my food was good (not great) but the overall operation seemed a bit awkward.

[Pete]

The Edmond site is off their website but it looks like they plan to stick with the one location in Uptown.

[TheTravellers]

Not a bit surprised. Got mailers from the 23rd location months ago and they had pared down to the bare essentials, taking away almost all, if not all, of the "gourmet" type of dogs. We decided there were many other better places to go to than a regular hot-dog joint, which is what they became. Wonder how long the 23rd location will stick around...

[BBatesokc]

Went a couple of times after they opened. Haven't thought of a single reason to return in the last year or two. Food was always fine. But, at their price point, the options in that area are too numerous.

For me, when I want a hot dog I want a classic no-fluff dog. I pass up two Coney Island locations and the Chili Dog Express (across the street from my office) just to eat at Hot Dogs and More at SE 44th and I-35.

[Thomas Vu]

To be fair--and this may come off as a "hot take"--the coney island express downtown is
A. No frills
B. Not good

Would you happen to know if they chili dog express uses a grill for their hot dogs? When I worked downtown all I really wanted was a place that didn't use boiled water

[Roger S]

For me, when I want a hot dog I want a classic no-fluff dog. I pass up two Coney Island locations and the Chili Dog Express (across the street from my office) just to eat at Hot Dogs and More at SE 44th and I-35.

I've always wanted to try them just based on how long they've managed to make it at that location.

To be fair--and this may come off as a "hot take"--the coney island express downtown is
A. No frills
B. Not good

Would you happen to know if they chili dog express uses a grill for their hot dogs? When I worked downtown all I really wanted was a place that didn't use boiled water

Only been once and pretty sure they were boiled and kind of expensive.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

We like Mutts Uptown. Yes, it's changed a lot and the menu is definitely paired down. I hated when they got rid of deviled eggs. But we will still go.

[John Knight]

I remember back in early 2016 when I worked at Sysco and met with the new operator. They asked if I could rebrand them based on a conversation we had. I had completely forgot about this until I saw this thread show up. My submission to them for funsies

[Martin]

that's not bad work but i'm kind of glad that mutts has kept the kitsch element of their branding.

[John Knight]

that's not bad work but i'm kind of glad that mutts has kept the kitsch element of their branding.

Yeah, after going back and forth, they decided to keep things in line with their original look.