Tag: hot dog

Categories
bar/drinking travel

Dining with Dondero: Happy Dog (Cleveland, OH)

American singer-songwriter, David Dondero, is reporting in his meals from his current tour. He’s living my dream of playing music and eating on the road. Here is Happy Dog in Cleveland, OH.

“The Happy Dog in Cleveland, OH. I came here a year ago for the first Weapons of Mass Creation Fest. It was the best closest bar to the church I was playing in. Turns out they do shows there too and serve great hotdogs with the most bizarre additions. The first time I ate at Happy Dog was with professional pinball champion Darren Hanlon. I had my hotdog with kim chee, a fried egg, tomatoes, bacon, Cajun mayonnaise, yellow mustard, chipotle ketchup, smoked gouda cheese and some crispy fried onions if I remember correctly. I think the Dazzler had the same or something close. My memory is a little foggy because this was last September and I’m just now looking back at the pictures from my first encounter with the Happy Dog. They’ve got pinball in the back corner of the this classic Midwestern corner bar. Here’s a picture (below) of Dazzy Hazzlon “the pinball millionaire” practicing for upcoming world championship competition. We both left stuffed and happy. Plenty of fuel any person looking to ramble and rock out.

My second visit to the Happy Dog happened just last night for the 2nd annual WMC fest. This time was packed full of concert goers but the service was great and fast. Everyone extremely friendly. I got my hotdog with bourbon baked beans, wasabi peas, bacon spiked southern style greens, cucumbers and Cajun mayo. My buddy Chris got his with red pepper relish, raspberry crunch mustard, Oaxacan red chile and chocolate mole, habanero pickled red onions, smoked gouda and chorizo chile. Each hot dog only 5 bucks. Eat it with a fork and a knife. Mine was great the first visit ,,, last night was good but my bun was a little stale. I can overlook that. Sometimes you get to the tail end of the bun bag and it comes out stale.” –dd

Happy Dog – 5801 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, OH 44102

David Dondero is one of the hardest working touring folk singers in America. Once named one of the Best Living Songwriters by NPR, alongside Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Paul McCartney. It’s a privilege to have him part of Me So Hungry. http://www.daviddonderomusic.com/

Categories
travel video

Matt’s Bachelor Atlantic City Party

My burger buddy Matt is about to get married so party time in Atlantic City. It was the bro time of my life. Photos of the non-stupid stuff below. The German Sausage from 7-Eleven was probably the best thing I ate. They had some spicy Indian chili sauce on the toppings bar. It was surprisingly good, but I got my wiener too early. I didn’t know there was a boardwalk full of AC pizza and dog shops around the corner. There’s also a lot of Cash for Gold shops. I understand why people need the cash, but I want to know who goes there to buy the gold?

We stopped at this punching bag booth on our way to Hooters. There was a guy talking shit behind us. I wish I kept shooting when he tried to show off when we were done, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. He took a swing and fell onto the clothing racks and then the ground. His girlfriend was laughing at him. Then he got back up and swung again and only got a 78. I blew it with my camera. It could have been the next Keyboard Cat viral. I still don’t know that is.

We took a gamble on the brunch buffet at Virginia City buffet in the Wild Wild West Casino. The only thing good about that place was the dining room looked like fake country houses. I couldn’t believe we were eating inside a mini house inside a casino building. It seemed so nice outside on the fake porch. Also there’s a coupon for $10 slot credit when you buy a buffet. It’s like trying to win your money back from the buffet you found out you didn’t want to eat. Matt was the big winner at $30 from the coupon credit. Fun times!

Categories
restauranting

Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint Too

Met up with Jody & Christa at the second Big Nick’s in the Upper West Side. George Plimpton look-alikes, who probably have gone there for decades, eating pizza with forks. $1.50 Miller beer & $2.40 Jumbo Pizza slices. We went with the Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella sticks for appetizers. Nothing special with the appz and ended up realizing we could have gotten five more slices instead. Also tried the Giant Hot dog $2.25 which wasn’t so giant, more normal sized. –Sticking with the basics: cheap beer and Jumbo slices and you’re good to go. Although next time, I’m trying the Sumo Burger.

Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint Too – 70 W. 71st St (@ Columbus) New York, NY 10024

Categories
concert/event

BK Holiday Meatup / Asia Dog / Bark Hot Dogs

Matt invited me to the Brooklyn Based Holiday Meatup last night at the Bell House. The event where everyone is there to pickup chicks or be picked up. I didn’t wake up that morning knowing that I was supposed to make out with random strangers. If I did, I would have worn my Air Jordans.

I was a little confused when I got there. I thought it would be a show or something. Then I realized it was a bunch of people standing around talking and wondered if I just paid $15 to hang out with Matt. But we found it really easy to make new friends, especially with the whole name tag system. They were doing porn names (first name: your first pet; last name: the street you grew up on). I didn’t have a pet growing up, so I imagined I would name him Johnathan …”Johnathan Lake Sue” I was. Girls kept asking, “You really named your pet Jonathan?” …”I wish.”

Some guy tried to AMOG me when I was talking to some girls. He came up and said my name tag sounded gay. It was really bad. So I just admitted that my dog was gay. Then he had to walk away.

The other thing that really helped people meet each other was they were handing out cards of other people’s names. You had to find them and you’d both get a free drink. I had to find “Pepper Hollycreek.” It was fun game and even girls would walk around with me trying to find her. I eventually exchanged my card for a new one and got “Molly Dixon,” who I soon found through her friend that came up to me. I think her friend was trying to put her hand down my back pocket, but I wouldn’t have it. Not until we go steady.

They were serving Asia Dogs, hot dogs with an Asian twist (i.e. kimchi, bulgogi, banh mi style). Looks like they travel from the Bell House, Trophy Bar, Brooklyn Flea, etc. I got the WangDing – Chinese BBQ Pork Belly and Onions. The lady said it was her mom’s Char Siu (BBQ Pork) recipe. It was good. $4 for the regular hot dog and $5 for the organic ones that are a lot bigger.

I went back in for the dance party and had a good time. At that point, a girl that looked like Sharkira said she’d have me only if I knew how to surf. So I did my Keanu Reeves/Point Break impression. I guess it didn’t work, because I’m looking at my photos and see that Matt and I ended up at Bark Hot Dogs. Got there right at closing. They were kind enough to make us a couple dogs. The hot dog had a really nice snap to it.

So the BK Holiday Meatup was fun. Easy to talk to girls that want to be talked to. There was about 75% girls and a lot of guys who looked uncomfortable. There was a 70 year-old man who wandered around looking lost. I’m wondering if he was looking for the girl with the name tag he was given.

Asia Dog – check their site/twitter for where they are
Bark Hot Dogs – 474 Bergen St (btw 5th Ave & Flatbush) Brooklyn, NY 11217

Categories
lunch

Dogmatic – Fancy Hot Dogs and Sausages

I walked around during my lunch all over the place trying to find a Derek Smalls type mustache for the Spinal Tap Sing-a-long I’m hosting in a couple weeks. It was tough. I almost bought an Abe Lincoln beard thinking I could wear it upside down. Instead, I settled on a baby Derek Smalls stache for $20. Better than nothing I suppose. (foreshadowing the next post)

I then passed by Dogmatic, the place with the fancy looking sausage/hot dogs that my friends Liz and Allison told me about a long time ago. It’s in the same place where they used to have another expensive hot dog place, but not as fancy looking as it is now. The baguette style bread is toasted on metal spikes and the sausage inserted into the baguette tube. You get a choice of sausage or asparagus and a sauce like chimichurri, cheddar jalepeno, and sun dried tomato feta. I got the pork sausage with truffle gruyere sauce, a side of mac n cheese and their coconut homemade soda (around $10). Creamy overload there.

The mac n cheese is amazing. It was oozing with creamy bubbling cheese when I pierced it with my fork. The best texture of mac n cheese to memory. A bit more salt on it would have made it rule.

One of the employees was super nice and enthusiastic about her job. She should be on a McDonald’s commercial selling Egg McMuffins. She sure can sell sausages.

Dogmatic Gourmet Sausage System – 120 MacDougal Street, NY NY 10012

Categories
travel

Great Falls & Texas Wiener

Field trip to see the waterfall in Paterson, New Jersey. We explored the backside where the once industrial factories have turned to rubble. We ran into crates from the Colt gun mill, a viscous beaver, and a lone hooker boot. Then we took a break at the cute Libby’s Lunch diner and got a huge Texas wiener. I haven’t seen a dog like that before.

Great Falls – Paterson, NJ
Libby’s Lunch – 98 McBride Ave. Paterson NJ

“Behind Great Falls” …a suspense thriller directed by Jason Lam

Categories
concert/event

Hot Dog Hootenanny

Over to the Hot Dog Hootenanny today courtesy of Serious Eats. I’ve never thrown so many dogs down my hall in one day. They had Crif Dogs Chihuahua (Bacon Wrapped Dog Covered w/ Avocado & Sour Cream), New York Hotdog Bulgogi Dog, Chicago Dogs with relish and peppers from Wheelhouse pickles, and Papaya King NY dog with sauerkraut, red onions and mustard. My favorite was the Bulgogi Dog, but ironically what would have made it better is if they took out the hot dog. The Korean beef was that good.

Then we got a hot dog lecture and tasting by Bruce Kraig, author of Hot Dog: A Global History (Edible). It was enjoyable. I liked how the guy laughed and cackled. I learned that I may be able to tell the difference between the dogs, but I couldn’t really tell which one was better (w/ the exception of the very salty Oscar Mayer wiener). I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing. I wished the Hipster Grifter came out at the end as a surprise guest and threw dogs down the hall.

These Astor Center events are cool. The upcoming Russ & Daughters tasting sounds fun. Thank you Serious Eats. Sorry Bartender for being an alcoholic.

Is everything about hot dogs? As I type this, American Dad is about them. And speaking of an Attitude of Gratitude, a nice lady gave me her leftover hot dog tickets. Four more dogs down the hall, but I couldn’t put myself to do it.

Categories
partying restauranting takee outtee

Hot Doggin Karaoke

A bite at Crif Dogs before karaoke. I was curious about the “Stoner Pack” which is a grab bag of food for $10. I couldn’t find any pics or contents of what people have gotten. I thought I would be the first to foodblog it, but I really wanted to try the Spicy Redneck – House Dog, Bacon Wrapped, with Chili, Cole Slaw, and Jalapenos… so chalk another one up to pussying out.

We brought some Japanese treats from JasMart to Toto Karaoke.
Here are Yoshie’s translations:
karaoke cheetos: “Umai-wa“  – means “delicious ring”
uni flavored puff:　”Huwamaru“  – loosely translates to “soft snacks”
edamame puffs: “Beano”

Even though karaoke was BYOB, that room ended up over $400 for 4 hours. Dang. At least the sun hadn’t risen when we walked out. That’s happened a few times before.

Crif Dogs – 113 St Marks Pl (btw Ave A & 1st Ave) New York 10009
Toto Music Studio – 38 W 32nd St #5 New York, NY 10001 …I often think back to my surprise b-day party at this Karaoke place when I want to get to an Attitude of Gratitude. Dimebag Darrell guitar cake with lightning boltz!
Ramen and Friends’ cross post