The Hot Dog Shop

Houston, TX

Nestled along a long row of factories and manly men workplaces, this is definitely a blue collar hot dog place, as hot dog places should be. I ate at a randomly odd time of about 3 in the afternoon so I couldn’t get a good demographic on the clientele. One could assume though that many workers from the nearby industrial places ate here frequently. I had a pair of dogs- one was a regular hot dog and the other was a Chicago dog. The dogs were Vienna Beef which is a great brand to start with. Even with after starting with this kind of dog, it kind of went downhill after that. You get to name your own toppings out of the twelve they offer which is a cool gimmick, and more toppings were offered than I normally see. Just because you COULD do something in life, doesn’t mean you SHOULD…which includes Chicago dogs. Three things make a good, true Chicago dog- poppy seed bun, toxic colored relish, and celery salt. 0 for 3 at this place on those items. C-

Atmosphere- Don’t be fooled by the name of The Hot Dog Shop as this is definitely a bar that serves food. But this place rocked as to an atmosphere! When you first walk in, you are at the counter to order and you see the grill and all the employees behind it working on your dog. As you wander back into the establishment, you see a full bar complete with darts, pool, dance floor and the latest version of Golden Tee. But the two true high spots would have to be the room that was built in or added on JUST for bar shuffleboard or the ongoing darts league that is sponsored there. Truly unique and totally fits the location and a classic hotdog. A-

Value- At $2.79 for my hot dog and $3.09 for my Chicago dog I was disappointed in the bang-for-your-buck aspect. Though compared to the rest of the menu, the dogs themselves were the cheapest items to eat. If you can’t find a hot dog near the bottom of the price menu, something is wrong. They hit this dead on in proportion to the other food items. B-

Side Dish Jody Says…I ordered the fried chicken finger sandwich but decided to turn it into a buffalo sandwich using the giant pump operated red hot tabasco sauce dispenser. Lots of self serve condiments including lemon slices for your water, but the opportunity of cross contamination of germs was there. C