Thursday, June 14, 2012

Citidogs


By chance, driving along Chapel Hill Road this afternoon, I noticed a new hot dog business, Citidogs, in the former Dog House location at The Shoppes at Lakewood. I was actually on my way to check out another hot dog venue in Durham and decided to change my plans.

Apparently, this location has been open for less than a week. Business seemed moderate. A couple of folks in front of me had ordered, and several arrived shortly after me. However, I'm not sure what the future holds for Citidogs. As you'll see, it's not one of my favorites.


Northside Dog
Dog prices aren't bad at 1.50 per hot dog, including the toppings. They also offer a special: 2 dogs, fries, and a beverage for 5 bucks.

I prefer my hot dogs with slaw and onions in addition to the mustard and chili, but sometimes I find that pre-packaged slaw (slaw that is not freshly made) can distract from what might be a decent dog without the slaw. Some folks call the dog with mustard, slaw, chili, and onions a combo dog. Others call it an all the way dog. Others understand all the way to mean mustard, onions, and chili. Perhaps the easiest way to name them is with cute-ish names as they do at Citidogs. However, I saw no combo dog on the menu, so I chose one Northside (mustard, onions, chili) dog and one Eastside (mustard, slaw, and chili) along with my usual diet Coke.


Eastside Dog
After a short wait, my dogs were ready. A couple of picnic tables are close, so I opted to sit at one of them. I unrolled the Northside first. It felt cool in my hand, which surprised me a bit. I'm used to a hot dog being at least lukewarm if not warm. I guess that's because my favorite hot dogs have traditionally been served in steamed buns. These were not. But the dog looked pretty good except that the chili seemed to be more mush than meaty. When I tasted it, I confirmed. There really isn't much to the chili. It's a bit sweet and mushy. The onions were a bit mushy as well. I wasn't very impressed, but I still had my Eastside dog. Maybe it would be better...

It wasn't. Sadly, it made the Northside dog better. The slaw as prepackaged and very sweet. That sweet combined with the sweetness of the chili made me debate whether to even finish the dog. I did, and I wished I had not. The only thing I could say for either was that the wiener was not to blame. They looked and tasted as if they had been grilled, and it had a bit of char on them. If I were ever to eat here again, I'd opt for a naked dog, perhaps with just mustard and onions... but there are definitely better dogs to be had.

My verdict: 2 weenies



UPDATE: The public agree. This hot dog stand is history.


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