Hot dogs are one of those foods that can be extremely appetizing on television, beyond its intrinsic ordinariness. For instance, Anthony Bourdain can make some city’s version look like a meal worth getting on an airplane for. Heck, I’ve watched an entire hour on hot dogs around the United States. They all looked good.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a hankering and went on the hunt for an Austin hot dog. There wasn’t one immediately on my radar. Lucky Dog used to be my go-to, with the Chicago-style dog their specialty. For this excursion, I had to go to Yelp and (re)discovered Man Bites Dog. Several years ago I ate at a location on South Lamar (near The Old Alligator Grill!), but I don’t remember much. It’s now closed, and they’ve moved up north.
The new location is on Burnet near North Loop. It was fairly empty when I went in, and I had to start from scratch on the menu. Lots of options, but one in particular jumped out at me: Hair of the Dog. This is going to sound extreme, but open your mind. Deep-fried bacon-wrapped beef frank, chili, cheddar cheese, fried egg, and Tabasco sauce. They had me at “bacon-wrapped.”Let’s go through this. Chili and cheese are a no-brainer, and cheddar is pretty much the only option. The deep-fried part doesn’t scare me because that dog’s got to get cooked somehow. And a fried egg goes with everything. Honestly, I could do without the Tabasco, but I’m willing to accept a pre-packaged concept and not worry with substitutions.
The bun at MBD is fairly large but substantial. Each level required two bites, one from each side, but it held up. Sure enough, the Tabasco was superfluous, but it didn’t damage the goods. Egg still had liquid yolk which is important. I got tater tots on the side. They were on the soft side, but still cooked through and salted well. No complaints.
Salt-of-the-earth food can be admired as much as any cuisine, and hot dogs are worth of this level of interest. I’m going to have to go back to Man Bites Dog. That menu’s not going to eat itself.