Browsing Tag

hot dogs

Events Restaurant Reviews

Happy Dog, Cleveland, OH

August 2, 2013

While staying in Cleveland in July, we were sitting in our hotel room watching Food Network (because we’re a bunch of lardo’s) when a commercial came on for “Best Thing I Ever Ate.” We were about to turn off the tv and walk out the door, when Michael Symon came on and said the best thing he ever ate was a hot dog from Happy Dog in Cleveland. Sean and I immediately looked at each other as a plan quickly formed in our brains.

We have lots of ideas. Not a lot of "good" ideas, though.

We have lots of ideas. Not a lot of “good” ideas, though.

The space is very divey. You can tell this is more of a place to go at night (they have a stage setup for live music), so it looked kind of empty in the daylight. When you sit down, there are long, thin sheets of paper with all the toppings and sauces you can get on your hot dog. Their housemade quarter pound hot dog costs $5, but you get unlimited toppings, so I think that totally makes up for it. When you flip the paper over, you have a choice between fries and tater tots, and the list of all the toppings you can get on those. Basically it was my dream restaurant.

So. Many. Delicious. Choices.

So. Many. Delicious. Choices.

I was a little overwhelmed at first, because there are so many choices. I ended up ordering my hot dog with pimento mac and cheese (of course), bleu cheese coleslaw, caramelized onions, bacon, and roasted garlic aioli. I was a little worried that it was going to be too many flavors for one hot dog, but the chef managed to balance the distribution of everything really well. I loved it.

There's macaroni and cheese on my hot dog. Did I mention that this is my dream restaurant??

There’s macaroni and cheese on my hot dog. Did I mention that this is my dream restaurant??

I stayed pretty basic with my tater tots (because you know I love me some tater tots) and just got them with nacho cheese sauce and bacon.

Sorry for the poor quality. I was trying to eat and take pictures at the same time.

Sorry for the poor quality. I was trying to eat and take pictures at the same time.

Ben was brave and ordered the Michael Symon “Best Thing I Ever Ate” dog which has alien relish, chunky peanut butter, and sriracha hot sauce. As weird as it sounds, it was actually delicious. The peanut butter was not sweet at all, so it really complemented the other flavors of the dog.

Ben is slightly better at eating and taking pictures at the same time.

Ben is slightly better at eating and taking pictures at the same time.

Ben, longing for his homeland, also got the “poutine” fries, which are fries topped with bacon, feta cheese, and beef gravy. Though it wasn’t authentic Canadian poutine, it was still pretty darn good, so no complaints here.

I could eat like 3 of those right now.

I could eat like 3 of those right now.

Sean built his own dog and topped it with bourbon baked beens, pimento mac and cheese, and bacon spiked southern style greens. It was very much a southern hot dog. The bite I had was delish. He also got fries, but kept them pretty basic with cheese and bacon.

Bourbon baked beans are my friend.

I promise there’s a hot dog under all that macaroni

Christine got a very Christine hot dog, topped with cucumbers, caramelized onions, and brazilian chimichurri.

Christine is kind of strange. But I love her anyway. Or maybe because of that. I'm not sure.

Christine is kind of strange. But I love her anyway. Or maybe because of that. I’m not sure.

The one thing I thought was kind of weird was that instead of putting the sauces onto your hot dog, they brought them all out at once on a tray, so you can put it on yourself depending on how much you want. So we ended up getting 4 people’s worth of sauces brought out at once, without any idea which sauce belonged to which person (especially since we all had short term memory loss and forgot which sauces we all ordered once they took our papers away).

Saucepacalypse!

Saucepacalypse!

They also have a ton of beers on tap, including a few that they brew in-house. We got a pint of the chocolate peanut butter cup porter, and it was really yummy.

Mac and cheese hot dogs?Peanut butter cup beer? This place is heaven.

Mac and cheese hot dogs?Peanut butter cup beer? This place is heaven.

All in all I really enjoyed this place and would totally go back again next time I’m in Cleveland. Thanks for the recommendation, Mr. Symon!

I definitely left happy.

I definitely left happy.

Happy Dog
5801 Detroit Ave
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 651-9474

Happy Dog Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 9/3/12

September 3, 2012

Hope everyone had a safe and fun-filled Labor Day weekend! I know I had fun. A little too much fun, in fact. Lauren was in town, so we went a little crazy with the food and drinks. But it was totally worth it. I’m just glad I had an extra day to recover. Hooray for three day weekends!

On Sunday we saw Legally Blonde: The Musical at the historic Dock Street theater downtown, starring our friend Sean Bear. It was really good, although having no A/C in the theater was not very fun, especially since it was a full house and 92 degrees outside. But, I highly recommend seeing it, ’twas very funny!

I spent most of “Labor” Day sleeping and eating. Which was pretty awesome. I slept til one pm, and then got Jack’s Cosmic Dogs with my parents and Cullen (who were in town for a wedding). Then I took a nap. Then Ben and I watched Meet The Robinsons and then I went to sleep. Pretty much it was the perfect day.

I know I owe you guys a Boston Round Up, so expect that to happen later this week! I’m thinking Thursday.

This week’s quote is in honor of Labor Day, and comes from the ever-hilarious Stephen Colbert. Enjoy!

“Have a relaxing LaborDay everybody! Unless you’re catering my BBQ, in which case, stay focused and keep the sangria chilled.”
–Stephen Colbert

Mmm…. tastes like Patriotism.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 5/28/12

May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day! Sorry this post was so delayed. I’ve been in a food coma for a few weeks, recovering from all the food my mother made for Memorial Day weekend festivities.

Saturday night we went to dinner downtown Greenville at Pomegranate, a Persian restaurant. Who knew Greenville was worldly enough to have a Persian restaurant? I sure didn’t. But it was amazing. I’m sure I’ll be reviewing it at some point, so keep checking back!

Sunday, we celebrated Sean and Ben’s birthdays in the usual fashion: Tina made way more food than any normal human would be able to consume, and we all ate too much and drank too much and stayed up til the wee hours of the night. It was great. My dad smoked a pork butt in his new smoker (insert requisite butt joke here), and grilled hot dogs. Tina made this fruit dip from cool whip, vanilla pudding, and amaretto which was absolutely divine. I didn’t even bother with the fruit, I just kept using a spoon. She also made grape tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese (which I kept stuffing into my face), caprese bites, some kind of veggie dip and a bunch of vegetables, bread-wrapped asparagus with blue cheese, cheese dip and chips from the mexican restaurant, cold cuts, cupcakes, a cotton candy vodka sponge cake, cookies, and other various desserts and foodstuffs. There was also beer galore, and different flavored margaritas being made throughout the night.

Needless to say, I woke up Monday morning feeling like I’d been hit by train. It’s a good thing it was a holiday so I didn’t feel so bad about lounging around in sweatpants for the remainder of the day. For lunch we went to Logan’s Roadhouse (the one where you throw peanuts on the floor) where, for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to order cheese fries, and spent the rest of the day feeling even worse than when I’d woken up. And of course, that was when my mom decided it would be a good idea to go to the mall to look for bathing suits. I bought 3.

This week’s food quote comes from George Bernard Shaw and I think it pretty much sums up my thoughts about this weekend.

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
–George Bernard Shaw

I need someone to remind me how to breathe. My stomach’s so full I seem to have forgotten how.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 4/2/12

April 2, 2012

This week I’m in Dauphin Island, Alabama, spending a few days on the beach with Lauren. And to answer your next question, yes Alabama does have a beach. CLICK HERE if you don’t believe me! Cha-Cha never lies!

In honor of this week of relaxation and tanning (I better come back burnt, or else this entire week was a failure), I’m posting a quote from one of my favorite episodes of The Office, from back when it was still worth watching. It pretty much sums up my feelings on life in general.

“I just wanna lie on the beach and eat hot dogs. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
–Kevin Malone

 

And also YOUR SOUL.