HAPPY DOG (Cleveland, OH)

RESTAURANT REVIEW : One of the most challenging things to do when traveling is finding the perfect place to eat that has the best creativity or some kind of meaning to the travel.  It was recommended that I visited a place that sold gourmet hot dogs just right outside of downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  The name of the restaurant is Happy Dog, and you’ll understand why it’s named that in a minute.  Hot dogs aren’t everyday foods for me and sometimes I have to be in the “mood” to have one, but whether I was in the mood or not I was going to have one of these dogs.  I’ve never been somewhere where you can get practically anything on your hot dog so this place had me excited!  This isn’t your typical date night restaurant, it’s more of your bar scene, roll up your sleeves, don’t worry about food getting on your clothes types of restaurants.  The atmosphere is one of your typical bar, with flat screen tv’s above the bar, and arcade games in the back.  This is the perfect place to go have lunch every once in a while.

Their hot dog choices in regards to meet are pretty simple.  All beef hot dogs or a vegan hot dog.  I figured if you come to a place like this you shouldn’t be to health conscious right?  Right.  The menu ranges from toppings of Macaroni and Cheese, Sloppy Joe, Froot Loops, Caribbean Cole Slaw, and/or Jamaican Jerk Seasoning just to name a few.  Do you want to know the best part of these hot dogs?  All of the toppings are FREE!  You know how much I love FREE things?  Name me what you love the most and why, and I’ll debate you with the word FREE.  Of course, not all free things are good, but you can’t go wrong when you have a plethora of options to put on your hot dog.

Two hot dogs were ordered.  The first hot dog of choice was an all beef hot dog with Bacon-Spiked Southern Greens, Nacho Cheese, Marinated Cremini Mushrooms, and Jamaican Jerk Mustard.  This hot dog taste like it was made with love, forgiveness, and matrimony.  Okay, I’m going a bit overboard but this hot dog was absolutely fantastic.  The greens had the right amount of seasoning and weren’t too soggy, the nacho cheese was hot, the mushrooms were sautéed correctly, the egg was perfectly cooked sunny side up, and the Jamaican jerk mustard was the perfect topping on this beautiful dog.  Words can NOT express how well this dog was, and even though it was falling apart as I was biting into it, nothing could stop me from putting it back together like nothing happened.

The second dog that was ordered was a Hot Dog garnished with Bourbon Baked Beans, Caramelized Onion, Alien Relish, Vodka Sauerkraut, and Jamaican Jerk Mustard. OH. MY. GOODNESS. The bourbon baked beans tasted like the guy with the dog in the commercial was back in the kitchen making them.  They really packed the right amount of spices with the baked beans and the alien relish set it over the top.  The vodka sauerkraut was a little tart but worked well with the other sweet and hot flavors.  This dish was anything short of spectacular.

Last but not least I had to get some kind of potatoes to go with the dog, it was only right.  You have options of fries and/or tots.  It’s been so long since I’ve had tater tots that it brought me to my grade school days when you would have tator tots with the dry pizza that public school provides you.  Hey, it kept you alive right?  Well, sometimes.  I ordered the tator tots with sloppy job and cheddar cheese.  I figured if we’re going back to school, we might as well make the whole dish a grade school dish.  The sloppy joe was amazing.  It had just the right amount of peppers in it and it wasn’t too “sloppy”.  It was full of flavor, seasonings, and consistency.

When you decide to go to this restaurant, let me know what you got on your hot dog!

                      RATING SCALE- BUSINESS CLASS