Hot Dog!

Okay, here it is. It's the dog report from our recent trip to several major league parks. I'll begin with the dogs at Chase Park in Phoenix from May. The dog itself was a good hotdog but there wasn't anything special about the condiments making it nothing more than a good hotdog.

I'll tell you that the Kansas City Royals had a very good dog. It has the potential to become my favorite except for two things; they grill their onions with peppers. The peppers make it look pretty but grilled peppers tend to be a bit bitter. And the onions need to be grilled a little longer to carmelize or they need to use a sweeter onion. If they would do those two things, they would have the best ballpark dog I've ever had. Topped with kraut and mustard...a ballpark masterpiece.

I was disappointed in the Wrigley Field dog. Their Chicago "style" dog was a far cry from a real Chicago Dog. I know that I would have had to pay more for a Vienna Beef dog and a genuine Chicago Dog but so what? The KC dog was $6.

Saturday at the Jake I'll have to admit that I passed on the Pound Hound. I think that I ate too much at the stop on the way or maybe was just not in the mood for a dog. I will say that it smelled great.

Great American park in Cincy was a different ballpark experience. It didn't feel like a ballpark and our bleacher buddies weren't the appetite enhancing neighbors.

By Monday at US Cellular in Chicago I was ready for a good dog and was rewarded for the wait. In spite of filling up on gyros and baklava in Greek Town, I powered down a great dog loaded with grilled onions and brown mustard. The only complaint here was that you could only get kraut at the brat stand and even then, it cost extra!

At Milwaulkee I skipped the dog and went for the Polish Sausage and kraut. It was pretty fine cuisine but I'm not sure how to compare it to the dogs. For the most part, I go for the dogs.

Aaron loves a good brat and said that the KC brat was the best. Cincy had a good brat and to my surprise,he was disappointed with the brat in Milwaulkee.

Overall, whether by prejudice or just good taste, my favorite dog was the one I was waiting for in St. Louis. I'm not talking about the concession stand dog. You have to get these Kosher babies at their own little grilling cart. The kosher dog with grilled onions and kraut are absolutely the best. I can tell you that I've introduced a number of Cardinal fans to these babies and they ALWAYS go to the park looking for one of these dogs.

My ranking for the dogs:
St. Louis
Chicago (Sox)
KC
Arizona
Milwaulkee (Polish Sausage)
Chicago (Cubs)

Aaron's ranking on the brats:
KC
Cincinnatti
Milwaulkee

I should mention that Aaron also ranks the St. Louis Dog as #1 although he doesn't use the kraut!

Bon appetite,

John