Superdog

At the behest of friend-of-the-blog Mak, JLowe and I opted to try another hot dog place for lunch yesterday. And so we found ourselves in the 1400 block of SW Park, at Superdog.

We were actually quite looking forward to it. For awhile we've lamented the loss of downtown's previous hot dog king, Good Dog/Bad Dog. We've tried Wynn's, which is good. But it's no GD/BD, and so Superdog offered us a brief ray of hope in our otherwise sad world.

It was a beautiful day for a walk over. Mak, JLowe and I met at 11:50 and made the short jaunt over, each of us hungry and struggling to put together an order from the menu, which we'd previously viewed online.



It would get harder once we got there, as there are "Superdeals" to be had.

I ended up opting for the Mt. St. Helens Volcano Dog, Chicago Style. JLowe chose the Chicken Habanero sausage, Buffalo Style. Mak chose the Zweigle's White Hot, Portland Style.

For Mak and I, the Superdeal amounted to $6.25 for the dog, chips (or cookie - which I opted for), and a soda. For JLowe, the Superdeal was an additional $.50 due to the special sausage, though somehow he got charged $7.25. We still haven't quite figured it out, but it started his meal off in a sour mood.

The atmosphere in the place is nice. It's a simple lay-out, with a few tables inside and some more outside. There's a TV on the wall, which was showing Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard" with no sound. Enough distraction to help time fly, but not so much that you can't carry on a conversation.



The bathroom was funny. I went in to wash my hands, and found the following inspired installation, presumably there to keep the walls clean.



It worked. I also saw several pieces of pro-Superdog advertising, which annoyed me. Once you've got someone in the place, using the customer's-only restroom, I think you've made your sale. Let us use the facilities in peace.



I returned to the table and attacked my dog, pictured above. The relish was extra-green, clearly the result of some ardent food coloring. It was a little disconcerting. This relish was greener-than-grass, almost a radioactive green. I didn't see the point. The dog also came with a bunch of tasty little peppers and some tomato slices beside it. I added stone ground mustard and onions, and there are ample other free condiments (like kraut, a bevy of mustards, and mayonnaise) available to doctor your dog up with, should you need them.

The dog itself was quite good. The sausage was very spicy. The relish tasted normal, even if it didn't look it. The tomato slices were quite fresh. The bun was firm, not squishy, and flavorful without distracting from the main event. All in all, very satisfactory. However, still not quite GD/BD.

JLowe wasn't satisfied. He promised a more insightful critique of his particular experience by way of a comment to this post, which I expect by the end of business Monday. Mak was pleased by not overwhelmed with joy.

So, Superdog is a good place for a capable dog for a reasonable price. If you want a real super dog, you can find one at the GD/BD at the airport, or else if you're near Wynn's on 4th and Morrison that's just as good. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from visiting Superdog, but I'll just let you know that there are better dogs to be had.