Hot Dog a Week: Hot Dog King

To keep things interesting this summer my girlfriend, Rachel, and I have decided to enjoy a different hot dog each week. The idea started off as a dumb idea while eating a couple of Polishes at J-Dawgs (a local dog joint in Provo, Utah), but quickly turned into an actual challenge that should keep us entertained and well fed. We'll be visiting a different local hot dog joint each week, so if any of you know of any good spots, let us know.

Our first dogs were consumed at the Hot Dog King in Orem, Utah. Rachel got a text for half off their combos on Friday morning so we knew where we were going. The restaurant is owned by short fellow with a soft voice named Charlie who can be pretty talkative and is clearly passionate about his extensive menu of regional American and International dogs along with the classics. Rachel chose the Spicy Guacamole Bacon Dog from Mexico and I got a Minneapolis Dog.

The Mexican dog was actually a Polish sausage topped with bacon strips, guac, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, cheddar, and mayonnaise inside a really good hoagie roll. The dog actually felt and tasted like a Mexican torta, and if you replaced the kielbasa with another meat you might have had me fooled. The Minny hot dog was made with an all-beef wiener. (Note: a lot of people who don't like hot dogs are eating cheap franks, 100% beef franks taste better and leave you feeling better than beef/chicken/pork blends) It was dressed with mashed potatoes, actual strips of bacon (the menu said it'd come with bacon bits), cheddar cheese, onions, and a brown mustard that was surprisingly spicy. Uff da! Unfortunately this came inside your standard hot dog bun. Overall it was a tasty hot dog, but I would have opted for a sweeter and more mild mustard. I would love to go back and try some of their other dogs; there are so many to choose from.