Kranky Franks

It is getting HOT in Utah. At least for me—I’m from Washington, so I’m used to it being 55 and rainy this time of year. My pasty skin is having a hard time adjusting, but I’m loving the sunshine.

Anyway, to celebrate the beginning of the dog days of summer, Alan and I went to Kranky Franks in Springville. The place was a little busy when we first got there, so we had some time to chat with the owners while they were catching up and cooking our food.

I think this was the first time we’ve talked with the owners of a hot dog place. We got to tell them about our blog and our hot dog a week project. They were really fun to talk to, and it was nice to meet people who also appreciated a good hot dog.

We ordered a Danger Dog (a ¼ lb. polish named after the owners, the Dangerfield’s) and a Big Dog, a ¼ lb. beef hot dog. We topped the Danger Dog with sport peppers, sauerkraut, onions, and Dog Sauce (a sweet BBQ-ish sauce). On the Big Dog, we had kraut, a dill pickle, banana peppers, and some more Dog Sauce.

Big Dog

Danger Dog

The dogs were way good, probably some of our favorites so far. Make sure you order some of their onion rings too if you go. Everything was really filling, which makes this place perfect for a quick, inexpensive lunch. We decided to hike Y-mountain afterwards, so maybe hot dogs weren’t the best idea . . . but it was still a good time with good food and great company. 

Hiking Y-Mountain

Kranky Franks is located at 388 N. Main Street in Springville.

Main Street Delicatessen

On Friday night Rachel, my roommates, and I were driving my car home from a historic homes tour near my house in Provo. We were just a couple blocks from home when we heard a loud noise and realized that a tire had exploded on the car, damaging part of the car’s body. We were all in disbelief and I was pretty frustrated. The next morning I got a couple new tires on the car and ordered a new body panel. I decided to try and fix the one that got damaged as well, and after a bit of work I got the thing looking halfway decent. With the new treads and somewhat fixed body, I decided that we needed to go to Park City to celebrate.

One of the great things about living in Provo is easy access to mountains and a short ride to Park City. It’s nice to be able to escape to a resort town that feels so different from the rest of Utah. Park City is a small town with maybe 10,000 residents, but it is packed with tourists there to ski, shop at expensive boutiques, and eat at fine restaurants. We came to get hot dogs.

After walking down both sides of Main Street we had very little luck, but did find brats at the Main Street Delicatessen. We ordered a brat, a meatball sandwich (they only had one type of bratwurst), and got some fries. The brat came with sauerkraut and deli mustard inside a hoagie roll. It was a pretty decent dog, but there wasn’t really anything too exciting going on with it. The fries were pretty fantastic though. They were fried to a rich golden color and were very crispy on the outside but soft inside.

We were pretty surprised that we didn’t have better luck finding hot dogs on Main Street, but I suppose few people visit Park City looking for them. Instead you’ll find a mix of mid-range to pricey cafes and restaurants. We enjoyed our visit to Park City, but the bratwurst at Main Street Deli wasn’t the reason why.

Main Street Delicatessen is located at 525 Main Street in Park City, Utah.

Sonic

This week Rachel and I decided to get hot dogs at Rocky Mountain Drive-In. We spotted this place last weekend while at the Provo Farmer’s Market; their fancy graphics on the outside caught our attention, as did the shakes they advertised. We figured their hot dogs had to be worth a try.

We arrived, Rachel snapped a picture of me in front of the sign, and walked inside the restaurant only to discover that they had no hot dogs on the menu. Before anyone inside could ask us what we wanted we rushed out of the restaurant laughing but very disappointed. Instead we decided to go to Sonic, the fast food drive-in that was only a few blocks away.

We pulled up to the only open bay and were pleased to see that Sonic had five hot dogs to choose from (including a ¼ pound, foot long Coney). We ordered a New York Dog and a Chili Cheese Coney Dog. Both were only two bucks and made of 100% beef dogs. In addition to the dogs we got some tater tots, onion rings, and a berry-lime slush (it was happy hour; we should have gotten two).

The dogs came packed in these little cardboard trays and covered in a warming sleeve that had a clear “pure beef preview” window. It was kind of neat but also great for eating a messy hot dog inside a car. Both dogs were pretty good for a national chain. While they were 100% beef they still had a bit of a salty taste associated with grocery store hot dogs, but they were way better than Wienerschnitzel. The Coney dog of course came with chili and melted cheddar cheese while the New York dog was topped with spicy brown mustard, grilled onions, and sauerkraut. Of the two I probably preferred the Coney, which is surprising cause I love sauerkraut, a lot.

Overall the experience at Sonic was pretty good. Even though it's a chain, the ability to order from and eat in your car gives it a mom and pop feel, and the food was pretty acceptable and pretty cheap. Since a lot of the places we visit are in Utah many of our readers won’t be able to try most of the dogs we’re eating without traveling hundreds of miles, but most of you can visit Sonic. Try their dogs and let us know what you think.

We went to the Sonic at 1292 N State St in Provo.

Five Guys

This week Alan and I went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries...for hot dogs. We were both a little sad to watch people eat delicious hamburgers all around us, but our hot dogs were pretty good too.

We ordered a Bacon Cheese Dog and a Kosher Dog. At Five Guys, you can top your burger or hot dog with whatever you want from their toppings menu, which includes a ton of stuff ranging from staples such as ketchup, mustard, pickles, etc., to fancier stuff like A1 and grilled mushrooms. 

For the Bacon Cheese Dog, we decided on onions, mushrooms, and mustard. We topped the Kosher Dog with hot sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Mushrooms are kind of an odd topping for hot dogs, but we both love them and they worked.

Kosher Dog

Bacon Cheese Dog

The hot dogs themselves were good. They were sliced in half and opened flat so they kind of seemed like we were eating sandwiches. The cheese with the bacon was a little salty for me, so I would probably recommend either a Kosher Dog or a Bacon Dog without the cheese. 

We must admit the burgers were pretty tempting. Everyone else around us had one, while we were the only two people in the restaurant eating hot dogs. But even after six weeks of eating dogs, they were still good. That's pretty impressive in itself.

Alan dutifully eating his weekly hot dog

Even better was the fry sauce. For those of you reading who aren’t from Utah, fry sauce is a mixture of equal parts ketchup and mayo. Some people add spices, or use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup. Either way, it’s pretty good. The mayo may sound gross, but you have to try it before making a face.

Fry Sauce

You can find it everywhere in Utah. Even chain restaurants like Five Guys, who usually don’t serve fry sauce, have it available in Utah. People who have been here long enough (perhaps too long...) sometimes forget that you can’t find fry sauce pretty much anywhere else in the country.

This led Alan and I to wonder: What other foods/condiments/etc. are commonplace in one region, but virtually unknown everywhere else?

Let us know, we’re curious!

We went to the Five Guys at 1051 South 750 East in Orem.