Reviews

Getting Cheesy at Mad Dogs

September 18th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit Comment
Nothing green here.

Nothing green here.

After a long day of drinking in Santa Barbara, I stumbled upon a little hole in the wall joint called Mad Dogs.  Hot dogs were their specialty, which was perfect for me to soak up the remains of the day.

They had a variety of hot dog choices to please anyone, and I decided to do a little custom thing.  I ordered a bacon and cheese dog with a side of cheese fries.  Apparently I am not afraid of destroying my arteries in one sitting.

The price was a little steep, but so is everything in Santa Barbara, so I just chalked it up to the location.

When my food was done, it looked quite nice.  I was a bit baffled by the fact that my hot dog went way beyond the size of the bun.  You would think that a place specializing in hot dogs would be able to match up sizes better, but apparently not.  The real issue with this was not so much that the dog didn’t fit, but that the parts of the dog that didn’t fit were naked, cheeseless and baconless.

The cheese on both the dog and fries tasted pretty dry, which was a strange feeling.  It tasted almost dehydrated, which was probably better for my health, but not very good for my taste buds.

Nonetheless, I scarfed down all of my food in a few minutes and was ready to tackle the rest of the night.  Mad Dogs was a great drunken stop, but a sober man could certainly find some better food in the area.


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Unvegan Top 20 for 2011

‘Tis the season for “Best of the Year” lists, so I thought I would join the party and put in my top 20 new restaurants from 2011.  By the way, this means the restaurants were new to me, not new to LA.  Please note that I am only including meals in the Los Angeles area.  As much as I loved the food on my travels, you can check any of those places out pretty quickly by clicking here.  So, without further caveat, here’s the best that 2011 had to offer for the unvegan:

20.  Cobras and Matadors

This tapas place in Mid-City is everything tapas should be.  From bacon-wrapped dates to a variety of cheeses, there is really something for anyone looking for a delicious meal.  Just beware, while tapas can be kept to a moderate price, when you throw a big group in with small plates, there are bound to be some people who don’t get their money’s worth.  But keep the group small and Cobras and Matadors will send you home full and happy.

19.  Steingarten

Dishing out delicious sausages, including a few of the exotic variety, Steingarten also offers up a pretty stellar beer selection.  If you’ve ever wanted to eat alligator in sausage form, Steingarten won’t disappoint, but they also serve a wider range of foods, including some pretty delicious burgers.  Their sausage execution, though, could use a bit of improvement, which pushed another sausage joint further up on the list. Continue Reading»