Using a pillowy bun as a barrier, hot dogs are safely protected from environmental hazards such as open manholes and greasy-handed schoolchildren. Enjoy snugly shielded franks with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of franks and drinks at The Slaw Dogs in Pasadena.
The Slaw Dogs' menu features gourmet hot dogs, kosher dogs, chicken dogs, veggie dogs, natural-casing dogs, burgers, and treats. Start classic with a spicy polish sausage ($4.99) or natural-casing snap dog ($3.99) and pile on some of the more than 50 toppings ($0.39–$0.99 each), including the standard (sauerkraut, diced tomato, ranch dressing, etc.) and the foodie-friendly (guacamole, truffle oil, fried egg, etc.). Specialty franks infuse the traditional hot dog formula with a sprinkle of gourmet. The rueben dog crowns a spicy polish with pastrami, swiss, sauerkraut, and russian dressing before wrapping it in a grilled rye robe ($6.59). For the veggievore, The Slaw Dogs concocts the soy bomb, a veggie dog paired with tofu, shiso ginger-ponzu, and slaw sesame ($4.99). Pair your meatsterpiece or faux-measterpiece with an order of Belgian-style fries ($2.99), beer-battered o-rings ($3.99), or a bottle of beer.
Reviews
The Slaw Dogs was voted one of the Best Comfort Food Restaurants by Travel + Leisure, and the Los Angeles Times says The Slaw Dogs has a "reverence for tradition." LAist says everyone's talking about it as the new kid in town. Zagat rated it an 18 for food, 10 for décor, and 23 for service. More than 200 Yelpers give it a 3.5-star average:
- This is hot dog as avant-garde art; this is the hot dog surreal. What else would you call Slaw's picnic dog, a hot dog topped with potato salad, two onion rings and a pickle spear, childishly arranged into an ever-so-slightly terrifying happy face? – C. Thi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times
- Hot dog stands across Los Angeles should be shaking in their boots right now. Ray Byrne of The Slaw Dogs in Pasadena has taken hot dogs to a whole new level. Indecisive people stand frozen in place staring at the Slaw Dogs menu. Other diners are truly inspired, practically giddy at the wealth of choices. – Elise Thompson, LAist
The Slaw Dogs
The Slaw Dogs owner, Ray Byrne, probably didn't realize at the time that the Thai coleslaw he brought to a barbecue would become the inspiration for a business featured on ABC and mentioned in Travel + Leisure. According to a Food Network spot on The Slaw Dogs, Byrne tossed some of his extra slaw onto a hot dog and realized that he'd made a tongue-shattering discovery. With that slaw dog as his guide, he opened a hot-dog joint where his original discovery stars on the menu, jazzed up with accents of satay dressing and sesame aioli. But unlike Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone and then pretty much sat around eating Cheetos and playing scratch-off lotto tickets, Byrne isn't satisfied with a single invention. In fact, LAist praised Byrne for his ability to "take seemingly clashing flavors and make them work together," as evidenced in the Green Monster dog with garlic salsa verde or the gigantic TNT Super dog, a tortilla-wrapped spread of bacon pastrami, beer chili, and fries.
The Slaw Dogs also lets patrons build their own dream dogs out of 11 different franks, 10 sauces, and more than 50 toppings, such as kimchi, goat cheese, or truffle oil. The possibilities are almost endless; a group of Caltech students recruited by the Food Network calculated a whopping 35 quintillion total combinations.