Food Review - Hot Dogs: The Dogfather

It's only fitting that I review this place first because it may have actually inspired this whole idea. Prior to the opening of the Dogfather (which is on my block) I had only known of a single hot dog purveyor (Zogs Dogs, which will be reviewed later) and was quite content with giving them 100% of my non-at-home hot dog purchases. So the Dogfather opened (I live in Little Italy, so you can figure how they got the name) and it was obvious that I had to give them a shot. Here's how it goes down.

The Dogfather is open late nights (next to Golden Boys pizza, a North Beach staple - despite the fact that they only serve Sicilian, or "sheet" pizza to the non-Itlos) and hopes to attract part of the stumbling home drunk crowd. I visited there for lunch one afternoon before having to go to class. The inside is really cool - flat screen TV in the corner, comfortable tables and of course the whole reason I said it's cool in the first place: table top Pac-Man machines. Two of them. Badass. Of course, you can dress up a shit sandwich with the finest trimming but in the end you're still eating shit. On to the food.

I ordered a foot long with bacon (I'll give San Francisco credit, every hot dog seller has the add bacon option), and a side of fries. I took it home eagerly anticipating what may be.

Overall, it was alright - good, not great. The bacon was the same fairly narrow strips you'd find topped on a Jr. Cheeseburger at Wendy's. You know the bacon I'm talking about, narrower than any strips you'll find at the supermarket, looks crispy but is strangely flaccid. The dog itself wasn't bad. I remember looking at it though and disbelieving that it was really a foot long. I've had plenty of foot longs in my life - most of the time at Yankee and Mets games. Those are Nathans footlongs. They're not that thick but you know it's 12 inches long. (That's what she said).
Anyway, the Dogfather footlong, whether it really was or not, was thicker, so I didn't really mind although it did seem off to me. The taste wasn't bad. It had a slight snap to it but in the end it wasn't any more delicious than the hot dogs you'll find at AT&T Park (also to be reviewed later). The fries though, were very good. Crisp, golden and delicious. But since this isn't about the fries, it's not really enough to make the Dogfather any more worth-while.

An additional side note. While this doesn't pertain to me, since I eat my dogs with only ketchup (some call it 'sacrilege' I call it being a 'purist'), according to early Yelp reviewers, the Dogfather was charging extra for "toppings" like sauerkraut, onions and relish. That's just a violation of cardinal hot dog rules. Those things are free. Ask any street vendor in NY and they'll tell you the same thing. That's part of the hot dog. I just choose not to add them. I understand charging for real extras, like my bacon, but 'kraut, onions and relish are fundamental staples. It'd be like charging for ketchup or mustard. I'm hoping they've since changed their policy because that just kills your legitimacy immediately.

The other problem I have, and this is just the way shit is in California, is that it's not just "the Dogfather" it's "the Dogfather, next line: salciceria". Seriously now? You're selling hot dogs (yes, I understand you have "gourmet" sausages as well) and trying to target the drunk, coming home from bars crowd. Salciceria is about as pretentious (cocksuker) as you can get.

Decent enough hot dog, but not for the price (meal came to around $11). Really only worth coming back to have an order of fries while playing Pac-man.