Walking up Valencia heading back to the Inner Sunset after a night of merrymaking, our tired, hungry troop passed one of the sidewalk hot dog vendors grilling up hot dogs and onions like it was nobody’s business.
Us: Seriously, bacon-wrapped hot dogs are a brilliant gastronomic indulgence.
Friend: I haven’t had a hot dog in a really long time.
Us: Yeah. Where the heck do you get a good hot dog in this town when you’re not in the Mission on a Friday night?
Friend: What about the place over on Judah?
Us: [We stop walking. We do that thing where we look up at the sky trying to visualize what we’re thinking about] Right…that place. We need to check it out. A Sap.
And so we did.
Underdog, a couple of blocks before 19th avenue on Judah in the Sunset (yes, “way out” in the Sunset), is really a fabulous discovery for hot dog lovers. Even hot dog lovers that don’t eat hot dogs. This place has something for everyone. Veggie dogs, vegan dogs, chicken dogs, roasted garlic dogs, bratwurst…pigs may be filthy animals, but we’re convinced Underdog could make a believer out of any anti-pork consumer.
Admittedly, this American food fixation we’ve been entertaining for the last week or so is fairly unhealthy so we decided that as yummy as the roasted garlic and herb hot dog sounded, instead we would try out the Veggie-Dog with stone ground mustard, organic sauerkraut and a whole wheat bun. The hot dog was amazing. Really. There was only one moment of pause when we considered checking out the possibility of getting a side of barbecue sauce and avocado to go on top of the mustard and kraurt, but we resisted and thoroughly enjoyed the link anyway.
We’re pretty sure after our up-coming week of dieting Underdog is going to become our new favorite guilty pleasure. And yes, next time we’re there we’ll to see if they can possibly wrap our Veggie-Dog in bacon and serve it up with grilled onions.
Underdog [Menupages]
Underdog [Official Site]
Photo: By chotda [Flikr]
