I got on a hot dog kick a few weeks ago. A co-worker of mine and I decided to once and for all finish our analysis of the various Hot Dog options in Grand Rapids. My true love of the venerable Yesterdog probably stacked the deck in its favor to begin with, and rather than drag this out, I'll just start right out saying that Yesterdog is the hands-down champion. We've been to Dog Pit and Ritz Koney before and already covered that ground.

This week, on consecutive days, I visited Dog Town 2 (courtesy of the folks from Dog Town in Ada) and Kabookie's in East Grand Rapids (which serves more than hot dogs). First, let's discuss Dog Town. It's located at the corner of Stockbridge and 4th Street, across the street from Kopper Top (where I ate last Friday). They had 2 things going for them right from the moment we stepped in the door: Dollar-dogs on Mondays, and steamed buns (a concept Yesterdog uses to its fullest). The dogs were good. Better than Ritz, but not as good as Dog Pit or Yesterdog. The chili was a dead-ringer for Ritz chili which will endear them to 50% of their customers, but probably anger the other (I'm not a huge fan). Their Chicago Dogs were quite good, and included hot peppers (a big plus). Dog Town had Tabasco on the table, another big plus. In the end only two things kept the Dog Pit ahead of Dog Town for 2nd place on my hot-dogs-of-Grand-Rapids list: Tabasco-by-default at the Dog Pit is a big winner, and the chili.

On Tuesday we headed to Kabookie's in East Grand Rapids' Gaslight Village with high hopes. I'd had a killer hamburger there previously (though I neglected to write about it) and was hoping their hot dogs would pass muster as well. They were good. Not great, but good enough that I'll be getting them again some time,I'm sure. The price was right (as it should be...they're selling hot dogs) at $4 for 2 dogs, chips and pop (plus I got a third dog....of course).

My three dogs of choice were the Kabookie Dog (I think....more on this in a moment), the Kraut Dog (a favorite of mine at both Dog Pit and Yesterdog) and the accurately named "Creamator (Motowner)" which was a detroit-style koney with a secret...the dog inside was deep-fried (if my physician reads this, he'll buy me a defribulator). The Kabookie Dog (or whatever it was called) was the only real dissapointment. I look at a good hot dog as the canvas on which fine art should be created. I'm sure, like all art, there are those that would vehemently disagree with me when I say that corn-relish has no business on a hot dog, but I calls'em like I sees'em and that was my feeling after dog #1.

Fortunately, Kabookie's rebounded nicely with a Kraut Dog that would beat Yesterdog hands down if the bun had been steamed. Nice kraut and a good spicy brown mustard made for a great dining treat. Dog three was the aforementioned Creamtor and frankly, I was creamated. The chili was good, the onions were nicely chopped and Kabookie's went back to standard yellow mustard (as any coney with "Mowtowner" in the name should)., but seriously folks, why deep-fry a hot dog?  At any rate, the food was good, the decor was appropriate for the location of the restaurant and I left with a nice full stomach.

So there we have it. I haven't tried the Grand Coney Island, but other than that, I think we've hit most of the hot dog joints that I'm aware of in Grand Rapids.

With that said, here's the final ranking:

1. Yesterdog - hands down winner on all counts. The Ultradog will eat you for lunch, all for only $1.80. I cannot believe I haven't blogged about them yet. Oh well, the rest of the world has.
   
2. Dog Pit - it's downtown, they'll put tabasco on anything (sometimes without even asking), everything costs $2 and it's cash only. The simplicity nearly brings me to tears every time I talk about it.
3. Dog Town - The newcomer steals third spot and we haven't even tried their famous "Ate-a-Dog" (get it? They're from Ada!)
4. Kabookie's - After a long analysis, I'm changing my mind here. My co-workers and I had originally put Ritz ahead of Kabookie's, but on the strength of their Kraut dog and faithful interpretation of a detroit coney island, I'm moving them up the list. Sorry Ritz.
5. Ritz Coney - $1 dogs on mondays sounded awesome until we tried Dog Town. I've been converted.