The Dog Pit

I swear I'm not addicted to hot dogs. Seriously. I've eaten at ethic restaurants whose idea of a kids menu was a hot dog or a grilled cheese (with fries!) and silently sworn that I'd never eat such drivel.

Then, here we were at lunch today (Monday) and I realized that I'd eaten sausage products every single day since Friday. That's 4 days running. Grab the defribultor now.

Anyway, I'm not here to tell you about today's $1 hot dogs from the Ritz Coney, yesterday's grilled brats from my backyard or Saturday's Kerby's (cooked by yours truly) at Anabel's birthday party. No, today's column harkens back to a simple time (last Friday) when I hadn't linked 4 days together (think morcilla) with feasts of cooked pork products.

Friday was our "payday lunch" wherein one member of my team takes the rest of us out to lunch. Friday's destination was the Dog Pit, a "more toppings is a good thing" type hot dog joint on Grand Rapids' favorite downtown street: Monroe Center. The Dog Pit is everything that Yesterdog is not: Clean, new, loaded with choices, and friendly. Even with all these things going against it, The Dog Pit still manages to serve up a great hot dog. What's more, they offer Tabasco as a topping on several of their fine creations (most notably the Junkyard Dog, my personal favorite) which sets them apart from their cross-town rivals.

One notable complaint: The buns aren't steamed. Yetserdog figured out years ago that steamed buns mean you can shove the dogs down faster (who savors a hot dog? Nobody, that's who.) and leave happier. If the Dog Pit steamed their buns, stopped cleaning for a few years and stayed open until 4am, they'd be as legendary as Yesterdog some day. In the meantime, if you're looking for a quick lunch downtown I'd say the Dog Pit is a very worthwhile stop.