Donalds

Donald's Famous Hot Dogs

2325 South Western Ave.

When I first walked into Donald's Famous Hot Dogs, I had a premonitions that I would not famously remember these hot dogs for being good. Now, I can understand how readers of this blog might get feeling that I am hot dog pessimistic as I have had low intial expectations of the last two entries. Upon further reflection one sleepless night, I came to idea that ambiance speaks to me and in case of the hot dogs, the simpler, the better. When I walked into Donald's, I was hit by a number of signs proclaiming the greatness of jalapeno poppers, homemade Italian Beef and a menu that had seemed to have grown considerably over the years. There were too many choices. This not only confuses and adds more decisions for the customer, but also the staff, who is pulled in many different directions, with too much equipment to man and understand and is unable to hone and perfect the art of the dog. Most of the hot dogs that I have really enjoyed come from stands that really only focus on hot dogs and few other items, usually tamales. It is in these temples of hot dogs, that pracitioners of the hot dog through high turn over and years of practice are able to produce fresh and simple hot dogs that speak to the soul. Please don't get me wrong, grease joints that prepare a large selection of delicious grease inspired items have their time and place, but often seem unable to reach the higher levels of hot dogs greatness as they are weighed down by the bulk of their menu.

Anyway, on to the dogs. I got the 2 hot dog, fries and drink special, which took quite a while to come out (Another negative of the large menu, wait times are increased). The hot dog was Vienna Beef and was probably my favorite part of this dog as the taste and snap get better with each bite, encouraging one to have another. The bun was pretty standard and held together, but did not have poppy seeds. The mustard and non-neon green relish were also standard and mostly unremarkable. From here, things began to fall apart. There were way to many onions on the hot dog. There must have been a quarter of a chopped onion on each dog and they just crushed everything else. In addition, they had a strange taste that made me think they had been sitting out too long. The tomatoes were small and there was no to limited celery salt to help them pop. In addition, the option of sport peppers did not seemed to be available. While I could not stand the dog for the most part, I did enjoy the final bite which consisted on bun, hot dog and tomato and thus encouraged me to eat the other dog.

It was even more oniony and even removing half of the onions only partial increased enjoyment.

In conclusion, I did not enjoy Donald's Famous Hot Dogs and will not return for special trip or stop by. They did advertise a homemade Italian Beef sandwich, so maybe that is more their speciality these days. I would give Donald's 2 out of 5 celery salt shakers.

Dan

I had seen signs for Donald’s on several GenderJUST related trips down Western and I was excited to eat the hot dogs that were so highly spoken of by said signs. Immediately upon entering, however, I had a big feeling that we were in for yet another nothing special but not too upsetting Chicago style dog. I got 2 hot dogs, fries, and a small Dr. Pepper for $5.96, which pleased me. The Dr. Pepper was delicious and the fries were reasonably crisp and reminded me of the fries I used to get at my local grease joint when I was a wee lad. The hot dogs were, as predicted, nothing special.

The bun did not have poppy seeds and did not seem to have been steamed. The hot dog itself was Vienna Beef, which is always acceptable and enjoyable. The tomato slice was pretty big. It would have been better if tomatoes were in season, but I suppose I cannot hold Donald’s responsible for the fact that this is not yet the case. The relish was the older school (not neon green) style. I actually prefer the taste of the old school relish but prefer the asthetics of the neon green version. In any case, I have no complaints about the relish. The pickle spear was decent sized and had reasonable crunch. The 2^nd hot dog I ate was missing the skin on the pickle spear, but it actually worked out all right taste wise so I guess that is also more of an asthetic issue. There did seem to be some celery salt but more is always better.

The major problem I had with these hot dogs was the onions. Now, normally I’m a big fan of onions and have been known to eat burgers with just onions, so for me to be complaining about onions you know there is a serious issue. Dan and I couldn’t quite get to the bottom of said issue, but here are some thoughts: certainly part of the problem was sheer volume. I scraped off about half the onions on my 2^nd dog and that helped the taste out a lot. The volume of onions was overpowering to some of the other toppings and having half as much restored the balance somewhat. I still think that the taste of said onions was a little off, though, and it is my personal theory that they had been partially caramelized or grilled or something. I suppose it is also possible that it was a different variety of onion that is usually found on a Chicago style dog, but as stated above, I really like onions so I don’t think there is a variety I wouldn’t like on my hot dog. I found the onion situation quite disconcerting and it disrupted my enjoyment of the hot dog.

All in all, the food was acceptable and the price was right. However, seeing as I rarely find myself at Western and 23^rd without a reason, I doubt that I will eat at Donald’s again. I can get a mediocre hot dog much closer to home. I give Donald’s 3 out of 5 celery salt shakers.

Aidan