And, n0, that’s not a euphemism…
Got a late start today, as I spent the morning installing a new internal hard drive. Happily, all went smoothly – and I’ve now got 1.7TB of primary storage space and just a bit more on my external backup drive. That’s a lot of RAW files I’ll be able to store…
At any rate, decided I was in the mood for a hot dog. So, against my better judgment, I headed to Absinthe (the alternate title for this p0st was “Screw you, Absinthe!” – so that should give you some idea of how things went).
"No hot dog for you!" says Absinthe
I gave a quick gander to the menu out front, found the “Bar Menu” and it did indeed feature the hot dog I’d heard about – housemade Kobe-beef-and-pork dog, housemade condiments (‘kraut, mustard, ketchup) and dill potato chips. Sounds great. So, I belly up to the bar, wait patiently for the bartender to finish up making a round of drinks and then order a hot dog.
“Sorry, we don’t serve that now.”
“Huh? It’s on the bar menu, isn’t it? I’m at the bar, right?”
“We don’t serve it until after 2:00 – only brunch right now.” And in this case, “right now” is 1:15.
“Really. Huh. OK. ‘Bye.”
This is pretty much the exact same experience my dad had last month when he tried to get a hot dog at Absinthe. In his case, he sat at the bar at 7PM and was advised that the hot dog was only served after 8:00. I wonder when the cut-off time is for the 2PM serving? Frankly (heh), I’m starting to think this hot dog doesn’t exist. I’ll bet you a dollar that if I show up at Absinthe tomorrow at 2PM, they’ll tell me it’s not served until after 3PM. Of course, this is a moot point: I won’t be going to Absinthe tomorrow or ever, since I fail to see what is so difficult about preparing a hot dog that limits it to being served only at very specific (and seemingly random) times.
The trip to Hayes Valley wasn’t a total loss, though – I stopped into Paulette’s for some macarons. Haven’t tried yet, but with flavors like pineapple-coconut and Earl Grey tea, I have high hopes.
So, off I headed to Showdogs. I’ve been before and I can vouch for the goodness of their dogs. And, of course, as I was mere feet from the entrance, a party of six swooped into line ahead of me. This was pretty much a dealbreaker, as I learned last time that the ordering process at Showdogs is not exactly a model of efficiency. I gave it a couple of minutes, but the line had not advanced by even one person during this time, so I gave up.
On the offhand chance anyone from Showdogs is reading this, I have a couple of suggestions. First, have one person dedicated solely to taking orders and ringing them up as quickly as possible – when they’re also pouring drinks it creates a real bottleneck (no pun intended) in the line. I’m happy to wait ten minutes for my order – but I’m not very happy about standing in line for ten minutes.
Second, get some ropes up or something to keep that line orderly. Having people backed up out the door into the middle of the sidewalk is not ideal (especially given the ambiance of this stretch of Market St.). People in the US don’t know how to queue, so it’s up to you to force them to do so properly.
But kudos on the great dogs last time I visited. I’ll be back – just have to be sure to get there during off hours.
The Bobo at Zog's Dogs
I finally wound up at Zog’s Dogs, a little yellow shack on Market at Montgomery. Had a “Bobo” – a zippy little sausage with garlic and herbs – and added sauerkraut, relish and mustard (sadly, they’d run out of spicy mustard and I had to make do with yellow – meh). It was very tasty and just the right size. The fresh-squeezed lemonade was delicious too. They also offer a dog with bacon, as well as the “Prop 8” – two wieners in one bun… Get it? Hee… I didn’t order fries, but they looked good – cooked to order and piping hot.
Service was friendly, fast and efficient – yay. It’d be nice if they had a couple of stand-up tables or a counter – but it’s a takeout joint, so I won’t quibble. And tables or no, they beat the pants off Absinthe simply by permitting me to purchase a hot dog. Thanks, Zog’s!
It's a Complete Outrage 