Dog Days

Rudie’s Seafood and Sausage – Red Hot

Rudie’s classic red hot didn’t disappoint. This homemade winner pairs Rudie’s take on a red hot sausagewith pickle, mustard, onion, tomato, and neon relish on brioche. The bun is fantastic and the toppingsevoke a Chicago dog. This dog bites back with a hot slap that managed to make me sweat while stillproviding plenty of smoky, spicy, meaty flavor after the snap.

Party Fowl – Bird Dogs 

Party Fowl’s downtown, chicken-centric outpost combines duck and chicken in very mild, white dogs.There wasn’t a lot of snap here, but I was reminded of how satisfying it can be to sink your teeth intomoist chunks of perfectly cooked bird – I’m sure the duck has something to do with that. The real star isthe house-made whole grain beer mustard which brings a tangy punch along with a bouquet of floralnotes to each deep-dipped bite.

The Pharmacy – Currywurst

The restaurant’s take on this Munich beer garden classic includes a bratwurst poached in pils beer,topped with sauerkraut and a spicy aromatic paprika tomato sauce. The brat is great with satisfying snapand big flavors that justify its exotic dressing. This dish comes with a side – the black bean and corn saladmakes an excellent, light pairing – and a choice of two homemade mustards.

The Hop Stop – Veggie Dog

this is the only in-house veggie dog I’ve come across in Nashville. Hop Stop gets originality points and an“A” for the effort here, and they’ve managed to make a wheat wiener that can stand-up to any of theirmenu’s topping combinations. During my visit to the East Nashville staple I got a classic Chicago-styledog piled-high with mustard, onions, celery salt, neon green relish, Roma tomato, pickle and whole sportpeppers. The seitan dog can’t manage the snap of an animal casing, but it surprised me with its trulymeaty texture and the kind of caramelized flavors you’d expect from a grilled dog.

Porter Road Butcher – Chili Cheese Dog

PRB makes an amazing chili cheese dog with 100% beef shortrib hot dogs, house made chili, and Kenny’sFarmhouse Cheddar cheese sauce on a Bobby John Henry bun. I’m mad for this dog. The grilled bun isgolden and crunchy against the creamy cheese and finely ground chili of beef and onions which isperfectly seasoned and not so wet that it soaks the bun. The dogs are packed in lamb casings andsmoked at high heat. They snap like champs and are filled with unctuous, deep, meaty flavor.  Simplyoutstanding. The best dog in the show.