Oh the hot dog palace it is. This is definitely not my first time visiting Dirty Frank’s in downtown Columbus or even my first time writing about it. I do recall last time I wrote about it though I was more on the side of it being just an average place. Well, I had a much better experience this time around which was refreshing. It didn’t hurt that it was a Monday night and I didn’t have to wait 30 minutes to get a seat. There was also some pretty entertaining karaoke.
When I read the menu at Dirty Franks I always get excited because the hot dogs all sound so good, but then I usually find myself a little disappointed because they only taste alright. I went with a couple of selections this time that have gotten good recommendations from others, so I felt pretty confident in my choices. Even though I am not usually a fan of Pittsburgh (I will explain later), I went first with the Lara’s Pittsburgh Princess dog, which came topped with fries, malt vinegar and cole slaw. The second selection was Amy’s Big Boston dog which was topped with baked beans, cheese and onions.
I was really happy with both of my selections. I had to add a little bit of mustard to the Boston dog and some sriracha to the Pittsburgh dog, but they both were really good and I would order them again. The sweetness of the cole slaw paired with the vinegar and the spiciness of the sriracha made it my favorite of the two. There are still plenty others for me to try that sounded so good. Most dogs are around $3 a piece. Now let me explain my Pittsburgh comment. Everytime I am driving down the highway and get cut off by a car it never fails that they have a Pittsburgh Steelers sticker on the back. It’s not bad enough that you win all those damn Super Bowls, but you have to cut me off on the highway too. Ok, off my soap box and back to the taste buds talking.
I’m going backwards in eating order, but I also had the chance to try the Fried Leeks appetizer. One of the folks I was with explained a leek as a huge green onion, which is a pretty accurate description.
The taste was overall pretty decent, but it was a little disappointing because most of what I was eating was just the breading. The leek pieces were cut really thin and didn’t stand out much. It was a decent app, but not sure I would order it again.
Excited to get back to Dirty Franks soon to give some of the other dogs a try and experience some of their unique adult slushies.
Until next time, in the words of the great Harry Carey. “If you were a hot dog, would ya eat yourself?”
Cheers!!!
Scottie's Talking Taste Buds 