A whole lot of happiness at the Happy Dog

My dining out group recently ate at a great little place called the Happy Dog. I had heard about it from other food bloggers, and definitely wanted to give it a try. It seemed like a cheap and fun place to eat, so I scheduled our dinner in early January after the holidays when money is tight for most people.

There are only three things on the menu at the Happy Dog – a quarter pound hot dog ($5), tater tots ($2.50) and french fries ($2.50). They also offer vegetarian options, including a vegetarian hot dog, for the vegetarians in the group. The thing that makes it fun is that they offer 50 toppings to top your food with, from vodka sauerkraut, blue cheese cole slaw, kim chee, Bourbon baked beans, Cheese Whiz, pineapple-ginger-currant chutney, and homemade ketchup to rainbow sprinkles and chunky peanut butter. There are also a ton of toppings and dipping sauces available for the tots and fries. You select your toppings on a check list using a putt-putt pencil (I don’t know the technical term for it) and the sky’s the limit. There is no extra price for each topping. The servers were very attentive and brought out lots of sauces for us to try.

One of my friends went old-school, choosing just mustard and onion on his dog. I went for the blue cheese cole slaw, stone ground mustard, homemade ketchup, and dill pickle. Yet another of my friends loaded his hot dog up with 7 toppings. I don’t know how he ate it, but it was definitely a feat. I think a knife and fork were involved. I know I used a knife and a fork for mine and I only had 4 toppings.

The dogs were delicious and the tater tots were just as awesome as I thought they would be. The hot dog had a nice bite to it, and the various toppings allowed everyone to customize their dog as they wanted. Only one person was unhappy with her meal, but we suspect she was not given what she ordered. With all the toppings it was hard to tell…

And the best part was the price tag. Dinner for two (a hot dog, a veggie dog and two orders of tots plus 3 Czech lagers and a raspberry martini) ran us $37.76. We had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go back. I hear they have a Polka Happy Hour on Friday nights…

Contact info:

The Happy Dog
5801 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 651-9474