San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Hot dog! 5 places to get a great one
Punk-rock walk-up stand leads the charge as new tricks transform old favorite
RockerDogz Gourmet Street Dogz has existed in one form or another since 2011 — as a hot dog cart on the St. Mary’s Strip, as a brief restaurant collaboration, as an idea percolating in the mind of a restless chef.
That chef is Kris Martinez, an old-school skater and rock ’n’ roll touring chef who rebooted RockerDogz as a walk-up hot dog stand next to an oil-change business near Mission San José in September of last year.
There’s a lot of energy in the hot dog scene right now, and Martinez doubled down at RockerDogz, not just relighting the fires on a dream but doing it in the middle of a pandemic. Why?
“I’ve spent most of my life running with scissors,” he said. Run, Kris, run.
RockerDogz stands at the vanguard of a list of five places to get great hot dogs in San Antonio, along with the upstart Bandit BBQ near the railroad tracks on South Flores Street, JK’s Chicago Hot Dogs in Hill Country Village, The Shack on the Northwest Side and The Dogfather in North Shearer Hills, a joint that Martinez helped get going as opening chef in 2017.
Bandit BBQ
The beauty of a barbecue joint is that you’ve got a smoker, and you’ve got all this brisket lying around, so why not smoke some homemade brisket franks and sell hot dogs? Bandit BBQ in the Lone Star District already makes a great hamburger alongside its top-tier barbecue, so the Bandit Dog ($8) completes the backyard cookout trifecta.
The frank flexes with smoky fat to create a flavor like sliced brisket in a natural snap casing, and it overlaps the sweet yellow Martin’s potato bun on both sides like a telephone pole on an air mattress. Then they pile on a blanket of glowing orange queso, shards of smoked bacon and a shower of green onions.
It’s the only hot dog on the menu, and it’s the only one you need.
1913 S. Flores St. at Freight Gallery & Studios, 210-332-5005, Facebook: Bandit BBQ SATX. Dine-in, curbside and third-party delivery available.
The Dogfather
There’s something different about the buns at The Dogfather, the feisty hot dog joint from the owners of The Bang Bang Bar next door on San Pedro Avenue near Jackson Keller Road. The sides are high and white, with toasted crosshatching.
Turns out it’s a lobster roll
bun, according to co-owner Patrick Curel, built to contain a philosophy that while less may be more, sometimes more is just about right. Nowhere is that more important than the The Elote ($9), a dog built around a hardy beef frank dressed out like Mexican street corn with roasted corn, crushed Takis and the combined funky hot mess of queso fresco, mayo and Parmesan cheese.
The Brat ($9) takes a more familiar form, starting with a juicy beer bratwurst, cabbage and spicy mustard, then charting new German flavor territory with horseradish crema and circles of fried onion. The Frito Pie ($9) is exactly what the name implies, in hot dog form, with good four-pepper chili, cheddar cheese, Fritos, jalapeños and sour cream.
The cool thing is that The Dogfather can make a vegan version of just about any dog, including that Frito Pie.
6211 San Pedro Ave., 210-4814272, sadogfather.com. Dine-in, curbside and third-party delivery available.
JK’s Chicago Hot Dogs
There’s a real sense of place at JK’s Chicago Hot Dogs. There’s a proper Chicago dog ($4.95), of course, with that ubiquitous Vienna all-beef frank, luminous
green relish, tangy little sport peppers, onions, tomatoes, mustard and a pickle spear on a poppyseed bun.
But the mission widens out to embrace the Texas dog ($4.95) with chili and jalapeños, the Coney Island ($4.95) with chili and onions, and the New York ($4.95) with onions and sauerkraut. Each one is fresh, fast and affordable, and you can get any two for just $8.50.
They all come courtesy of a couple from Peru, Gloria and Carlo Caballero, who opened
JK’s 15 years ago on U.S. 281 near Brookhollow with help from a Chicago friend who taught them the ropes. The “JK” part comes from their daughters Jennifer and Karla. The Chicago part comes from the lean-but-juicy density of that Vienna frank and the soft-but-strong texture of poppyseed buns from the same company.
15711 San Pedro Ave., 210-2014030, jkchicagodogs.com. Dinein, curbside and third-party delivery available.
RockerDogz Gourmet Street Dogz
If your tatted-up friend in a rock band started a hot dog stand with skater graphics, you’d have a place like RockerDogz. And Martinez knows how to blend flavors and techniques the
way a good musician puts together beats and melodies.
The Thai Kickboxer Dog ($7) looks like a graffiti wall with swirls of purple, orange and green. And the flavor’s like a cross between a Thai salad and a Vietnamese banh mi, unified by herbal high notes from mint, basil and cilantro, amplified by sweet chile glaze, carrots, cucumber, cabbage slaw and dots of sriracha.
The El Sancho Dog ($8) and the El Chicano Dog ($7) both channel the magic of Mexican hot dogs. El Sancho piles on carne guisada like a spicy Sunday pot roast and seals the deal with cheddar and electric salsa verde, while El Chicano notches up the chili dog formula with Lone Star borracho beef chili and caramelized onion with melted queso and salsa verde.
Martinez channels the Anthony Bourdain in his soul (look for an old photo of the late chef on the back fence) with the Bella Bleu Dog ($7), which incorporates a red wine and onion reduction with bacon and blue cheese for a personality both smooth and street at the same time, much like its creator.
3014 Roosevelt Ave., 210-2777288, Facebook: @RockerDogz. Picnic tables onsite; takeout and third-party delivery available.
The Shack
The Shack is a colorful counter-service joint near Loop 410 and Culebra Road that splits its time equally between burgers and dogs, and you get most of the same creative dress-out options on both.
Some of those options fall within reasonable bounds, with combinations like the ham, pineapple and Swiss of the Hawaiian Dog ($8.29 with a side) and the sweet chopped barbecue brisket, cheese, pickles and onions of the Texas Dog ($8.99 with a side).
Others make their own rules, and the over-the-top prize goes to the Enchilada Dog ($8.29 with a side), which is a basic beef hot dog minding its own business until a cheese enchilada lands on top. It’s as greasy and cheesy as its sounds, and a lot better than you’d think.
The pricing is such that every dog comes with a side, starting with standard fries and tots but branching out to include Mexican-style corn in a cup and a cucumber cup with Lucas salt and chamoy.
7431 NW Loop 410, Suite 115, 210-375-4097, theshacksatx.com. Dine-in, curbside and third-party delivery available.