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Top Dog (Hot Dogs cuisine) $

8.75
JaT Rating

2534 Durant, Berkeley, 94704 (Directions)

510.843.5967

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Grilled hot dogs and sausages with a side of anti-political musings
Reviewer: Jason Total Reviews: 992 Reviewed: 12/30/2004 Rating: 9 My photo gallery	Its always a pleasure for me to investigate Hot Dog stands in the Bay Area since I compare it against LA hot dog shacks. Top Dog has been on my wish list for some time now and finally got the opportunity to review it. It has all the makings of a perfect hot dog shack, tiny and cramp, fairly cheap, fast, and open really late. Top Dog serves all types of sausages and links, but I came here specifically for the Top Dog Frankfurter. Meat - snap..snap..snap...excellent texture. Tasty indeed...I think they were using Saag beef but dont quote me on that. All I know is its one of the best tasting dogs in the Bay Area Bun - Fresh and lightly toasted Toppings - onions and mustard, nothing out of the ordinary. I love Top Dog and is currently my favorite hot dog place in the bay area. If you can look past the politcal clippings on the walls and horrible parking, Top Dog will make you coming back for more. My wish for Top Dog is to add fries and chili to their menu.

Reviewer: Terry Total Reviews: 724 Reviewed: 3/3/2005 Rating: 8.5 My photo gallery	After tasting Gregoire's we had to make it over to Top Dog so I could sample these hot dogs that Jason raves so much about. It was a slightly cool evening, so the idea of a good dog was pretty appealing. The tiny shack of a place was packed, which for here was about 8-10 people. We ordered a standard dog and waited. It took surprisingly long for the dog to arrive, but you could tell he was working it. No need to rush goodness. When he hands you the plain dog, you turn around to the condiment table and fill up to your desire. I went with the ketchup and mustard and started munching. The bun was a bread thick and fluffy - a sesame seed covered roll, as opposed to a traditional bun. Not too bad. He grilled it so it had a blackened texture to the insides of it. The dog was a thick thing more like a sausage almost. It had a large snap (perhaps too much of a snap for my taste). Yet it was quite tasty in a gourmet kind of way. Maybe I am more into the cheaper type of dogs and not much of a gourmet afficionado, so this didn't rock my world as much as Jasons, yet I could still appreciate a solid cheap dog done well. And Top Dog does a darn good job.

Reviewer: Brandon Total Reviews: 16 Reviewed: 3/5/2006 Rating: 9.5 My photo gallery	Top Dog is one of those places I wish were on the corner of my street. It's also one of those places that I try to make a point of visiting every time I'm in the neighborhood, regardless of how hungry I am, which happens much too rarely. They only have one vegetarian dog/brat but it's the best vegetarian brat ever. This isn't a microwaved Boca brat, it's grilled up, just to the perfect point, right before you. And, maybe best of all, you can scoop on as much sauerkraut as you want (sauerkraut is more unfortunate evidence for my adage that the better something is, the rarer it will be). This seems to be the recurring routine at Top Dog - seriously, it happens every time: Eat brat. Laugh with friends and with half-crazy locals popping in and out. Walk down the street satisfied. Despite satisfaction, stop and look at friend who has also stopped and looks at you knowingly. 'Dude, you want another one?' 'Yeah, dude.' Repeat cycle. Cheap. Open late. Unique. Good atmosphere (I, for one, am hardly bothered by leftist politics). And a great, grilled veggie brat with a toasted bun piled high with sauerkraut. God bless you, Top Dog.

Reviewer: Grace Total Reviews: 42 Reviewed: 11/3/2005 Rating: 8.5 My photo gallery	I'm not a big fan of hot dogs, but wow Top Dog makes them seem like gourmet food. I've visited them several times in Berkeley, and being closer to the location in San Jose, I'm going there for my food. I haven't tried any of the sausages that I can't pronounce, but I've tried a bunch of their flavored hot dogs. Hehe flavored hot dogs, sounds like they should be different colored too. Anyways, my favorite is the lemon pepper turkey dog. It is so juicy, and the hot dog itself has a bite of a crisp bite outside, so when you bite into it, it goes snap! then smush! I would definitely recommend Top Dog to anyone, especially in downtown San Jose, as they are inundated with all those sleazy hot dog carts that sell costco food. Top Dog is possibly cheaper depending on what you order, as well as higher quality. The hot dogs may look smaller, but they are very filling, and even the bun is good (I'm not fond of bread).


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