Hot Diggity Dog

The sign does not lie

Those who know me, know that I like a good hot dog. I have for most of my life. Over the years, I can tell a good hot dog joint from a bad one. One of my favorites is Top Dog in Berkeley. It has been around most of my life and I have been going there since I used to hang out in Berkeley back in high school. It has not really changed much-good hot dogs at a good price. I usually go to the one on Center St. near the Downtown Berkeley BART station(next to Cal) which I thought was the only one. But doing a little research I have found out there are five of them in the Berkeley/Oakland area. Wow.

The inside of Top Dog

One of the things I like about the place that it fits into my quirkiness. The one I go to is small and cozy. It is something I like. There are great things on the wall to look at:

Love this poster on the wall at Top Dog

Love Top Dog's posters on the wall

Also there is a great view of Center St (next to Cal) where you eat your dog and enjoy the sights and sounds of the people walking by. It is always a motley crowd that goes by especially if Cal basketball or football is going on:

Eating my dog and waiting for the people to walk by

Again, all of the "stuff" that a joint has goes for nothing if the food sucks. Top Dog does really well in that category. You can say how can you screw up a hot dog/sausage, but some places have managed to do it. I can say in 30 years I have never had a bad dog at Top Dog:

Dogs waiting to be someone's stomach

My dog and bun-almost ready

I guess I am different as I hate mayo and can not stand mustard. Give me some onions, relish and ketchup and I am good to go:

My dog-exposed

But the coolest thing is that they have the best deal in town-A dog, a bag of chips and a soda for $4.75:

The combo meal

And they have a huge variety in their dogs:

Top Dog's Menu

And they always take care of the tax because (it is their sign on their outside menu):