Dog Almighty

Can you give a place «0» stars? If so, that’s what I would give this place. My only experience with Dog Almighty is with the now-​defunct Guadalupe location, but it was just so not what I was expecting.
First off, it took the two stoners working there almost 10 minutes to even acknowledge our presence. Once we finally were able to order, we got our drinks (Pepsi products– ick!) and the syrup for the Diet Pepsi was out. I politely asked one of the guys behind the counter on two separate occasions to change out the syrup and they never did. So, when my friend Noelle and I were finished with our dogs, I checked one last time to see if it had been done and guess what? Nope. Still flat, tasteless pop. I asked for our money back for the drinks since we never got to drink one. The dogs were okay, but it’s kind of hard to mess that up, right? You just boil some veggie dogs or real hot dogs, put ‘em on a bun and serve them with kraut and mustard and there ya go. Hot dogs.
Anyway, Dog Almighty is dead to me. And I had such high hopes for them, too.

I had the Pfluger Dog and the Hyde Park Dog.
Pfluger Dog had saurkraut, onions, and deli mustard. Yummy.
Hyde Park Dog had chili and yellow mustard. Yummy. I’m not sure if the chili is homemade or not, but it was tasty. Not spicy though.
The sausage was good, with a nice grilled taste. Not giant, but not tiny either. The buns were soft and fresh. We also got a basket of tots. Those were perfect! Crispy on the outside, fluffy and hot on the inside.
My only complaints were that paying $ 2.50 — $ 3 a dog seems a little steep. Am I wrong to think the price for the consumable must be something like $.50 per dog? Plus you don’t need that much skill to slap some condiments on. Also, the menu above the counter was difficult to read. I could barely make out the «toppings» for each dog. If I could have read them better, I would have gone for the «Classic» which is a chili-​dog with cheddar and onions.
In conclusion, if you have a craving for a good dog, Dog Almighty is a good choice.

I want my Rock Dog back!
Most people seemed to love Dog Almighty, so I thought I’d give it a try, considering how much I loved Rock Dog — I loved everything from the goofy atmosphere (like a Johnny Rockets or other retro rock ‘n’ roll joint, but sincere), to the sweetheart owner, to (especially) the Smart Dog with delicious veggie chili. Most people said it’d be the same post-​change, or at least as good.
They were wrong.
It’s got this halfway transitional décor — they kept the black-​and-​white checkered ceiling tiles and weird slate on the back of the ordering area, but toned down everything else and eliminated the rock memorabilia. And they were playing good music, but not the oldies that make your dog taste better (trust me, I grew up around hot dog vendors).
The workers are nice enough (gave me a free Dr. Pepper he’d poured for someone who didn’t want it), but they’re just not as cool as the old owner. Plus I heard them getting yelled at for being lazy while I was eating, which is never a good sound to complement your meal.
Lastly, the food just isn’t as good. The chili is weaker, the ‘dog’ is overcooked and the fries are overcrispy and WAY too salty. They do still use Smart Dogs brand, which is good, because they’re always nice and tasty, even when cooked too long on the outside.
So why three generous stars? It’s still one of the only hot dog joints in town (the other two are also Dog Almightys). And I know I’m being way too harsh because of my Rock Dog love. It was definitely an acceptable experience in a fine little place, just not one I’ll be eager to repeat on a monthly basis like I did with Rock Dog.
Also, all but one of the seven people in there (many, many more customers than on an average Rock Dog visit, by the way) was ordering a veggie dog. And they’ve got a good menu that can all be made veggie. That’s just kinda cool!