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Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg
Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Great combo: hot hot dog and cool michelada
Video:
TIN FORK: A very HOT dog
Barrio Logan, I’m thinking, is bound to be a cinch for Yoli, the Mexican lemon-lime soft drink that started in Guerrero a century ago, and tastes like Sprite, only a tad more concentrated. That’s why I’m walking on the sunsetty side of Logan Avenue on this Thursday afternoon as people are setting up for the evening market. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the barrio. Good to know it’s all still here, what with the all the gentrification pressure you hear about. It’s not just the familiar and fantastic food smells; it’s also great that the gentle, communal street-life feel is alive and well. I pass places like “Sew Loka,” a place where the art of sewing is being revived. (Yes, a take on Soy Loca — “I’m crazy.”).
Then I pass by the sun-lit façade of “Todo Pa’ La Cruda.” The columns are wildly decorated. (Name means “Everything for the Hangover.”) I guess they’ll have menudo, and other vuelva a la vida dishes like pozole verde and caldo de marisco. A couple of Anglo guys who are in there chowing say they’re eating the best veggie burritos of their lives, for about six bucks each. I’m almost tempted to sit right down and order one.
Except a veggie burrito is not what I’m really looking for, here in the barrio. What I want is — don’t laugh — a hot dog. Not just any hot dog, but what I heard described as a “Sonoran hot dog,” like they have down in Hermosillo (the capital of Sonora). Sounds so delicious. Basically a beef dog wrapped in bacon, drowning in pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, and lots of different sautéed peppers, all tucked up inside a wide bolillo jacket.
Surprise gift of crème caramel custard
The gal at Todo Pa’ La Cruda says they don’t do dogs, not even Mexican dogs. So I carry on up Logan, past Fish Guts, and the Italian place that Michelin mentions, Ciccia. Uber-cool — if a little expensive. But hey, hey, it’s my lucky night: I notice a place across Logan: “Barrio Dogg.” Lights blazing. It used to be famous as a street cart built into an actual 1964 Chevy Impala. The guys who started it about seven years ago were into low-rider culture. Then it moved into this brick-and-mortar location, which makes sense, because this here is the heart of low-rider land. Did well, looks like, because it expanded to a second operation in Petco Park, and now they’ve even opened a third in San Antonio, Texas. They call their food Chicano Comfort Food. Dogs with a Mexican riqueza. This I gotta try. I hop inside and hitch myself onto a stool at the counter that faces the sidewalk.
Francisco and Ericka come up with a menu. “Sonoran dogs?” I say.
“We have many like that,” Francisco says. What I like is that he and Ericka are keen to get into it. I ask for a michelada. (Turns out the name comes from the Mexican slang for beer, chela. Mi chelada! Who knew? She has one brought up for me. Gonna pay $11, I think). “It’s kind of like a Bloody Mary, with La Especial beer,” she says. Mine is the regular, with clamato and salsa roja. And along with jalapenos and lime, it has a dried prune floating on top, a saladito.
“The saladito will sink through the drink and add a saltiness to the flavor,” Ericka says.
It’s refreshing and peppery, but Ericka says the “Fresca” michelada is the most popular. It has cucumber juice added.
I wait a few minutes, and instead of my hot dog, Ericka arrives with a jar of what looks like a creme caramel custard. “This is because we’ve kept you waiting,” she says. Huh. Nice and sweet, and this is going to be cool with the coming heat.
Now Francisco, who’s also one of the cooks, appears with this little mountain that is my La Yorona hot dog. “Are you sure?” he asks. “This is our spiciest. Our scariest.” And by the time he has run through all the ingredients, I believe him. Apart from the big beef dog, wrapped in bacon, there’s the…well, take it away! “Chile con carne, cheddar cheese, sliced jalapenos, aged Manchega cheese, salsa verde, different peppers we call Crazy Rabbit, Purple Rain, and Creeper or Carolina Reaper, Dragon Tears (that’s a kind of chili oil), crunchy fried onion and garlic, pickled red onion, fresh habanero, wasabi sesame seeds, and one of the bolillo buns, which we bake ourselves every morning.”
Like everything in the barrio, good art reigns supreme
Wow. So I get the “tears,” but how come that name, La Yorona? It turns out it’s based on the legend which goes back to Aztec times, of La Llorona, a vengeful ghost. She wanders by water mourning her children — who she drowned. I think it also ties in with La Malinche, the “Mother of Modern Mexico,” who guided Cortez, bore a son to him, and some say betrayed her people by aiding the Spanish. One way or another, you’re gonna be shedding tears.
And specially, when I bite into something small and lethal, feels like, man, I’m shedding more than tears. But I surprise even myself: I seem to be able to handle the heat. Mainly because the flavors are so strong and luscious, and surrounded by that excellent bolillo, they almost round out the tongue-withering heat. The chela helps too. When I’m finished, I sit back like a sumo wrestler after Round Ten. I’ll have to come back, because now I’m curious about other options like El Bombero (“The Fireman,” with seven distinct chiles), or El Xolito, with cheese, sour cream and, they say, plenty of crunchy garlic. Costs two dollars less than my $12 Yorona.
“Come back when the low riders parade past here,” says Ericka. “Every weekend evening. Like your La Yorona dog, they’re hot!”
Oh, and the Yoli? Guess we’re talking TJ for that.
The Place: Barrio Dogg, 2234 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan, 619-546-7889
Hours: 10am - 9pm daily
Prices: El Xolito hot dog, $10; El Capone (Chicago-style with mustard), $10; El Samurai, Asian-style, with hoisan BBQ and sriracha sauce) $10; El Bombero (“the fireman,” 7 different chiles), $11; El Smokey (“Texas BBQ-inspired,” $12); La Yorona (“the scariest!”), multiple chiles, two cheeses) $12, $15 wrapped in bacon
Buses: 12, 901
Nearest bus stop: Logan Avenue and César E Chavez Parkway
Trolley: Blue Line
Nearest Trolley Stop: Barrio Logan
Here's something you might be interested in.
Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg
Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg
Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Great combo: hot hot dog and cool michelada
Video:
TIN FORK: A very HOT dog
Barrio Logan, I’m thinking, is bound to be a cinch for Yoli, the Mexican lemon-lime soft drink that started in Guerrero a century ago, and tastes like Sprite, only a tad more concentrated. That’s why I’m walking on the sunsetty side of Logan Avenue on this Thursday afternoon as people are setting up for the evening market. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the barrio. Good to know it’s all still here, what with the all the gentrification pressure you hear about. It’s not just the familiar and fantastic food smells; it’s also great that the gentle, communal street-life feel is alive and well. I pass places like “Sew Loka,” a place where the art of sewing is being revived. (Yes, a take on Soy Loca — “I’m crazy.”).
Then I pass by the sun-lit façade of “Todo Pa’ La Cruda.” The columns are wildly decorated. (Name means “Everything for the Hangover.”) I guess they’ll have menudo, and other vuelva a la vida dishes like pozole verde and caldo de marisco. A couple of Anglo guys who are in there chowing say they’re eating the best veggie burritos of their lives, for about six bucks each. I’m almost tempted to sit right down and order one.
Except a veggie burrito is not what I’m really looking for, here in the barrio. What I want is — don’t laugh — a hot dog. Not just any hot dog, but what I heard described as a “Sonoran hot dog,” like they have down in Hermosillo (the capital of Sonora). Sounds so delicious. Basically a beef dog wrapped in bacon, drowning in pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, and lots of different sautéed peppers, all tucked up inside a wide bolillo jacket.
Surprise gift of crème caramel custard
The gal at Todo Pa’ La Cruda says they don’t do dogs, not even Mexican dogs. So I carry on up Logan, past Fish Guts, and the Italian place that Michelin mentions, Ciccia. Uber-cool — if a little expensive. But hey, hey, it’s my lucky night: I notice a place across Logan: “Barrio Dogg.” Lights blazing. It used to be famous as a street cart built into an actual 1964 Chevy Impala. The guys who started it about seven years ago were into low-rider culture. Then it moved into this brick-and-mortar location, which makes sense, because this here is the heart of low-rider land. Did well, looks like, because it expanded to a second operation in Petco Park, and now they’ve even opened a third in San Antonio, Texas. They call their food Chicano Comfort Food. Dogs with a Mexican riqueza. This I gotta try. I hop inside and hitch myself onto a stool at the counter that faces the sidewalk.
Francisco and Ericka come up with a menu. “Sonoran dogs?” I say.
“We have many like that,” Francisco says. What I like is that he and Ericka are keen to get into it. I ask for a michelada. (Turns out the name comes from the Mexican slang for beer, chela. Mi chelada! Who knew? She has one brought up for me. Gonna pay $11, I think). “It’s kind of like a Bloody Mary, with La Especial beer,” she says. Mine is the regular, with clamato and salsa roja. And along with jalapenos and lime, it has a dried prune floating on top, a saladito.
“The saladito will sink through the drink and add a saltiness to the flavor,” Ericka says.
It’s refreshing and peppery, but Ericka says the “Fresca” michelada is the most popular. It has cucumber juice added.
I wait a few minutes, and instead of my hot dog, Ericka arrives with a jar of what looks like a creme caramel custard. “This is because we’ve kept you waiting,” she says. Huh. Nice and sweet, and this is going to be cool with the coming heat.
Now Francisco, who’s also one of the cooks, appears with this little mountain that is my La Yorona hot dog. “Are you sure?” he asks. “This is our spiciest. Our scariest.” And by the time he has run through all the ingredients, I believe him. Apart from the big beef dog, wrapped in bacon, there’s the…well, take it away! “Chile con carne, cheddar cheese, sliced jalapenos, aged Manchega cheese, salsa verde, different peppers we call Crazy Rabbit, Purple Rain, and Creeper or Carolina Reaper, Dragon Tears (that’s a kind of chili oil), crunchy fried onion and garlic, pickled red onion, fresh habanero, wasabi sesame seeds, and one of the bolillo buns, which we bake ourselves every morning.”
Like everything in the barrio, good art reigns supreme
Wow. So I get the “tears,” but how come that name, La Yorona? It turns out it’s based on the legend which goes back to Aztec times, of La Llorona, a vengeful ghost. She wanders by water mourning her children — who she drowned. I think it also ties in with La Malinche, the “Mother of Modern Mexico,” who guided Cortez, bore a son to him, and some say betrayed her people by aiding the Spanish. One way or another, you’re gonna be shedding tears.
And specially, when I bite into something small and lethal, feels like, man, I’m shedding more than tears. But I surprise even myself: I seem to be able to handle the heat. Mainly because the flavors are so strong and luscious, and surrounded by that excellent bolillo, they almost round out the tongue-withering heat. The chela helps too. When I’m finished, I sit back like a sumo wrestler after Round Ten. I’ll have to come back, because now I’m curious about other options like El Bombero (“The Fireman,” with seven distinct chiles), or El Xolito, with cheese, sour cream and, they say, plenty of crunchy garlic. Costs two dollars less than my $12 Yorona.
“Come back when the low riders parade past here,” says Ericka. “Every weekend evening. Like your La Yorona dog, they’re hot!”
Oh, and the Yoli? Guess we’re talking TJ for that.
The Place: Barrio Dogg, 2234 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan, 619-546-7889
Hours: 10am - 9pm daily
Prices: El Xolito hot dog, $10; El Capone (Chicago-style with mustard), $10; El Samurai, Asian-style, with hoisan BBQ and sriracha sauce) $10; El Bombero (“the fireman,” 7 different chiles), $11; El Smokey (“Texas BBQ-inspired,” $12); La Yorona (“the scariest!”), multiple chiles, two cheeses) $12, $15 wrapped in bacon
Buses: 12, 901
Nearest bus stop: Logan Avenue and César E Chavez Parkway
Trolley: Blue Line
Nearest Trolley Stop: Barrio Logan
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