Archive for Hot Dogs
Jaxson’s ol’ school Ice Cream Parlour in Dania Beach, Florida
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Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlour has been around for over 50 years. I’ve come by here quite a few times to wait in line outside for the ice cream, which is homemade and great by the way. Once you step foot inside you almost feel as if nothing has changed inside since its opening. The first thing to your right once inside is a gigantic selection of candies, in particular some you probably haven’t seen in years.
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| a small selection of the candy available |
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| part of the candy and service counter from the 1st room |
I ate here 2 twice within the last couple of weeks and each time I was seated in a different part of the restaurant (there are 2 rooms). The first is mostly long tables that can be shared by different groups of folks and the 2nd is all individual tables. One of the first things I was asked by the server on both occasions was whether I’d like some popcorn while I waited for my food. The first time I passed on it but on the following occasion I figured I might as well.
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| how can you go wrong with free popcorn? |
I was with my cousin Fred and convinced him to try eating at Jaxson’s by telling him I had only tried their ice cream. He was in amazement at the place and we both were looking over the menu when the waitress came up to us. And then it happened…..I ordered a Coke. I was told “We only serve a homemade Cola.” I was intrigued so I said “Yes”. One of the best “Yeses” of my life. The sip was so delicious that I didn’t want it to end. Fred took one sip and didn’t want to give back my cup. It was settled. He needed his own cup and I had a new obsession.
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| Jaxson’s Cola: Where have you been all my life? |
In the midst of our cola battle my Patty Melt arrived. I also have a well documented obsession with Patty Melts. The dude I was served fit right in with his marble rye bread. It was nice, juicy and delicious.
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| a beaut of a Patty Melt |
Right before getting up to leave we decided to each order a shake. We take a couple of sips and take it to go along with a to go cup of the cola.
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| Thick & Creamy Vanilla Shake |
On my second visit I was with my wife Marcela. I couldn’t stop talking to her about how great the cola was, so she ordered the pink lemonade. I ordered a Cola and kept it out of her reach (even though she didn’t want it). I decided on some potato pancakes to start with. There was nothing really special here but that didn’t stop me from eating them all.
Marcela decided to order the Patty Melt while I couldn’t help myself and ordered this ridiculously sized 1 pound hot dog called the Artillery Dog. It’s served with some relishes and chopped onions on the side. I went straight mustard on this mutha.
Marcela though I was in way over my head because I didn’t finish it. I don’t know what I was thinking but in the end it worked out. The dog was even better later when I finished it while watching Survivor at home. Days later I was having some hot flashes about that hot dog. And what about Jaxson’s Cola you ask? I’m still thinking about the cola with some thoughts of the patty melt peppered in.
Jaxson’s
128 South Federal Hwy, Dania Beach, FL
954-923-4445
Prime 112 – South Beach, Florida
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My buddy (an actual friend not the 1980′s toy) called me up and tells me that I must eat at Prime One Twelve. What do I know about Prime One Twelve? It seems as if every celebrity that visits Miami ends up there. In other words, it’s a place that does not normally interest me. After looking over the menu I have a change of heart, comfort food heaven. The prices of course are higher than my usual hot spots. I figured let’s do this, if it’s worth it I’m always willing to pay.
We head out for lunch and decide to make the hard decisions, we order (our table is pictured above): Tomato Basil Soup w/ Mini Fontina Grilled Cheese, Five Cheese Truffle ‘MAC’, KOBE Beef Hot Dog, 1 lb. KOBE Cheeseburger, Sea Salt Baked Potato w/ Vermont Butter, Applewood Smoked Bacon Bits and Chive Sour Cream , Potato Pancakes and Crispy White Truffle French Fries.
Now you must be thinking, there’s no way they ate all that food and you would be correct. Everything was delicious, except for the potato pancakes which I found to be way too crispy and not potato-ey enough. And one last thing, it would be great if they removed the name KOBE from the burger and dog because we all know it’s not authentic KOBE from Japan. For your drooling pleasure, please check out all the pics below especially the one with the bacon chunks on top of the baked potato.
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| Tomato Basil Soup w/Mini Fontina Grilled Cheese |
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| Five Cheese Truffle ‘MAC’ |
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| porn star gigantic KOBE Beef Hot Dog |
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| 1 lb. KOBE Cheeseburger |
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| Potato Trio: Baked Potato, Potato Pancakes & Truffle Fries |
Prime One Twelve
Facebook: Prime 112
112 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL
305-532-8112
Steak n’ Shake – Kendall, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsMy favorite thing about Steak n’ Shake is that it’s open 24 hours. It’s unfortunate for me that the nearest one is about a good 30 minutes away. When they’re on, they’re absolutely awesome, when they’re not, it can be some of the worst food you’ve ever had. I found myself eating here on an “iffy” nights. I had no fries at all because I don’t care for them so I had onion rings. They were nothing special. I started off the festivities with a hot dog.
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| Steak ‘n Shake’s Hot Dog |
They’re split in half and cooked on the flat top. It was good but not great. I asked for cheese and grilled onions on it but in retrospect maybe grilled onions and mustard would have made a more dynamic combination. It had been while so I figured I’d also try out their “Cheesy Cheddar Steakburger”.
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| Cheesy Cheddar Burger |
That was a no go for me. It was flat and flavorless, kinda sad because the slice of cheese got me excited when I saw it served up. As for the melts? Well, the real reason I came here is because I’ve been obsessed with Patty Melts as of late.
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| Frisco Melt |
So I wanted to have a Frisco Melt: Buttery & Toasted Sourdough Bread, 2 Steakburger patties, American and Swiss cheeses and their Frisco sauce. I was totally indifferent to this burger. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. If it was on a sinking ship, I’m not sure if I would save it.
The Patty Melt was Buttery & Toasted Rye Bread, 2 Steakburger patties, American cheese and grilled onions and was better. It wasn’t the best Patty Melt I’ve ever had but it’s up there in the top 1/3 percentage, which is not too bad considering everything else.
Steak ‘n Shake
8701 S.W. 157th Ave, Kendall, FL
305-752-2060
Pincho Factory – Westchester – Miami, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsPincho Factory? Really? It may be named Pincho Factory but pinchos are not even under consideration for me when there’s a burger on the menu. My wife, that’s another story, she loves pinchos (please keep all jokes to yourself). The girl at the counter suggested we add fries to my wife’s order of a Beef Pita (she agreed). She made the same suggestion to add fries to my Pincho Burger order, I decided to go with a side of Hot Dog (Vienna All Beef Hot Dog). Before anyone tries to ask for a side of Hot Dog, it doesn’t exist.
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| Fries (fried in peanut oil) |
The fries do not appear to be fresh cut but they were fried in peanut oil. While I’m normally not a fan of frozen fries, these dudes were fried so perfectly in the peanut oil I couldn’t stop eating them. I considered taking a to go order of them (honestly).
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| Beef Pita |
The Beef Pita is a pincho with pita bread around it with your choice of toppings. She chose lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers as hers and she couldn’t stop raving about it. I tried it, liked the meat but I can’t get past cucumbers since they’re high on my list of dislikes.
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| The Hot Dog |
The Hot Dog is a Vienna dog. Just in case you live under a hot dog rock, this is the good stuff. The dude at the counter suggested I add banana peppers, onions…..and ketchup. Is he crazy? I didn’t add it but he assured me that it tasted great that way. If you try it that way let me know, I’d be interested in hearing what you think. I ended up adding mustard to it after the picture was taken and was very happy with it.
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| Pincho Burger w/Cheese |
The Pincho Burger upon arrival just looked delicious. I had mine with cheese, raw red onions (not sure if grilled onions are an option), potato sticks and their pink sauce. The meat has some nice seasoning on it and a great grilled taste. Great choice of buns too! I loved it. For an extra $1 you can upgrade to a double which I will definitely do next time I’m here. Next time I’ll also get a side of Pincho Dog (just kidding).
Pincho Factory
Facebook: Pincho Factory
Twitter: @PinchoFactory
9860 Bird Road, Miami, FL
305-631-2038
Harrison’s Sports Grill – West Miami, Florida
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I drive down 57th Avenue between Coral Way and 8th Street a few times a week. Harrison’s replaced a restaurant that had seen better days and looked worn out for years now. Harrison’s color scheme is the same as the Hurricanes which means we know who their target audience is. It’s not too far from the UM campus which makes sense. The starters include Jalapeno Poppers, SWern Eggrolls, Mozz Sticks and Loaded Nachos but on both trips there I had the wings.
The Wings are flash fried and then grilled, very reminiscent of Sports Grill (who are hailed as Best Wings by about 90% of Miami). The first time, I tried Dante’s Inferno which were really not that hot. The wings themselves are a near masterpiece of flavor. A few days later when I returned, we ordered the BBQ wings which drowned out the great taste of the wing itself with a really delicious BBQ sauce. Both are winners in my book.
Harrison’s Hot Dog appears to be about a 1/4 all beef dog, served on a toasted, lightly buttered dog bun. Options? You can go either Chili, Cheese, Kraut or Chili Cheese. I tried the Chili Cheese Dog and I didn’t dig the chili at all. On the 2nd go around, I had the Cheese Dog which was great. It’s sliced in half and slightly crispy from the grill.The cheese is nacho cheese type sauce.
Before we get to the burger you should know that there’s a Philly Cheese Steak & Chicken Philly on the menu that I didn’t get to try, that’s for you Cheesesteak-o-holics. As per the menu, the Harrison’s 1/2 lb. Burger is half a pound & seemed quite larger to me. I had the burger with Swiss Cheese but if you so desire you can add Mushrooms, Jalapeños, Bacon or even an extra patty.
The burgers are served with potato chips, fries will run you about 3 bucks more. The fries are of the crinkle cut frozen variety and not worth the $2.95. When I had the burger with American Cheese and Bacon I liked it a whole bunch more. It’s a good burger and much better than the one served at Duffy’s right down the street. I liked Harrison’s and I’ll be back to try out their Philly(s) very soon.
Harrison’s Sports Grill
1674 SW Red Road, West Miami
305-262-5517
Grill Master Cafe – Miami Food Truck
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Grill Master Cafe has a giant menu, I mean, it’s the Big Pink of food truck menus. While trying to figure out what to order I decide, why rack my brain? I make the critical decision to order the 5 that interest me the most. The Grill Master Burger and the Frita Cubana are a given, but the Grill Master Hot Dog, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and Homemade “Idaho” Fries with Cheese & Bacon round out my five choices. I was still looking over the menu while everything was being prepared thinking I still could have gone with a Pincho or a Croqueta Preparada.
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| Homemade “Idaho” Fries w/Cheese & Bacon |
The first thing ready was the fries which are fresh cut. The fries are not blanched (fried twice, the first time to get the outside crispy) which is the popular method to make fresh cut fries at places like Five Guys and Outback Steakhouse. My mom used to make me fries like this and I of course liked them (unless I want my mom to read this and kill me).
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| Grill Master Hot Dog: Take 1 |
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| Grill Master Hot Dog: Take 2 |
The Grill Master Dog (which I believe is the brand National Deli) is topped with Julienne potatoes, sauteed onions and a special sauce. It’s not a small hot dog by any stretch but I think that when I have it again I’d add some more of the sauce or mustard. I loved the julienne potatoes and the choice of hot dog was a good one. The Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich is Philly via Miami.
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| Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich |
The steak itself has some very Cuban flavors and are thicker pieces of meat than the run of the mill cheese steaks you’ll eat everywhere. It’s topped with the usual suspects of grilled onions and cheese, definitely worth a try. What’s left? The Grill Master Burger and Frita Cubana.
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| Grill Master Burger |
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| Frita Cubana |
These are both freshly prepared and not the frozen stuff. Both are great and if you needed to choose between them I’d give a slight advantage to the Burger for an underlying sweetness that really adds to its taste. The corn dusted buns on both were good also. Frita purists might have an issue with the bun and the fact that there’s cheese on it, but the meat is right on target. It might take me a few more trips to work my way through the menu so I’ll keep you posted. I’ll hope you’ll keep me posted too.
Follow Grill Master Cafe:
Twitter: @grillmastercafe
Facebook: Grill Master Cafe
California Burgers & Shakes – Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
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As I walked in and looked at the burgers on the grill I realized a single burger just wasn’t going to do it for me today (or most days for that matter). After a flurry of order activity, I end up with a a Double Cheeseburger, Cheese Hot Dog, Fries and a Chocolate Shake. I liked the fries which were fresh cut as well as the cheese dog.
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| fresh cut papitas |
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| split wiener |
The dog is split down the middle, cooked to a delicious crispiness and then topped with some good ole cheese. I didn’t add any mustard as I found it to taste just right.
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| double with cheese all wrapped up |
The burger comes wrapped tightly with the end exposed and ready to be eaten. The cheese was perfectly melted but the burger just didn’t hit it out of the park for me. I was hoping for more flavor. Don’t get me wrong, it was juicy but something was lacking in the flavor department.
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| wide straw for thick shake |
The Chocolate Shake comes with an extra wide straw. It makes it easier to down the shake in record time (which I did). It’s a shame I couldn’t say the same thing about the burger.
California Burger & Shakes
1040 Bayview Drive, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
(954) 561-8288
EVOS: Feel Great Fast Food in Pinecrest, Florida
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I will preface everything that you’re about to read with, I think everything tastes better fried. Thank you and you may now continue your reading adventure:
EVOS Feel Great Fast Food is part of a chain that’s created a healthier form of fast food. All the food items you would normally expect to be fried are air baked in an oven which cuts down significantly on the calories and fat. Their 1/3 lb. burgers are of naturally raised beef which are also hormone & antibiotic free. So are the hot dogs by the way (they’re not 1/3 lb. though). I also heard great things about their chicken strips so let’s order some of those too along with some “Airfries”. A single patty is not enough for me so I ordered a double with cheese.
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| my EVOS Steakburger awaiting unwrapping |
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| EVOS Double SteakCheeseBurger |
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| Grilled Beef Hot Dog |
The burger’s flavor reminded me of a salisbury steak and would probably go better with condiments on it instead of plain how I had it. The hot dog tasted great and I could probably eat it all day along with the chicken strips. In a chicken strip line up stacked up against other fast food chain chicken strips you would not be able to tell that these were not fried.
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| EVOS Chicken Strips |
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| Airfries |
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| Ketchup: Mesquite Magic, Garlic Gravity, Cayenne Firewalker & Original |
The fries were a little on the bland side for me but luckily there’s 4 different ketchups to dip them into. The Mesquite Magic is the way to go. Would I eat at EVOS again? I can appreciate what they’re trying to do. This place is not my deal, but who knows, it might be yours.
EVOS
9537South Dixie Highway, Pinecrest, FL
305-740-3433
