Hot dogs have long been held back by the ketchup mafia. Every once in a while, mustard and onions were allowed in on the action, but for the longest time the sweet red sauce ran the show.
Enter Matt and Jenna Hagarty, husband and wife hot dog鈥� connoisseurs? It certainly seems that way, with their 25-seat, punk rock hangout in Hastings Sunrise offering nearly a dozen different versions of the classic dugout snack.
You鈥檝e got the best-selling Matt and She鈥檚, a dog so loaded down with mac 鈥檔鈥� cheese, bits of bacon and green onion that you need a fork to slay the beast; you鈥檝e got the Reuben, a corned beef, swiss cheese and sauerkraut creation that can proudly call itself one of What鈥檚 Up? Hot Dog!鈥檚 original three; and you can鈥檛 forget the Hanzai, the pickled ginger, cucumber, wasabi and sriracha party that rolls with a tempura-and-black-sesame-seed entourage.
They pickle their own onions, smoke their own pork, and all their dogs 鈥� made with all-natural Two Rivers beef or Field Roast veggie 鈥� run from eight to 11 bucks.听
鈥淲e put a lot of time and work into the ingredients,鈥� says Matt proudly from one of the red vinyl booths. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no space cheese or anything on top.鈥�
So, it鈥檚 no surprise that within seven short months of opening, the couple, who also both play in local bands, now hold Silver for Best Hot Dog in our Best of the City Dining readers鈥� choice poll. They also won Best Cheap Eats, Best Diner/Greasy Spoon (city wide AND East Side), and Bronze for Best Burger.
Not bad for a couple who didn鈥檛 really want to do a restaurant in the first place.
鈥淢y goal wasn鈥檛 necessarily to create a restaurant,鈥� admits Matt with a laugh. 鈥淥ur food is really good and it鈥檚 gotten a lot better since we started, but my goal was just to create another place where we could hang out that wasn鈥檛 just a bar.
鈥溌槎勾接郴璱s so saturated with sports bars and there鈥檚 a lot of places I love to go to see bands,鈥� he continues, 鈥渂ut in between those two things I didn鈥檛 feel like there was a lot of spaces that had more than just drinking.鈥�
Inspired by tour stops at Tubby Dog in Calgary, a place where all-ages live shows and hot dogs are a match made in heaven, the walls at What鈥檚 Up? Hot Dog! are lined with posters from Vancouver鈥檚 punk rock past while tunes by Weezer, Bad Sports, Protex and The Monks blare over the speakers. And true to their goal to have more than just booze, the bar became a Blue Jays hot spot in the summer, has a well-played pinball arcade, and is building on its popular Simpson鈥檚 trivia night with impending NHL 鈥�94 tournaments and Tape Jam 鈥� a VHS and Betamax movie night that will see custom hot dogs to match the movies.
Matt adds that they want people in the neighbourhood to know it鈥檚 also a place to just come by with a laptop to work. Fair warning though: those keys will be a Mole sauce magnet.
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What鈥檚 Up? Hot Dog!
2481 E Hastings
604-879-8364
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