Po Dog offers bite worth barking for

(Photo by Candace Shankel)

Anyone out after ten on the weekends has seen the cream cheese hotdog vendors lurking outside bars and across from concert venues. But aside from the option of soy dog or beef dog, onions or no onions, late night snackers would be hard pressed to find much variety coming from the carts.

Just over on Union Street, diners can sit in comfort at recently opened Po Dog, eating a dog, fries and a drink for less than $15.

Po Dog’s victuals are only slightly pricier than the $5 hot dogs found on street corners, their most expensive dog—the South of the Border topped with guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream—coming to $6.95.

There are currently 12 dogs on the menu, running the gamut from classic to adventurous with the promise of more to be added in the near future.

While researching recipes over the summer, owner Laura Olson was determined to offer a dessert dog. The sweet puppy on the menu currently is a peanut butter and banana dog, which is a beef or tofu hotdog topped with runny, melted crunchy peanut butter and sliced fresh banana.

Olson describes it as sweet but salty, insisting customers try it to believe it.

“The worst one we tried [during development] was a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup dog,” Olson says. “Chocolate with hotdogs just doesn’t work.”

Despite the slightly pricy and somewhat strange dogs, Po Dog has the advantage of a liquor license and a wide variety of domestic and international beer, as well as some killer crunchy fries nearly rivaling those of Capitol Hill favorite Honey Hole.

The décor is much cleaner than one might expect from a hot dog restaurant with its long white bar, white chairs and black-and-white wall paper. Olson added her personal touch to the decorations with a blown up portrait of her pug, Harley, licking his lips as he stairs down the customers from the back wall just begging for a little taste.

The restaurant effortlessly makes hot dogs seem trendy and fresh instead of just the stale staple of summer barbecues.

Olson and crew have several new recipes in development that they plan to rotate as specials, from their upcoming Thai-inspired dog to the seasonal Thanksgiving dog with stuffing.

One recipe Olson is currently most excited about is a macaroni and cheese dog influenced by her mom’s recipe of adding hot dog slices to mac ’n’ cheese when Olson was a child.

Olson hopes to use the Capitol Hill location as the flagship shop, and plans on opening two to three shops in Seattle in the next five years with the possibility of trickling into Portland.

“After you’ve gourmet’d ice cream and cupcakes, there is no reason not to gourmet hot dogs,” said Capitol Hill resident and first time customer Taylor Hain.

The food is tasty and filling. And “filling” at Po Dog means the food will sit in your stomach for hours like a delicious rock. It is impossible to leave hungry.

This story originally appeared in Seattle University's Campus paper The Spectator.