In our never ending quest for the ultimate hot dog, my friend Russ Salazar and I dropped in on Capitol Dawgs, which is located at 1226 20th Street in midtown Sacramento. We wouldn’t have driven this far for a hot dog, but Russ had some business nearby, so we grasped the opportunity.
Capitol Dawg probably gets an “A” for variety, so we had to spend some time deciding which we wanted to try. They have eight kinds of dogs from regular to turkey and veggie, most of which you can have grilled or deep fried and served 25 or more different ways.
We finally decided on a “Prop 51 Dawg” (Chicago style with mustard, green relish, onions, tomato, kosher dill pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt in a poppy seed bun), “Delta Dawg” (West Virginia style with mustard, chili, onions and cole slaw) and the “Governor Dawg” ( their own Texas Tommy style with a deep fried American and Swiss cheese stuffed beef frank wrapped in bacon, cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese sauce and tomato).
The “Prop 51 Dawg” was good, but not the best Chicago style dog I have tasted. It did have the proper neon green relish, sport peppers and poppy seed bun, but seemed to lack a bit in overall flavor. It may have needed more celery salt. The “Delta Dawg,” which we got in order to try the chili, was my favorite, since I like cole slaw on dogs and pulled pork sandwiches (I was born on the wrong coast). The chili was more like “Coney sauce,” thin and light, but good. Russ liked the chili, but did not like it having cole slaw on it. The “Governor Dawg.” which we tried because the hot dog was deep fried. Both of us liked it, but maybe had too much going on with all the ingredients.
For more information on Capitol Dawg, call (916) 444-1226 or visit www.capitoldawg.com.