Sunday, January 8, 2012

Dog Haus Biergarten (Pasadena)

When one thinks of typical American food, perhaps what comes to mind are burgers and hot dogs. With "gourmet burger" places opening all over the country, hot dogs are trying to follow. Dog Haus in Pasadena has been pretty popular and gotten good reviews with its 1/4 lb all-beef dog on grilled King's Hawaiian bread, and they recently realized how much better dogs would be when paired with beer. Then, Dog Haus Biergarten was born.

The biergarten took over the space that was (for a short while) Point 08 - a larger space than one would expect from a hot dog place, complete with outdoor seating and full bar. I was invited to visit the biergarten, but I actually had never visited the original Dog Haus before, so of course I had to try make sure to try the dogs.

We ended up trying three dogs between two people.
Our favorite was actually the first dog my friend ordered: The Grand Slam (smoked bacon, egg, tater tots) - $5.95

The Grand Slam was indeed a grand slam. I mean, everything is just better with fried egg, bacon, and fried potatoes. I tried a bite of my friend's and didn't really want to give it back! As for the dogs, I liked the browned edges of the grilled bread. Fellow blogger Destination Eats said before that good hot dogs are all about the "snap", and I think the ones here had a nice one. Not that I'm a dog expert.

Probably encouraged by the previous success, my friend ordered another dog with eggs. This time it's a new addition to the menu, the Lumberjack with scrambled cheddar eggs, 2 strips of smoked pepper bacon, and maple syrup ($5.95)
This one pretty much tasted like breakfast to us. Pretty good, but we preferred the Grand Slam.

I wanted to try their new Old Town Dog with caramelized onions, sauteed spicy peppers, Haus chipotle mayo, and Cotija cheese ($5.95)
I should've known better than to order one with spicy chili peppers, but I love cotija cheese. Turns out, this dog was too spicy for me!

If you still need some small bites after a dog, they have burger sliders for $1.50 each, though the meat was pretty small and it lacks toppings. Well, what can you expect for $1.50? But I'd rather spend more and get a real burger or dog.

I do recommend getting the Tater tots ($1.95) though. I thought it was a pretty good price for a good portion of crispy taters.
The Biergarten, unlike the old Doghaus, has a full bar. Since I was there during a workday lunch, I decided to go with a soda. They offer some interesting bottled soda ($3 each). I got a Kutztown Birch Beer and my friend got a Vanilla Cream soda.
Dog Haus Biergarten seems to be a pretty good place to get an inexpensive meal in Old Town. I didn't get a chance to check out their beer list or cocktails. They kept the same mixologists as Point 08 which also meant they kept most of the cocktails on the old list, but soon I'll be there to check out their list of 20 beers.


Dog Haus Biergarten
93 E Green St
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 683-0808
www.doghausdogs.com/
Dog Haus Biergarten on Urbanspoon

Disclosure: this visit was hosted.

2 comments:

Andi?

You should definitely try a full burger some time; I almost always get a burger when I go there. I like the Freiburger - coleslaw, french fries, and fried egg. It's messy but really good. (Although Abby was not that impressed when she tried it.)

They also have a ton of complimentary condiments that you can ask for when you order like garlic salt, celery salt, different hot sauces, etc. I always get Sriracha to mix with ketchup for the tater tots.

Julie D

This is right in my backyard... I should go!!

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