101 Best Bites: #25 Stadium Pub Hot Dog

I'm eating my way through Diablo Magazine's 101 Best Bites and giving you my thoughts, protests, and points of agreement. I'm starting cheap and working my way up, because internships don't pay that well and cable is expensive.

I'm usually right on board with Diablo's suggestions for pretty much anything, and I think they nailed it with the majority of their Best Bites. But I have to disagree with Stadium Pub's Hot Dog, only since I've had far better dogs in Danville (Peet's), Clayton (Ed's), and even Walnut Creek (McCovey's).

 To get this out of the way, I've never been to Chicago. I can't vouch for the authenticity of this hot dog over other Chicago dogs in the area. But here's where it went wrong for me: the bun. I loathe soggy bread, and by the time my bun arrived at my table and later my mouth, it was half-sogged by hot dog juices. And even the phrase hot dog juices gives me the willies. The actual hot dog had a nice snap to it, and the condiments and spears of veggies were nothing to complain about, but still...I've had better. If you find yourself at Stadium, as I frequently do during football season, order the veggie burger. It is fantastic with a side of honey mustard to dip it into, and comes loaded with all sorts of random veggies (carrots?) on top of the patty. Seriously, order it. I'm not even vegetarian anymore and I still love it.

And on another note, Stadium just recently went through a huge remodel (looks like they gutted the inside completely), and were looking to transform the back room into a huge bottled beer area, so it's definitely worth a stop to scope out the new changes.

Stadium Pub
1420 Lincoln Ave., Walnut Creek
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