Our great city still has a long way to go before carts line downtown sidewalks and grabbin’ a hot dog for lunch becomes commonplace. Until then, inroads are being laid through San Antonio with more than the usual suspects. Though a chili cheese dog, a brightly colored Chicago dog or a ‘kraut-filled New York-style dog have been found in Saytown for years (we’ll tell you where to get those later), a new wave of dogs has invaded the city’s core. And we’re more than excited about it.
The San Antonio Current sat down with the guys behind the three concepts that San Antonians should jot down as each adds more flavor than the next to the area’s landscape. Here’s the scoop on all the doggies.
The OG Gourmet Dog
It would be foolish to write about hot dogs without checking in on chef Kris Martinez, who introduced RockerDogz Gourmet Street Dogz in 2011.
“When I came, I changed the way people experienced hot dogs. It gained momentum because there was nothing like it,” Martinez said.
Sure that sounds a little boastful, but the dogs have amassed a following for a reason — and without a brick-and-mortar location. Instead, Martinez has persuaded San Antonio bar-goers and scenesters to chow down on upgraded dogs made out of a tiny cart.
“When I started out at the St. Mary’s Strip, people flipped. It was the scene of nightcrawlers and locals that really helped,” he said. He’s pulled late-night shifts that extend past 2 a.m. for the last four years.
Martinez’s culinary journey didn’t start with the opening of the cart. It actually began off the side of a snow-covered mountain in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where the then 26-year-old lied on a job application.
“I was a snowboard bum. I got into cooking because I had gotten a job working at the ski resort, flipping burgers ’cause it was easy,” Martinez said. “I said I was a great snowboarder … I had three weeks learning how to snowboard and spent three weeks busting my ass.”
He later began washing dishes at a French restaurant where curiosity and a taste for fine dining led him down this career. Martinez eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where he jumped on board with Tada Catering, a service that had him on a 12-person team that catered the Vans Warped Tour. They prepped lunch and dinner out of an 18-wheeler mobile kitchen for more than 600 people daily.
Martinez eventually returned to San Antonio and served as banquet chef for Sunset Station, pushing the boundary with nitrogen margaritas and other treats. He decided to branch off on his own in 2011 by opening RockerDogz and serving gourmet dogs outside of the long-gone Pedicab Bar and Grille and the St. Mary’s Strip, often setting up shop outside of Hi-Tones.
Because of the cart’s size, the menu was and has always been limited. The Thai Kickboxer, inspired by his days backpacking through Thailand, includes a tomato, Serrano, mustard and sweet chili glaze, red cabbage slaw and a cilantro, mint, Thai basil, sesame vinaigrette, cucumber slices and Sriracha dots. The Nori dog packed in more Asian flavors, including seaweed salad, crab meat, avocado, eel sauce, spicy mayo and nori strips. Other classics included the creamy Bella Blue, a barbacoa hangover cure and a carne guisada number with spicy avocado sauce.
“People get pissed off at me all the time because I don’t have what they want. They have to understand I have a small cart,” Martinez said.
Though plans for a permanent location fell through this summer, you can still find Martinez’s cooking around town as he and Angel Castorena of The Korova on Martin Street partner to open Droogs & Lolitas, a full-service kitchen that’ll open for lunch and provide food during nighttime shows. A patio overlooking the river is in the works, as is the menu, which will include playful takes on grilled cheese and other sandwiches.
“Cooking at Korova reminds me of my Warped Tour days, but I get to go home at night,” Martinez said.
Don’t count out RockerDogz just yet, either. Martinez is hopping around downtown spots like Southtown 101 off Presa Street, The Phantom Room on St. Mary’s and Clamp Light Artist Studios and Gallery on Blanco.
“It’s still out there, I can’t let it die out. There’s no way I will let it. There’s no date on it … a brick and mortar will come. I believe it. If anything, I’m the OG of it, gotta keep it rolling,” Martinez said.
The Newcomer
Though progress has been almost painfully slow, Southtown will get its first hot dog joint inside the long-closed San Antone Café & Concerts this fall. The building, at the corner of Wickes and South Alamo, once known as Casbeers at the Church, was leased by Barbara Wolfe and husband Steve Silbas in 2008. Known for bringing legendary San Anto acts to Southtown, the restaurant shuttered in May 2011 and both Silbas and Wolfe have since passed. The building’s history is even more compelling than its most recent iteration. Originally built in 1912, the church housed the Alamo Methodist Church until the early 1960s, later serving as the Green Room Dinner Theatre in the ’80s.
It was this elaborate history — along with a few ghost stories, to boot — that helped seal the deal for new owners Daniel Northcutt and business partner Geoff Peveto, who are bringing their sausage-filled concept Frank to the church.
“We knew we wanted to come here. We’ve looked at projects in Louisville, Venice Beach, [but] it didn’t feel right. We feel like it’s timing for Geoff, myself and my family,” Northcutt said over a beer at Madhatter’s.
“We fell in love with the place and with the history. Then we started looking at the neighborhood from a creative level, where we’re finding legitimate neighbors.”
The area’s solidified food scene was also a draw. A quick jaunt through Southtown is usually filled with stops through Blue Star Arts Complex, Feast, Hot Joy, Liberty Bar, B&D Ice House, The Friendly Spot, The Monterey, Bliss and all the way to Alamo Street Eat Bar. At this point, you can’t possibly go hungry in King William.
Their mutual love of music brought them together — Peveto is an acclaimed graphic artist, who has worked on album art for Modest Mouse, The Hold Steady, Death Cab For Cutie and Lucero to name a few. Northcutt on the other hand, has been working in and out of kitchens since he was 13, when he started bussing tables at La Casa Blanca in San Angelo for his brother-in-law. He dove into the music world and staffed the bars and retail operations for Fun Fun Fun Fest with Transmission Events and went on to become the food and beverage manager for Mumford & Sons’ Railroad Revival Tour.
The Father-Son Team
Over by River Road, the quiet launch of Pugels had local foodies abuzz this summer. What was the joint? How do you pronounce it? What were they serving?
Turns out the cloak of suspense was intentional as John and Brandon Pugel are trying to gain attention for more than just their awesome hot dogs.
We’ll get to the full menu in a minute, but even the Pugels have to acknowledge their superior product.
“Brandon staffed really good people that are focused on service first, good quality and cleanliness,” John said. The elder Pugel knows his way around quality product, though. He’s director of sales at Vistar, a national vending distributor that supplies product to big-time sporting and concert venues. Clients include the San Antonio Missions, Spurs, Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and the Yankees.
“I’ve been around food service so we know the hot dog business because our company sells them to everyone under the sun,” John said. His connections with high-caliber vendors has helped him connect them to their first venture, the Original San Antonio Hot Dog House, which opened in 2012 at 1218 W. Bitters Rd., Suite 107 – and now Pugels. Wieners are sourced out of Chicago through the Eisenberg Sausage Co., while their Polish sausage comes via Usinger’s, Wisconsin’s oldest sausage makers who’ve been handling meat since the 1880s. The pillowy buns are shipped in daily out of New World Bakery in Kyle, Texas.
The younger Pugel isn’t by any means a slacker. At 29, Brandon has held his fair share of management-level positions. He moved to San Antonio in 2005 to work at Red Robin, working at all four locations in town before spending time at Champps Kitchen and Bar and Fuddrucker’s. He rejoined Red Robin in 2011 as one of the company’s youngest general managers in the region.
It was in these corporate kitchens that he developed his eye for a great product. Since opening the Original San Antonio Hot Dog House and bringing chef Michael Bashford on board, Brandon has focused on making the joints as addicting as possible. All sauces are homemade, corn dogs are hand-dipped and fried, and there’s no limit on toppings you can add to your dog.
Visits to Pugels should include staples such as the S.A. Dog, a bacon-wrapped frank with creamy blue cheese sauce and a dose of fresh-grilled bacon bites, which was a highlight of the last two San Antonio Cocktail Conferences. The LA Dog is a subdued version of the Cali favorite where a bacon-wrapped hot dog meets avocado slices, jalapeños, mustard and cheese. Daily specials have turned into menu must-haves such as the Reuben dog, where Brandon and co. have really outdone themselves. It comes with house-smoked corned beef (they smoke at least six 12- to 15-pound briskets a week), sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and a house-made Thousand Island dressing, a creamy aioli with ketchup, julienned onions and a hint of neon relish.
“I’m actually addicted to that stuff, I use it for my fries, everything,” Brandon said.
Moving to the area was a no-brainer. The Mulberry and St. Mary’s intersection is already plenty popular with Augie’s Barbedwire Smokehouse and SA Pops down the way and Trinity favorite Bombay’s next door, but the area will see an influx of foodie joints with the opening of Pizza Classics and The Fairview Coffee Bar & Grub this summer.
“We’re still figuring out the neighborhood,” Brandon said as John added: “We want to be a destination area so people stay for hours. A little foodie area.”
Differences abound between Pugels and the original location. For starters, sales of the store’s vegetarian-friendly garden dog have tripled, while the Reuben dog and sandwich have doubled. The growth comes albeit with a smaller kitchen.
“We condensed the menu down a little bit; we lost a couple of items,” Brandon said, though with 25 dogs available, there’s still plenty to choose from. “We use up every inch.”
Stopping by for lunch might mean squeezing into the small former filling station during peak hours. If hot dogs aren’t your jam, you don’t have to skip out on the upcoming happy hour at Pugels.
Named so that folks wouldn’t immediately associate the shop with hot dogs, Pugels’ line of cold-cut sandwiches, burgers and nachos are also gaining traction even deep into peak hot dog season. Handmade patties, sweet buns, grilled onions and signature pickle-based mayonnaise house sauce probably helps in that regard.
As the school year approaches, the tiny corner shop is gearing up to beef up their specials — Brandon teased a drool-worthy Elvis Presley dog, with caramelized peanut butter, honey, grilled banana and bacon-wrapped wiener along with a balsamic dog with homemade vinaigrette, and a Boston baked bean dog.
“We’ve got so much more to offer,” Brandon said.
For those unfamiliar with Frank, the eatery opened in 2006 at 407 Colorado St. in downtown Austin. Six years later, Frank (Northcutt often speaks of the eatery as a living, breathing organism) is known for its cross-cultural take on dogs, waffle fries and laid-back cocktails.
“I always say there are only two people who open a restaurant: It’s in your blood or you’re stupid. It’s been in my blood since I was 13 and Geoff is stupid,” he joked.
Frank is modeled after all the Southern joints Northcutt and Peveto visited in their early days growing up in Texas and Oklahoma.
“We opened up a joint we wanted to hang out in. It’s definitely a clubhouse, hangout type of feel,” Northcutt said.
Hanging onto a high-end, low-brow mantra, the pair and their staff are now synonymous with crazy sausage-creations. Their five best-selling items include the Jackalope (custom-made smoked antelope, rabbit, pork sausage with cranberry compote, Sriracha aioli, and cheddar on a Frank bun); the Texalina (pork and beef sausage dressed with grilled horseradish coleslaw, Carolina mustard barbecue sauce and white cheddar on a Frank bun); the Notorious P.I.G (smoked pork, bacon, jalapeño, sage sausage dressed with mac ‘n’ cheese, and Dr. Doppelganger barbecue sauce on a Frank bun); Chicago dog; and chili cheese dog.
Sausages are made in house or by Hudson Sausage Co., and the proteins aren’t limited to the usual. The most recent additions to the menu include sausages made with kangaroo, duck and alligator.
“What’s synonymous for me in all of that is creativity. It’s obvious when you step back and take a look at it. Especially with food and beverage these days. You have to have a good product and dip into nostalgia and take people to another place,” Northcutt said.
The creativity needed to create these dogs, fries, insane brunch items (which they hope to start soon after opening) and drinks runs the gamut from drinking sessions with the guys to long text message threads where the staff, Peveto and Northcutt bounce ideas off one another.
“No one gets their feelings hurt … they’re super receptive, [the process] is super creative. You can turn any sandwich, entree, fare, into a dog, or a fry or sausage concept. That was one of the biggest draws about opening Frank,” Northcutt said. “I love the fact that you can take something so classic and so simple and do whatever you want with it.”
As construction continues inside the church, you can see more of Northcutt, his family (which has relocated to the neighborhood from Austin) and Frank partaking in upcoming events. The kismet isn’t lost on Northcutt.
“We got lucky. This was at one point a German settlement and this was known as Sauerkraut Bend. We knew a guy involved in it, decided to take a road trip, drink a few beers,” he says. “It turned into a long Friday night ramble and the start of a beautiful friendship. ‘Holy shit, these are my people in San Antonio!”
Dogs To Try
Alamo Hot Dog Co.
Corner of Crockett & Presa St., Commerce & Navarro St., Market & St. Mary’s St., (210) 831-2409; @alamohotdogco
Since 2008, this little hot dog cart has dished out bacon-wrapped goodies off downtown corners. Cooked up fresh by father-son team John and Matthew Tristan, the cart has served as a staple for a busy downtown workforce and late-night revelers. Open for lunch, dinner and late-night only.
Augie’s Barbedwire Smokehouse
3709 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 735-0088, augiesbarbedwiresmokehouse.com
Augie’s dogs only come in one size — half pound and foot-long. Feeling ravenous? Try the chili cheese version and call it a day.
Donnie’s Chicago Style Italian
4939 NW Loop 410, (210) 562-3661, donniesbeef.com
You’ll find more than hot dogs at Donnie’s, but if you’re not in the mood for pizza, give the loaded hot dogs a try. Fresh-grilled onions and peppers make all the difference.
Fattboys Burgers & Dogs
Multiple locations, fattboyburgers.com
Toppings are the name of the game at Fattboys. They’ve got the ingredient palette to help you create any masterpiece you might have in mind — be it Botticelli, Picasso or Pollock. The Fattdog is as customizable as their burgers, with oodles of toppings to choose from, and it’s sliced lengthwise before grilling to create toastier edges.
Jerry’s Chicago Style Hot Dogs
149 E. Commerce St., (210) 465-8200
Who needs gourmet, when you can have the classics at Jerry’s Chicago Style Hot Dogs, a quaint and narrow shop that’s been dishing dogs up since 2004? With more than 10 years under its belt, the joint has street cred as owner Jerry Cahue, a Chicago transplant, knows how to replicate his hometown eats. Stop in for Vienna dogs with neon relish, mustard, white onion, pickle spear, tomatoes and more.
Shuck Shack
520 E. Grayson St., (210) 236-7422
Jason Dady is dipping into the hot dog market with a Tijuana Dog, first previewed at this year’s Burgers & Beer event as part of Culinaria. With his fifth concept, Dady is taking us to the coast with seafood dishes and oysters. The Tijuana dog is a bacon-wrapped 44 Farms beer wienie with crema, bacon bites, pineapple chunks and more. Don’t miss this one.
Wrigleyville Grill
602 NW Loop 410, Suite 146, (210) 369-9833, wrigleyvillegrill.com
Jimmy Tingas, another Chicago native is bringing the Windy City’s staple to San Antonio. This time the Park North area gets a dose of diggity dogs ranging from traditional Chicago style to a “cheezy” beef dog with giardiniera peppers and velvety cheese sauce.
This article appears in The San Antonio Missons and Flavor Issue (2015).