Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Top Dog is Gone

Top Dog on Menaul is Gone. Anyone know the fate of their other locations?

Permalink Reply by once banned twice shy on June 9, 2009 at 3:07pm: What? Really? Huh. Well, I do know that a friend of mine went in there a little while ago at 7:30 pm. The posted closing time was 8:00 pm. The first words out of the counterperson's mouth were "This had better be to go!" She wasn't joking--she was mean and serious. Then my friend and his wife ordered their food and the cook MICROWAVED the hot dogs and told them the fryers were already shut down, so sorry, no fries. So, if they treated everyone like this, it is no wonder they closed down.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brendan on June 9, 2009 at 3:14pm: Top Dog disappeared the day they moved to that new strip mall where the scary Mongolian BBQ was. It was just never the same. Whew, glad to get that out of my system.

About a month ago we noticed the Top Dog on 4th & Osuna was closed. There was a rather unpleasant legal notice from the landlord on the door stating much money was owed them and to not even think of removing anything from inside the building.

I suspect, like Shipley's Donuts, they expanded right at the moment their market was about to contract.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by once banned twice shy on June 9, 2009 at 3:24pm: Well, but Top Dog had a fairly established clientele, I thought? It seems that they would be less affected by the economic downturn than other places. Although I will say that the last time I went there, the cheese sauce on the fries was that icky canned stuff, and the whole place seemed kind of dirty and neglected.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brendan on June 9, 2009 at 3:54pm: Sure, they had an established clientele at their original location. That group probably even followed them 200 feet west when they moved. But it might not have been so easy on the other locations they opened up. Pure speculation on my part, of course.

I've been meaning to check out the pizza place that moved in to their original location. The building was delightfully dilapidated, with a heavy patina of grease and grime. While generally unacceptable for most dining establishments, for them it worked. Anybody tried the pizza place?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ron Da Bomb on June 9, 2009 at 4:10pm: That would be JJ's Pizza. Not bad. They have online coupons from time to time...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Pants McCracky on June 10, 2009 at 2:19pm: Stay away from the wings. They're gigantic, as advertised (I think they use thighs instead of wings), but minimally sauced and kind of disturbing.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Coffee Freak on June 29, 2009 at 8:26am: Man I am with you on the wings. I kinda felt wierd eating them. Something was just not right!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Pants McCracky on June 10, 2009 at 2:18pm: It's too bad, but I can't say I miss it. I had heard a lot about Top Dog and went there last year to try their Chicago style. Raw cucumber and bell peppers on a thoroughly average dog, on a plain (not poppy seed) bun. Overly greasy fries (this is coming from someone who normally likes greasy fries). Service with a snarl. And the topper was a price that was a third more than I was used to paying for a jumbo combo in my former hometown.

I'm not quite sure what exactly their clientele was (or is, if they're still open at other locations). The place was definitely dive-y, but they charged gourmet prices -- for food that was, IMHO, far from top quality. Everyone I asked about the place said they'd been there once, liked it okay, but wouldn't consider going back because the place was so expensive for what you got. Which was pretty much exactly my experience.

I just can't imagine why anyone would go there and pay $6-8 for a hot dog, fries, and drink when they could go a few blocks down to Wienerschnitzel and get almost the same combo for half the price. It'd be one thing if Top Dog was miles better than Wienerschnitzel, but to my tastes, it simply wasn't.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ron Da Bomb on June 10, 2009 at 2:45pm: I agree the place knew how to ruin a ten dollar bill. My office is in the neighborhood (directly across Menaul) so we walk to a lot of these joints for lunch. We'd only eat Top Dog when we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon, which was maybe once a month. I did notice a decline in the quality of food over the last year or so... My fave was the coney. I liked their strange almost-sweet chili sauce. And I liked their philly with mushrooms, but the sandwich alone was about ten bucks.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joan Saks Berman on June 10, 2009 at 3:20pm: The dogs they served were Vienna brand (kosher style from Chicago). While Wienerschnitzel served them for a while, when I asked at the one on Carlisle and Candelaria, they said they didn't have them any more. In my opinion, kosher or kosher style are the only ones worth eating (I'm originally from Chicago), but usually I get mine at Costco, except when I had a coupon. Let me know if the Wienerschnitzel has gone back to the Vienna brand.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Coffee Freak on June 29, 2009 at 8:33am: Ok now I am not saying that Wienerschnitzel is the worst place to grab a dog. But there has to be somthing better. Any other good Dog stands in town?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ron Da Bomb on June 29, 2009 at 10:12am: You can get a Nathan's at Itsa Italian Ice or for the hottest chili dog in town, the Dog House. While not a hot dog, gotta give a shout to Joe S. Sausage and a wicked good sandwich.; ▶ Reply to This