UPDATE: 2008 Columbus Summer Chili-Dog Challenge!

Dear readers, you may recall my previous post announcing my chili-dog extravaganza. Here's an update, in the form of hastily jotted notes from the front lines:

• I've gone off the reservation, hitting a couple of joints not covered in Alive's original article. the Blue Danube has an *okay* chili-dog, but the weiner is massive, so much so that after 62% of it, you're either bored with the taste or highly uncomfortable.
• I know lots of folks swear by Skyline Chili, but I can't get behind that alternate-universe, bizarro "chili sauce" syrup they put on their coneys--after eating two, I feel like I need an insulin shot.
• Rad Dog's all-vegan chili-dog was surprisingly good, and eating it while walking around the Wednesday farmer's market/craft fair in downtown Columbus made for a nice experience. Two minor complaints: too much chili (especially for eating on foot), and veggie dogs could use some sort of "casing" to give them a more believable texture.
• To all the haters out there: I *can so* eat chili-dogs and still lose weight.
  

More to come...

2008 Columbus Summer Chili-Dog Challenge!

Let me start off by saying that I am still, conceptually speaking, working to restrict my caloric intake this summer, and so far the bathroom scale is mostly moving in the right direction. That said, I couldn't let the implicit challenge embodied in a cover story in Columbus Alive a few weeks back go unanswered: "Dog Days," a parade of local eateries, high- and low-brow, that serve the best wiener-fare this fair city has to offer. I've made it a point to hit all of these joints--yes, even the vegan hotdog cart downtown--in order to have the full chili-dog experience.

So far, I've made it to two destinations: Wholly Joe's (in the Polaris area) and Press Grill (Sho'No'). Both of these places I've been to before, but in my opinion, it's necessary to revisit them to remind the palate what good chili-dogs taste like. This far into it, I've made a realization: I'm no food critic, at least when it comes to chili-dogs. I've rarely met one I didn't like, and even then, I'd still be hard pressed NOT to eat it. Both dogs were good, but for different reasons (poppy seed bun vs. split-top toasted white bun; coney sauce versus hearty black bean chili, stadium mustard versus classic yellow). *sigh* The task set before me is a daunting one, indeed... Pity me, dear readers.