Growing up, I never liked hot dogs. Brats? Yes. Hamburgers? Yes. But hot dogs? Don’t they make those from pig lips, intestines, and sawdust? Anyway, that’s what I always thought. I don’t think I’ve eaten a hot dog since I was nine.
Today, my world shook a little bit when I had my first Sonoran Hot Dog at La Reina in Tucson. We pulled into a worn strip mall. And there he was.
This is a one man operation, open 365 days per year. You place your order at the cart, pay the man, and then head into a small air conditioned dining area, where you grab your cold drink. The man then brings you the hot dog and heads back to the cart to cook up some more in the 105 F degree heat.
This is not your ordinary hot dog.
For $4.50, you get a toasted, buttered bun, sausage, bacon, beans, roasted onion, tomato, raw onion, mayonnaise, mustard, jalapeño sauce, and a big roasted hot pepper. Washed it all down with a Dr. Pepper. To be honest, I could barely taste the hot dog. We will be repeat customers.
7 comments:
HAH!!! Explorations are already bearing fruit!!
Can you provide a "location shot" showing the air-conditioned area?
Tucson is just plain cool! Even at 105 degrees. Nothing like that in Albert's Turkey.
All you need now is a cold pint.
Other than the pic of me about to devour my hot dog, I don’t have a location shot. however, if you go to google map’s street view for 924 Prince Road, Tucson, you can see the storefront.
Bill, unfortunately, this place serve any alcohol. They did have the “good” Mexican Coca Cola made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. A cold, well-made lager would have been a perfect accompaniment.
For someone who wouldn't eat hot dogs, I have to ask, What possessed you to try THIS?!?!
I looked at it on street view and I doubt *I'd* have given it a 2nd glance!
You may already know that Tucson earned the title of Unesco Capital of Gastronomy. Yeah, I didn’t know that. But while reading articles about why, I came across the Sonoran hot dog. Then I looked up a map of the best Sonoran hot dogs in Tucson. This one was the closest to our airbnb in Casas Adobes.
I heard that eating a Hot Dog cuts life expectancy by a certain amount for every one you eat, so, go easy. *Winks* That looked like a Heart Attack on a Bun... and I'm envious coz the Doc has put me on a Low Carb Diet and it is The Devil. Welcome to Arizona.
Something is sure to get me, but I'm pretty sure it won't be a hot dog, unless I choke on one. Anyway, while it was much better than I thought it would be, I would rather eat tacos.
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