During my hosted trip to Cleveland with Positively Cleveland, the locals were challenged to vote on where we would eat for each meal during our stay through social media. The local hang out that the locals chose for our first dinner meal was Happy Dog.
Happy Dog is known for their quarter-pound hot dogs that are their own recipe and are produced by Blue Ribbon Meats. If you opt for the veggie option, you will be served a vegan Italian sausage produced by Field Roast. For $5 you can add as many toppings as you can fit on your hot dog. The atmosphere is casual and the options are endless.
The Topping Options
The atmosphere of Happy Dog is casual and the hardest task on your visit is looking over the HUGE list of toppings to try on your hot dog or veggie dog.
Popular Combinations
If you feel overwhelmed, you can get some ideas from some of the popular combinations.
The menu also offers sides of either french fries or tater tots for $3 and you can pick dipping sauces or additional toppings for $1 more.
The challenge is to come up with the combination of toppings that create the perfect taste before you ruin it with an overabundance of toppings.
For my first hot dog, I leaned on the experience of Positively Cleveland PR pro, Corrinne. She had been working on perfecting the perfect dog and felt she had achieved her ideal combo.
My hot dog was topped with Sriracha hot sauce, top-secret fry sauce, caramelized onions, cucumbers, bleu cheese coleslaw and applewood smoked bacon. I would have never have thought to put those on my hot dog but the outcome was surprisingly tasty.
The Food Hussy chose a combo that included a fried egg and 30 Something Therapy chose a hot dog that included Spaghetti O’s and macaroni.
The Underdog
While you’re at Happy Dog you need to visit the Underdog below.
The Underdog has the ultimate man cave below. The basement has a game room and 40 seat bar. You can play classic arcade games, shuffleboard or catch a movie on the large projection TV.
If you are traveling by bike, you can take advantage of the nearby Bike Box for bike parking.
I can’t wait to bring my family back to try Happy Dog. I know my boys will love creating their perfect dog!
Happy Dog is located in the Gordan Square District at 5801 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH
Disclosure: Positively Cleveland provided my accommodation, meals, and admissions for my participation in their social media-driven trip. All opinions are my own.