Alex White
Staff Writer
Cheap bites are a dime a dozen in the South Bay, and the new Manhattan Beach restaurant Hotdoggers is a solid choice when picking a local eatery.
A wide variety of options for hot dogs, sausages, and a plethora of toppings coupled with above-average overall taste will make Hotdoggers a mainstay in Manhattan Beach fast food. However, mediocre service that has incredibly long waits hinders enjoyment of the food.
Hotdoggers opened in early April on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. The restaurant goes for a beachy and casual feel despite being on a major thoroughfare and somewhat far from the ocean. As the name suggests, it serves mainly hot dogs but also has options for corn dogs, hamburgers and other American food items.
The owners plan for it to be open until 3 a.m. on weekends and want to cater to the late night crowd. Food is relatively cheap. Basic items cost under $4, but more indulgent choices can run up to $9. Simple meals can be very inexpensive, but if customers want to spend more on more complex hot dogs, they can. There are options for both take out and dine-in, with plenty of room to sit inside.
With restaurants, the quality of the food obviously comes first. On this, Hotdoggers does not disappoint. Every hot dog or sausage is steamed or grilled to near perfection and has a very nice snap to it.
The menu has specialized hot dogs or the option to customize toppings, and that’s what really makes the dog. These pre-made hot dogs are the pride and joy of the restaurant, and they have locally themed options like the L.A. Senora Dog, too.
Choices like the Pizza Dog, which includes melted cheese and pepperoni, show that their creations are very excellent as well. The combination of toppings and sauces bring new flavors to hot dogs that aren’t usually seen, such as the Caesar Dog, which essentially puts an entire salad on top of the bun.
Unfortunately, the non-hot dog items did not fare as well. Their hamburgers were overcooked and not nearly as well-put together as their hot dogs. The toppings seemed like hot dog toppings put on a burger, not made for a burger themselves.
The atmosphere the owners attempted to create comes through very well. The restaurant seems relaxed, casual and friendly while still offering table service. A hot dog joint shouldn’t be too formal or overdone, and Hotdoggers successfully finds its own laid-back atmosphere.
But Hotdoggers isn’t without its faults. The restaurant still has plenty of kinks to work out. This most glaring problem is the service. While the servers are friendly and often apologetic, it simply takes too much time to get your meal for a fast food restaurant. Wait times topped 25 minutes to get a hot dog in some cases, which is unacceptable for the kind of restaurant Hotdoggers hopes to be.
Even ordering take-out takes too much time, including spending over three minutes on hold on the phone followed by a half-hour wait to pick up the food. The entire point of hot dogs is that they are fast and easy to make, and spending too much time preparing and serving them hurts the dining experience altogether.
Compared to similar types of restaurants where speed is a factor in the area, Hotdoggers cannot match up. Maybe with time the staff will get more organized, but until then at peak hours getting a quick meal is very hard. This is detrimental to the entire atmosphere the restaurant attempts to create with the restaurant. It was supposed to be a quick, cheap bite to eat, but long waits turn it into something else completely.
Furthermore, the menu can be confusing. It has over 110 items with different options scattered all over the place. While the gems are there, they can often be difficult to identify because of the cluttered and chaotic menu. Different kinds of hot dogs can be found in too many different places, and finding the menu items that seem the best to the customer can be challenging with a four-page, poorly formatted menu.
Overall Hotdoggers certainly has its problems that must be worked out if it hopes to be successful, but good food is the key ingredient to maintaining loyal customers, and Hotdoggers is totally on the money in that department.
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