Friday 8 June 2007

Hot Dog Joint's Bathroom Doubles as Shrine to Chicago Cubs

All-American Hot Dogs
861 N Alafaya Trail
Orlando, FL USA 32828

www.allamericanhotdogcaterers.com

Where is it?

Simple enough: From the from entrance, walk along the right wall of the place all the way to the back of the store, past the dining room, kitchen and supply room. You'll find the bathrooms in the small enclave located there.

What's it like?

The place's name may say "All-American," but this hot dog spot specializes in Chicago dogs -- that is, all-beef weiners covered with relish, mustard, pickles, sport peppers, tomatoes and celery salt. Really, in my opinion, one of the better styles of hot dog found in the U.S.

Of course, Orlando already has one great Chicago dog place in town, the unique Hot Dog Heaven, which serves great dogs and has the best fries in town, but it also only seems to be open only when its owners feel like showing up, which is rare indeed. Thankfully, All-American Hot Dogs equals the dog quality of Heaven - and the fact that it was open when we arrived quickly boosted it ahead of Heaven in the standings, at least for now.

The bathrooms take the place's love of Chicago one step further, offering a cozy environment that pays homage (or better yet offers a bathroom-housed shrine) to the town's beloved Cubs. (Of course, my friends from Chicago say that Cubs' fandom of late is regailed to tourists only, and real Chicago sports fans lean towards White Sox, but that's a debate for another forum.)

The walls here are painted in Cubs' red, white and blue (and no doubt allude to the restaurant's name as well) and framed pictures of famed Cubs players line the walls, like Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Ryne Sandberg and the rest. It's a kitchy, cool environment that even Steve Bartman would love!

One drawback: While the surfaces of this loo looks clean, closer inspection showed bits of weathering and mildew in the more hidden-away spots (under the toilet rim, beneath the faucet). This leads me to think the employees (most of them teens) aren't spending as much time cleaning the toilets as they are the other parts of the restaurant, which looked spotless.

Marks out of 10:

7. Would have been higher had it not been for those bits of grime found in the hard-to-reach areas.

Comments to the Management:

Time to get your employees to use a little elbow grease and get that bathroom spic-n-span. If you don't, then the Cubs will have another losing season, guaranteed!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Now, who really looks in the crevaces of the toilet seat and under the faucet. Actually...man, when did you come in and take pictures of our men's room? I think you must have done this without telling anybody eh? Ah well, this place no longer exists, R.I.P. All American Hot Dogs