(Well, besides maybe apple pie.)

Atlanta, though a great dining city, has a gaping hole in its hot dog scene. Reason being; unlike NY and Chicago, our street corners aren’t conveniently adorned with bright yellow umbrella hailing pushcart vendors selling big city street food such as Sabrett’s and Vienna all beef hot dogs.

However, a few notable establishments have come along recently to help fill our void for this nostalgic yet simplistic treat. Although, I believe we still have a long ways to go, below are a few standout top dogs located in various neighborhoods around town:

Serving only Vienna beef hot dogs, Mike’s is known by many local grubbers for being the home of the best hot dog in Atlanta. Mike’s puts out an exemplary version of a Chicago style dog with all the classic fixing’s: diced onions, nuclear green relish, tomatoes, small hot peppers, a pickle spear and a dash of celery salt. It’s gloriously true to form, even served on a freshly steamed poppy seed bun.

But I wouldn’t be so fast to label it the end all of hot dogs in the ATL. Where’s the snap? All hot dog aficionados know that primo dogs come in natural casings, and have that pleasant snap when bitten.

Bobby G’s is the new bad ass Chicago joint with locations in Roswell and Alpharetta. Bobby G’s does a remarkable job filling the Chicago-style pizza void and they also serve damn good Italian beefs and yes, true Chicago dogs. My only gripe here is like Mike’s they don’t use natural casings. For you AlphaRoswellians, Bobby G’s is your best bet for hot dog. It’s as good as Mike’s, if not better.

Unlike Bobby G’s and Mike’s, Da’ Chicago Dog on Piedmont serves Vienna all beef dogs with natural casings. Da’ Chicago Dog is for those who truly know a thing or two about eatin’ hot dogs. The trimmings are all in order and when your teeth strike its pleasantly resilient casing -- it snaps. In my opinion, the best Chicago-style dog being served in Atlanta is right here at Da’ Chicago Dog, hands down.

This College Park wine shop with café attached to it serves Berk’s hot dogs, which are black-angus beef dogs. They are plump, meaty stadium dogs without natural casings. Also, they are served on a sub roll instead of a steamed poppy seed bun. All in all, a tasty dog...

The Vinings newest sandwich shop offers a natural casing hot dog by McKenzie, a high quality Vermont meat provider. It’s not served Chicago style, instead it comes with your choice of toppings. Here, I prefer Vermont cheddar and that’s all, really.

A last minute entry, it only came to my attention at the very last minute that MidCity offers a Niman Ranch hot dog with real pomme frites. Without a doubt this dog is the most expensive ($8) of all the hot dogs mentioned above. Call it the highfalutin hot dog.
It’s a thick heavy dog barely wearing a squished thin bun - it looks as if it just came out of a George Foreman grill. They serve it naked with real pomme frites and sides of ketchup and mustard.

BOOK CHANG DONG TOFU HOUSE

Super H Mart is the most exciting Asian market to open its doors in our southern neck of the woods. And we have some fairly impressive Asian markets up and down the Buford Highway corridor, so it’s not like there was a dearth before its arrival.

I consider Atlanta blessed when it comes to ethnic fare, especially of the Asian variety. No, we don’t stand up to New York, San Francisco or even Los Angeles, but we’re certainly head and shoulders above most other US cities.

For me, it wasn’t the coming of Super H Mart itself that I was eagerly anticipating; I was anxiously awaiting the ethnic restaurants that were sure to pop up in the same strip center.

Thus far, Book Chang Dong Tofu House has been the most impressive of the young bunch. It’s a small neatly kept, light wooded storefront with an Asian style rooftop dripping down from one side. The service is attentive but English isn’t spoken well. However, they truly make a noticeable effort.

When it comes to Korean dining, I enjoy seething hot bowls of tofu during the winter months, but during the dog days of summer I find the arrowroot starch vermicelli in cold beef broth so cucumber-y and refreshing.

SID'S PIZZA

Lately, I’ve been spending more time than I’d like on the north side of town. Mainly, because that’s where all the new restaurants are opening, inside the perimeter has been a little slow going. With the price tag on gas these days I will soon be hitting up the big boss (Melanie) for a raise.

Sid’s Pizza, located way up on the northeast side of Alpharetta on McGinnis Ferry Rd, isn’t brand new, but it is to me...being that I only now discovered them. It’s a six-table pizza joint with surfboards and surf shop paraphernalia hanging all over the walls. The bulk of their business is obviously take-out.
Here at Sids, cheese isn’t Grande, sausage isn’t Fontanini and pepperoni won’t be Bossini, or some other fancy-schmancy name ending in ‘i’. But that’s okay. Your pizza won’t arrive with the same price tag that usually accompanies those higher end products. For this tucked away pizza joint, it’s all about the delicious crust - so airy, light and crispy - cooked on Brazilian soapstone.

I enjoy grabbing at an outside table in the shade and an individual Haole (Sid’s White Pizza $5.69) - a garlicy number topped with spinach and roasted tomatoes. And, for those days I’m looking for more of a gut bomb - bring on Sid’s Vicious (large - $26.99) - pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, ham, ground beef, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green & black olives and green peppers. The menu claims antacid is sold separately, however, it doesn’t mention anything about Nexium prescriptions.

Sid’s also serves wings, salads and subs. But I can’t bring myself to order anything other than the pizza. I can’t help myself - it’s that highly addictive crust. I don’t know if it’s the Brazilian soapstone that makes it so darn good, or those guys just know what they’re doing.

Either way, I’ll be back...

(Tom Maicon covers Atlanta resturants for Atlanta.cuisine.com. You can contact Tom at tom@atlantacuisine.com)