*** Waldo's has closed
A couple of weeks back, I drove past the hot dog stand I've known as Woodies since we've been in the area, a good eight years or so, and was surprised to find it was now called "Waldos"… as in where's Waldo? Or who's Waldo? Or even why Waldo? Sign…. I guess there'll be no more "you want a woodie" jokes from me anymore…..
I stopped to check it out, and went to where the counter used to be, and found it had been closed off! Finally following the sign, I walked into the place….they'd moved the operation indoors, which made sense during the more chilly winters…..
I smelled an interesting story, so I quizzed the very friendly young man behind the counter… the smiles were a bit different from many of the folks I've found working (god help me, I almost wrote wanking) at Woodies over the years. I asked the young man what happened with Woodies? He told me that, the previous owner received a couple of letters from another shop called Woodies, I believe Connecticut, or something like that… and under the pressure of possible legal action, a name change occurred. The owner changed the name, then decided to sell the place. I was also told the food is still the same…. the dogs were still all beef, natural casing dogs. Since I was here, and it had been a while since I'd had a dog in San Diego, I decided to have a couple. For those used to Costco Dogs and the like, these are much different, smaller but with a good snap. This dog is based on the thin Coney Island dog ( and please don't mention Pink's or SoCal Nathan's, ok? Carney's was pretty good I recall), though it's not quite there with regards to flavor. On the bad, if you're hungry and go for two dogs, it'll cost you over six bucks….having recently returned from Chicago, I could probably get three dogs and some fries for this price.
I went with the Old Fashion Dog ($2.85):
The bun didn't seem steamed as it was cold, the dog had a decent snap, but lacked the beefiness of, say a good Vienna Beef dog. Decent overall….
I'd noticed that there were some other new items on the menu, especially something called the Atomic Dog ($3.15). This one was topped with a Chipotle Habanero Salsa.
The roll was again cold, the sauce was spicy, but not super spicy…mostly front of tongue heat that went away pretty quickly. It covered up whatever flavor the hot dog had. In my opinion, the the hot sauce really didn't add anything to the dog.
The Missus likes the chili from here, but for me it's more like a chili flavored gravy, then a decent chili dog chili. I'm guessing we'll be back here next time She has a craving, just to see if it still measures up (or down).
The dogs that Waldos serves up is pretty good, decent snap, but the flavor seems to be missing something. Still, it's a bit better than most alternatives in the area…. but all that comes at a price…..
Waldo's Chili Dogs
4250 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117