Tipped off to this place, maybe open a month, on the estimable
KCRag Forum.
It's garnered quite a following there and lots of trial, to the point that, when I asked the owner how business was, he commented about all the positive KCRag reviews and the number of people they have brought in. Cheers to that.
I really don't know how to do justice to the physical location (the curse of easy picture posting). I don't know the East Bottoms at all, or much about its reputation in KC, except that it's "where you go to dump the bodies," to which nearly everyone feels compelled to add "literally." Suffice to say, this is perhaps the most unlikely "restaurant" location I've ever seen. I put "restaurant" in quotes because the location consists of a small brick building with sliding order window and two outside picnic tables.
You can
take a look here at where you're headed. The small brick building on the right. Feel free to use the magic of Google Street View to check out the neighborhood. It made a fascinating walk on a nice day last week from a friend's River Market office.
The food? Well, hot dogs--like other iconic American street food--are so much a function of expectations. In that sense, I have a hard time calling these hot dogs. They are unusually large, both in length and girth, served split down the middle with condiments filling the resulting crevice, another unorthodox touch.
I tried two dogs, the KC Dog and the Chicago Dog. KC had onions, ketchup, and mustard (I think that's all). The Chicago Dog represented the "salad on a bun school," with relish, mustard, onion, tomato, pickle spear, sport pepper. Both tasted just fine, good enough to return for, but not so memorable as to rush back for. The sausage is made to spec locally by Fritz's, which is a nice touch.
The snap of the natural casing is unfortunately diminished by breaking the seal before you eat it. And ultimately, the odd proportions--while making a fine sandwich in their own right--lessens its capacity to fill a true hot dog jones. Though the sausage tastes hot doggy enough that it doesn't quite stand on its own as "sausage" either. My guess is the hot dogs are boiled then very lightly heated on a griddle before serving. Our order for 3 dogs and fries took maybe 5-10 minutes (no line), which suggested our food was freshly prepared, a suggestion in further evidence by the actual product. Nice touch also.
As for the "Chicago-ness" of the dog, there is considerable debate about how
universal the term is. (Historian Bruce Kraig has recently published (or maybe very soon?) a
global history on the subject.*) I actually prefer the minimalist school (mustard, onion, sport pepper) to the full salad complement. I will say, River Dogs put a better tomato on their dog than any I've ever tasted at a Chicago stand, and to accomplish as much in March is an accomplishment indeed. Two components some traditionalists might miss from the offering are the celery salt and poppy seed bun.
Fries were fine, frozen, nothing special, and like the dog, a huge portion. The menu includes such fast food fare as burgers, pork tenderloins, pig snoots, and assuming the owner puts as much care into all of his items as he seems to, I'm optimistic about their quality.
It's weird, in the weeks before I learned this place existed, my wife and I had talked about a lack of hot dog culture here and wondering how such a joint would do. It was striking in a move from Chicago (where the prevalence of hot dog stands took quite a bit of getting used to many years ago). The uniqueness of this place certainly supports the thesis that there isn't some KC hot dog gap that needs to be filled. Whether recent failed attempts in Westport and downtown Overland Park indicate a poor hot dog market, or just poor businesses, I don't know, but I certainly wish River Dogs all the best.
River Dogs
1010 E 1st Street
Kansas City, MO 64120
(816) 221-3647
*[Disclosure: I have a number of friends who have contributed in one form or another to this work.]
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