Spud Dog

*** SPUD DOG HAS CLOSED; THE SPACE NOW IS OCCUPIED BY A RESTAURANT CALLED BOSSA NOVA’S. ***

To the Roadfood connoisseur, Macon + hot dog = Nu-Way, the venerable wiener shop that started in the city and now has a handful of locations in the area. Nu-Way may be the Daddy of ’em All (since 1916), but there is another game in town, at the corner of Cherry and 3rd Street; and it’s a doozy. Whereas Nu-Way is focused on just a couple of immemorial menu items — bright red hot dogs all the way and beverages on unique “flaky ice” — Spud Dog is enthusiastically diverse. It offers not only a variety of hot dogs and sausages topped every way imaginable but also baked potatoes stuffed with meats, cheeses, and/or vegetables.

Although an abstemious eater probably could request a plain hot dog, the menu posted above the order counter does not list one. About the simplest “specialty dog” is a Georgia Bulldog, which is the classic Dixie combo of chili, cheese, slaw, and mustard. The dog is all-beef, the chili packs a cumin punch (although is not pepper-hot), and the slaw is extraordinarily creamy. One of the more baroque offerings, billed as the Fat Hawaiian, is a rugged, spicy, split sausage topped with a swirl of sweet and savory ingredients (bacon, pineapple, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and jalapeno peppers). It first induces taste-buds confusion, but the odd melange does come together in a crazy way. Other menu highlights include a pimento cheese dog, a Chicago dog, a hot dog Reuben, a “3rd Street Sweet Heat” with habanero relish, and a hot dog topped with mac & cheese, baked beans, and ketchup.

Located on a downtown Macon streetcorner, Spud Dog is colorful indeed. When I arrived mid-morning, the clientele were a curious mix of hipsters and street people and some folks who seemed to be both.