Hot Dog Ramirez

Hot Dog Ramirez was nothing more than a hot dog stand passing out dogs to passersby on the sidewalk in Cuauhtémoc a few years ago.

But now, with five locations, four of which can claim official restaurant status with waiters and tables, the perro caliente king of Districto Federal has achieved restauranteur status.

They recently opened a new spot in the multi-restaurant dining patio in Juárez, Comedor Lucerna. Hot Dog Ramirez has the exclusive right to peddle hot dogs in this venue. And they sell quite a few of them, I might add.

I recently was at Comedor Lucerna, and after having a Minerva dark beer to improve my decision-making ability I opted to chow down on a Chili Beans Ramirez.

Ramirez has a three-step process that every diner can use to build the perfect perro caliente. The first step begins with choosing the bun. There are four to choose from. Then you choose the style of wiener or sausage you want. They have five types, including a turkey sausage.

Then you choose the which dog “jocho” you want (which means you can choose your “fixins”). I elected to do the very famous “Chili Beans Ramirez”, which in New York would be called a coney island. Pretty basic. A hot dog, with chili con carne with beans and several swizzles of the ballpark variety liquid cheese. On this latest visit, I upgraded with some spicy caramelized onions.

It was pretty good but perhaps my judgment was altered by the beer I had consumed. Truth is, I’ve had better hot dogs at family picnics. But then again, I’ve been to some pretty good picnics. The dog I consumed cost 58 pesos. That was more than the charbroiled burger in the same venue. So it garnered a pretty average rating for value.