I used to be the type of person who wasn’t allergic to anything except working on the weekends and men attached to their mothers. Then one day I added another allergy to that list when I found I was allergic Kings Hawaiian bread. An unfortunate lesson I learned the hard way caused me to stop eating the bread I loved. That was until I received an email inviting me to the restaurant that serves almost every dish on Kings Hawaiian bread: Dog Haus in Pasadena. In that moment, reading that email, I was at a crossroads. Do I go against my better judgment and eat at the restaurant? Or do I put my digestive system through a day and a half of pain?

Clearly, I went with the latter. “But, why?” you ask. Because bad decisions taste delicious.

The night I visited the restaurant, I met up with my good friend Ajay. We were coming from work and while we could have simply gone home for the night, checking out a restaurant was a much better option. Part of me wanted to see if the restaurant could make something as simple as hot dogs and sausages delicious, while the other part of me was just hoping not to regret this choice the next day. The evening we visited they were having game night so the entire biergarten was packed with people shouting and playing. You would have thought the NBA finals were on, but it was all for Trivia Night. Passing through the rowdy groups of people, we made our way to the ordering counter, met Sean the general manager, and ordered food and drinks.

Sean was a great help because he walked us through the menu, told us the crowd favorite dishes, and spilled on what he liked to order from Dog Haus. While we got a good amount of food, I quickly found a couple of favorite dogs and sides. The first was the SOOO Cali ($5.99). This hot dog was topped with crispy onions, wild arugula, thick slices of avocado, tomatoes, and was drizzled with a bright green spicy basil aioli. The hot dog itself was mild, but the California inspired toppings made it taste vibrant. The Kings Hawaiian hot bun was lightly toasted allowing the incredibly soft and sweet bun to have some structure to hold everything that was on the dog. The dog itself had a nice crunch thanks to a fried exterior, but once the surface level was broken into, the dog burst with delicious juices! I really liked how lively and full of varying tastes this dog was. From the texture of the dog, the citrus of the tomatoes, to the creamy avocado it was well balanced. As well, it’s a bit of a handful—literally. Although you may think it’s just a single dog, it’s enough to get full on thanks to the fatty content within it.

The SOOO Cali was a strong runner for first place until I had the Another Night in Bangkok ($6.99). The sausage was a spicy Thai currywurst with a Haus slaw, crushed peanuts, and a Thai peanut sauce. The sausage itself was somewhat spicy—but not to the point that it would burn your taste buds or overpower all of the flavors within the sausage. Instead, it only added to it! With less of a crispy exterior as the SOOO Cali, this one was lined with a nice degree of a zest to it. On top of that, the slaw helped to lighten the taste of the spicy dog, but it was the Thai peanut sauce that really brought it all together. The thin and sweet sauce was the part that I remembered most and was the part that had me craving it days later. CORD perhaps? It’s the same thing that happened when I went to Birdies.

Our side dishes were Fries ($1.89) and Chili Cheese Tater Tots ($4.99). The fries were nice and crispy while the stacked tater tots could have passed as a meal on their own. What took the fries to the next level was the Haus Sauce (.79 cents each) that Sean suggested we try. One was 1001 Island, which is—pretty similar to your regular Thousand Islands dressing. If you’ve ever had a salad then you have an idea of what it tastes like. But the Maple Sriracha sauce was a complete contrast! The surprising sauce lived up to its name in being a perfect balance of a sweet and a spicy that made anything taste delicious. Fries? Yes! Tater toast? Of course! Plastic Dog Haus menus? Not too sure about that, but maybe yes.  The sauces were great to accompany the sides and since Sean told me about them, I feel like it’s my duty to spread the word and tell you to try the maple Sriracha sauce for yourself!

Considering that Ajay and I filled up on dogs and sausages, dinner at Dog Haus was surprisingly delicious. I was so glad that I was able to explore the menu and found the food to be better than I expected. While there are a few LA spots that serve similar based dishes, the variety and craft at Dog Haus may be hard to replicate. Even harder is my ability to resist them. As I mentioned before, I went back to the restaurant twice since I was invited. In spite of ending up with a slight allergic reaction, please believe it was completely worth it and I will do it again.

To see more dishes Ajay and I had that night, click through the shots below!

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