Hell Yea Dog

Now this is my kind of hot dog stand. I believe the owner used to sling dogs at Po’ Dog back in the day and must have brought some pointers with him to the new business.
Sharing breathing space with the Zoo Tavern, Hell Yea Dog elevates itself by using soft brioche-​like buns from Macrina, fresh ingredients and feature interesting flavor combinations.
There’s still the classic cream cheese hot dog with «so fresh that I’m going to chop them in front of you right now» scallions and also the Lazy Boy with nacho cheese and crushed BBQ chips. For those with a penchant for spice, there’s another dog with siracha and jalapenos, all $ 6 or under.
Plus the dudes are really nice! Thanks for feeding me at least once a week. Boom.

The short lived Tako Truk (
) did not reappear this summer (or last) so we were pretty stoked to see a new food cart being built outside the Zoo Tavern (
) back in July.
My boyfriend has visited Hell Yeah Dog several times and gives it his ringing endorsement. Especially because they serve field roast. I am a firm believer of «hotdogs always smell better than they taste» so I’ve only been here once. I was a little put off at first because even though I was standing next to my BF when he placed his order, the guy didn’t ask me if I wanted anything and then moved on to everyone else. I don’t know if I was in his blind spot, or looked like I didn’t want to order, or what. But when I finally caught his attention he was totally nice and made me a customized dog since none of the five options did it for me.
My fav part of the hotdog was the bun. They get the bread from Macrina Bakery and it was soft and delicious. But the way the dog and toppings sit on top of the bun made it difficult to eat. Most people probably gobble them down on the street (or on the walk home), but I had to use a fork and knife and it was still pretty messy. I could tell the the dog was high grade beef and a couple steps up from anything you can buy in a frozen ten pack at the grocery store. However, Hell Yea Dog still failed to convince me that a hotdog can ever taste as good as it smells. Oh well, I wish these very friendly gents the best, and welcome to the neighborhood!
Open late evening through bar close Thursday — Saturday. I think Hell Yea is cash only. $ 6 all around.

I’m glad we finally have something like this in Eastlake! The buns are awesome — I like Paula’s analogy to a hot dog in a sleeping bag. They’re very light — like a brioche type thing.
So far I’ve only tried the Phoenix — sauteed onions and jalapenos topped w sriracha and mustard — but for $ 6 it was a tasty meal.

Hell Ya Dog is legit! Here’s my favorite part about them: They buy the delectable buns from Macrina Bakery, but the buns are just a tube of awesome bread. How do they get the hot dog inside? The slit open the bun and slide the dog inside and then close up the bun again! It’s like a hot dog in a delicious bun of a sleeping bag!!! Covered in cheese or potato chips or whatever! Hell ya dog! This place is pretty amazing — I’d recommend stopping by :)

I wandered by this stand as it was setting up outside the Zoo Tavern and insisted that my group of friends plan a late-​night hotdog run just to make sure it was all true.
It is. Hell Yea Dog is, in fact, providing food to Eastlake for under $ 10 a pop, until 2am. Something Eastlake was in dire need of.
While the menu is still limited (⁰⁷⁄₀₂ was their first night after all), the selections are intriguing and different. They have Field Roast Apple Sage vegetarian dogs available for all menu items as well as the standard meat in tube form. The buns are delicious and suspiciously similar to the awesome buns found at Po Dog, and they provide Sriracha as a condiment. Label me sold.
I sampled «The Lazy Boy», a dog with nacho cheese, BBQ sauce, and mustard with crushed potato chips on top, and it was just as perfectly late-​night-​munchy-​fix as one might imagine with that list of ingredients. Delicious.
Other offerings include the ever popular cream cheese and scallions, a veggie and tofu combo, a spicy version with jalapenos and Sriracha, and a dog piled high with relish and other traditional dog toppings.
The guys running the stand are friendly, outgoing, and enthusiastic about their venture. They provide wonderful conversation if you decide to inhale your dog in the vicinity of the cart.
I’ll be back for more very soon, Hell Yea Dog. Thanks for providing we night owls with grub.

I can only base my first impression by the picture I took, given that it was after 2am and I can’t even account for how I showed up in front of the stand, but 5 stars for the aesthetics of these dogs!
This is a slick little entrepreneurial endeavor of a couple guys wanting to provide Eastlake with a street vendor for those late night munchies after the bars. Located outside Zoo Tavern, they are in a prime location for grabbin’ people’s attention!
I look forward to remembering how one of these dogs tastes soon!