The Bull City’s Hottest Dog

Sometimes it’s the second viewing of a movie that reveals the finer details you missed on the first go-round. Our return visit to Bull City Burger & Brewery led us to unexplored areas of the menu—hot dogs and beer (and a few things on the side to make it a GWG-balanced meal).

There’s been a lot of coverage of BCBB since its opening with an obvious focus on the burgers. In order to try it from a different perspective, we ordered up both specialty hot dogs—the Wrapper Dog and the Slaw Chili Dog—as well as the Deep Fried Pickles, Bull Nuts, Duck Frites and a couple of beers to wash it all down.

It would have been reasonable enough to make a meal out of the appetizers alone. The deep fried pickles with “Hybrid Power” crust were sliced thin and dipped in a greaseless pretzel coating that had even the non-pickle lover among us going back for more. The house-made dipping sauce added a sweet and smooth touch that made this side dish complete.

Grown in NC, the Bull Nuts were also a nice beer and dog companion—ideal for the ballpark. Crunchy and salty peanuts with a sweet bacon coating on each bite make these one of a kind. If you don’t have the appetite for a full meal, these make a great bar snack.

For a twist on typical french fry offerings, look no further than Duck Frites. As the menu describes, “skinny, french cut, finished in duck fat with fresh rosemary and Fleur de Sel,” these are no fast food fries. The rosemary really makes these a unique choice on the menu.

All that culinary pleasure and we haven’t even gotten to the dogs—but the tasty trend continues. Like everything else they serve, the sausage is house made and all beef. Both were a sight to see—one wrapped in bacon and the other covered in chili and slaw. The Carolina style dog was probably the most gorgeous we’ve seen, accessorized with bright purple cabbage that added both flavor and flare. The meat was fresh and flavorful with a soft texture (nothing chewy here) held together by the soft n’ sturdy homemade buns. We certainly understand why the burgers are the main act but we are just saying these dogs could steal the show every now and then.

Although the beers weren’t ready at opening, they rolled out in early April and we think it was worth the wait. During our visit they had the pale ale, golden ale and porter on tap—we gave the golden and porter a try and found them to be quite smooth and refreshing. Admittedly we aren’t beer aficionados but we both felt these beers had been fine-tuned and well-groomed.

GWG is glad that our second visit to BCBB helped us appreciate the quality and originality of the menu offerings—we hope that down the road there will be some additional surprises to uncover.