All About Dogs

Good Dog
903 Studewood Street, Houston

Street view of Good Dog in the Heights

The Heights house search has continued through the holiday season with no success. Of course, there are limited options on the market this time of year. It also doesn't help that we are looking in two very small parts of the Heights based on our elementary schools of choice. But, there's one factor that has really complicated our search -- our dog. Yes, we have a 2 year old black lab mix who is lovable and a bit of a nut. What can I say? She's a lab. If we were committed to buying a house, the dog would be an non-issue. But, in part because we want to test drive the uber urban neighborhood and in part because we still own our house in DC, our goal is to rent a house in the Heights for a year. As a landlord, I get it. Dogs can damage property and generally wreak havoc on a home. As a responsible dog owner, it's frustrating especially when (1) my son is way more likely to ruin your hardwoods than my dog and I've yet to see a "no kids" provision in a listing and (2) many landlords allow cats and small dogs both of which are way more destructive than my practically perfect lab who is named for a character in Downtown Abbey.

But, I digress. On a beautiful and uncharacteristically cold Sunday, Hubby and I headed back to the Heights to look at yet another adorable bungalow. Since we didn't have the kids in tow, we decided to get a quick bite. What did we select for our kid-free meal? Good Dog (because nothing says kid-free lunch like a hot dog place).

The bar at Good Dog

We'd heard from a very reliable 10 year old foodie that Good Dog was fabulous. So, we were excited to try it out. Good Dog is another one of Houston's food truck success stories. Since 2013, the restaurant has inhabited a cute old house on busy Studewood Street. Good Dog boasts local hot dog buns and hand-crafted condiments. All the beers and wines are local. This is gourmet hot dog dining at it's finest, sort of a more bohemian, artisanal version of DC's DC-3.

Sloppy Slaw

In addition to having a wonderful and varied menu, Good Dog has a great team of workers. From the guy who took our order  to the bartender, everyone was very friendly and very willing to discuss the food. It was clear they were proud of what they were producing, which was a good sign. Hubby ordered the Chilln' Dog, a dog topped with chorizo and beef chili, pickled jalapenos, diced onion, and Good Dog's short bus mustard. I went totally non-conventional and ordered the Sloppy Slaw Dog topped with an apple horseradish slaw (yes, I said apple) and the house whole grain mustard (I asked that they hold the cheese, but the Sloppy Slaw is intended to be served with Swiss). Sitting at the bar and munching on these fabulous hot dogs, we were a happy couple. The Chilln' Dog was spicy, but not so hot that the flavor of the dog went missing. The combination of apples, horseradish, and a dusting of celery salt really worked well on the Sloppy Slaw dog. I appreciated that the slaw was generous on the horseradish heat. The buns on both dogs were great, and were more of a main event than a mere hot dog vessel.

Chill'n Dog

Plates cleaned, we left Good Dog behind and headed out to another house appointment. The house was super cute -- fireplace, built-ins, French doors, odd nondescript warehouse next door -- the perfect combination of edgy and historic that I've come to love in the Heights. Pets are case by case, so perhaps we will be lucky and this one will be "the one." Regardless, we had a good hot dog and reminded ourselves that this search is worth it.

Texas forever.