Jimmy's Hotdog — Restaurant in Da'an District

First of all, as a native Chicagoan, hot dogs here did not taste anything remotely like what I’m used to back home. Aside from the sausage, bread, and pepper which the owner already admitted to have lack authenticity, everything else lacked familiarity to me as well. And they can’t hide behind those excuses forever whilst still advertising these as American style hot dogs without actual resemblance. It’s a cop out. Sauerkraut was watery and not really sour, the relish somehow lacked that kick I’m used to, and the prickles somehow didn’t taste like a pickle at all. The most disappointing points were definitely the meat and bread. The sausage was only comparable to what you’d find at the convenient store aisle which is a far, far cry from actual Vienna beef. Vienna beef has a distinct juicy, rich beefy taste with juices literally flowing out, and it’s the highlight of all Chicago and New York style hot dogs. Their meat tasted stale and didn’t have any of those redeeming qualities to be called actual hot dog meat. The bread was also way too fluffy and soft for an American style hot dog. Without it is like a fried chicken joint without the actual chicken. If they can’t get a hold of actual Vienna beef or just simply just beef sausage, don’t call it a New York or Chicago style hot dog period. It’s false advertising. There’s not a shred of resemblance to the likes of a Chicago or a New York style hot dog aside from the description. 2nd of all, the customer service or a lack thereof was lackluster. Counter cashier was quite impatient and rude for some reason. She acted like I had no idea what a fountain drink was by repeatedly reiterating to me it’s an all you can drink option and rushing me to order. However, I was contemplating whether I should order one since there were other flavors not even included like the root beer which was listed separately, an odd way to list a menu since the whole point of a fountain drink is to have all the flavors. The cashier also didn’t bother explaining to us that the fountain drink option only had 4 choices nor explain anything about their other items or sop for that matter. All she did was take our money and that was about it. A couple customers before us walked out without disposing their plate and the cashier ran out to demand them to come back and clean up. However she failed to explained how we needed to throw away our own trash and there would be no clean up service. 3rd of all, the prices were quite high. For having American fast food prices, they surely didn’t have American flavor or authenticity. Fries and chicken nuggets were also mediocre. Fries came out like a sample size and chicken nuggets were obviously purchased in frozen bulk. I can count with all our fingers how many fry we actually got. I traveled an hour to get there and it wasn’t worth it at all...

I visited back in the August of 2020, so this review might not be the most up-to-date.

I ordered the chili cheese dog with fries and soda. The buns were freshly toasted, the chili was hearty and nicely spiced, and the cheese complemented the whole thing. There were also pickled jalapeños peppers and some other condiments available in the self-service station. The fries were nice and crispy.

The major downside, however, was the hot dog itself. It tasted like the frozen stuff you get in Taiwanese grocery stores, and frankly it was worse than the hot dogs you could get in 7-11s. The hot dog wasn't firm and juicy, nor did it have the snap that you would get when you bite into the hot dog. The meat inside had a strange texture and was slightly dry and flavorless.

I would probably return but would perhaps try the burgers...

It was surprisingly bad. It isn't hard to make a hot dog correctly, about the only thing that you can do to make a bad hot dog is to serve it cold which is exactly what happened. I ordered a chili cheese dog that involved them taking a bag of cheese sauce out of a freezer, dumping it into hot water to thaw it out and then squeezing it from a plastic bag onto the dog. You could see as they were preparing it that the cheese was not hot. The chili was room temperature, I guess it just sits around all day waiting to be served. The french fries I think were microwaved as well.

This gets two stars because my wife ordered an apple slaw dog which is supposed to be cold, though the hot dog itself wasn't even close to hot. For what they charge, you'd think they could get a warmer...