Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace — Restaurant in Columbus

Pros: My sister had been looking forward to trying Dirty Franks for a while, but our hectic work schedules made it hard to find the time. (We’re both workaholics.) Today, we finally had a free moment and decided to drop in.

From the moment we walked in, we were blown away. The restaurant is stunning, the decor is absolutely beautiful and so festive. I’m obsessed with Halloween, so I loved every bit of the spooky atmosphere, especially the fake spiders and seasonal touches. We took a few photos and videos of the food and decor (which seems totally normal, I see this happen a lot in public places. Not exciting or an upsetting thing to do as long as you aren’t taking images or video of non consenting individuals…which is the issue I have later with this place. I’ll talk all about that in the cons section). Overall, the vibe and aesthetic were perfect. It felt fun and welcoming at first.

I also really enjoyed the music they were playing. It matched the atmosphere perfectly. Their playlist, the design, and even the menus all gave the impression of a well-thought-out and creative space. If it weren’t for what happened next, this could’ve easily been a five-star experience.

Cons: Unfortunately, the staff made the experience really uncomfortable.

While we were sitting at our table, my sister noticed that the person who seated us had her phone pointed at us, like she was recording. She quietly told me to look, but not too obviously. I didn’t catch on fast enough and looked too directly, which seemed to fluster the staff member. She immediately flinched and put her phone down in a way that made it feel like she had been caught. It made us both uneasy.

I didn’t dress up to be out today, messy slacks, hoodie, hair undone. I was just here for some food, not to be on camera. I know it’s good to dress up every time you go outside, never know if you need to network. However, I didn’t think I would be in this situation in a restaurant. My sister felt the same. We didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so my sister politely (and shyly since none of us wanted to make her feel uncomfortable) asked the staff member if she had been recording. She awkwardly said she was just “reading books” on her phone. But… that didn’t add up. I read on my phone all the time and this didn’t feel like that. Her reaction earlier gave everything away. The flinching. Quickly putting the phone down, that guilty look and also her reaction when we asked her.

We let it go, because we didn’t want a confrontation and couldn’t technically prove anything. But the vibe was off after that. She kept watching us from afar, and another staff member eventually took over our table. That lingering feeling of being stared at made the whole meal feel tense. I mean, it beats being randomly filmed but I still didn’t like that she was staring so hard. We tried not to look in her direction and tried to act like this wasn’t happening. Awkwardly talked about anime or really anything to not look in the direction of the waitress who is being very strange. And it’s just very weird. No one else in the restaurant was being treated like that. Just us. Why?

Then came the food. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good. I’m not a picky eater, but it genuinely tasted like dish water. We might have been willing to come back to try something else. Maybe it was just an off day, but the uncomfortable treatment pushed us over the edge. We left without tipping, which is extremely rare for us. We usually tip generously when treated with basic respect.

I don’t want anyone to lose their job. I just hope the management reads this and takes the time to re-train staff on customer privacy and basic hospitality. We REALLY wanted to like this place. I’m a sucker for festive decor. The vibe, the decor, the music, it’s all there. If the food and customer service matched that energy, this place would be amazing.

Sadly, we won’t be coming back. Which is very unfortunate. We were so excited to come here and ended up leaving feeling uncomfortable and...

A charming and low-key hot dog joint downtown. Lots of vegetarian and vegan options, including vegan hot dogs made by a local company! All served on poppy seed buns.

REVIEWS OF EACH OF THE VEGAN DOGS:

CBJ Dog - cheese sauce, bacon bits and jalapeños: the jalapeños are raw, and a bit much. My lips are still burning 45 min later. The cheese sauce and bacon bits are a comforting combo though. This hot dog is nearly identical to the Tot-Cho dog.

Chicago - ordered without onion and celery salt. This hot dog has a nice vinegary bite - and perhaps enough pickle for me! It has both relish and a pickle, plus tomato, mustard and these delightful little hot peppers, placed whole along the length of the dog. Quite a nice tang.

Chili Dog - I decided to skip this dog after trying Cowgirl Carmen. See notes below.

Classy Lady - cheese sauce isn’t the most flavorful, but chips offer a nice crunch and salty finish.

Clipper Dog - this comes loaded with (vegan) cheddar that strangely has no taste. The prevailing flavor for this dog is sweet relish, which is piled on very thickly. Spicy mustard is buried and understated.

Cowgirl Carmen - this is a good option for a not super messy chili dog. Classic flavors, though quite mild. The vegan chili tastes and feels like some lightly dressed up tomato paste - not a bad thing if you’re really into tomato paste.

Dog from Hell/2020 - ordered without red pepper flakes. On the verge of being too spicy, but peppers have good flavor and add a strangely lumpy but nice texture.

Fire on the Rhine - Mostly spicy and kind of a soggy mass. Loaded down with spicy kraut which packs a lot of punch. Could perhaps use a little more texture or flavor, but overall nice if you’re in a spicy, soggy cabbage kind of mood.

Hot Bollywood - very spicy even without the red pepper flakes! Delicious chutney is saucy with large chunks. A bit sweet but mostly HOT.

Loaded Potato Dog - This supposedly has fries on it - but they get a little lost. Overall, flavor profile is mainly derived from the cheese sauce. The bacon bits add a nice crunch, but neither those nor the copious chives provide a lot of flavor, which is strange. Mostly a mild cheesy dog.

Maxwell St. Special - sport peppers, grilled onion & yellow mustard: the grilled onions get lost under the “sport peppers” and mustard. Peppers are canned and pack a mean punch on their own, but as a whole, the hot dog is not overly spicy and comes together decently.

Ohioana - surprisingly muted flavor. Relish is plentiful but zing is lost somehow in the muffling bread.

Old Faithful - ordered sans onions. Very sweet and bountiful relish provided the main flavors.

Original Onion - the cream cheese serves as a nice compliment to the onions. This hot dog could be quite nice with grilled onions on top instead.

Razzle Dazzle - the cream cheese is very mild, it mostly serves to form a slippery layer atop the dog - perhaps it melted on the way home? The cream cheese mixes with the grilled bell peppers to form a kind of bland sludge.

Real Man - ordered without onion. Comes with sauerkraut, brown mustard and coney sauce (chili). Has a nice bold meatiness to it, but, lacks tang.

Sauerkraut Dog - this was a bit sour (vinegar from mustard and sauerkraut) which seems obvious in retrospect. Not my favorite flavor profile.

T-Dog - a mild, tangy dog - the strongest flavors here are the peppers and mustard. Sriracha (supposedly mixed in with the mustard) gets a bit lost under the multitude of peppers.

Tot-cho Dog - this is the best offering in the lineup. Crunchy jalapeños stand out in the cheese sauce, and the bed of tater tots between the hot dog and other toppings add a richness otherwise lacking in many of the other vegan dog options. Dirty Frank’s cheese sauce is not super cheesy, rich, or the smoothest, but there is something generally pleasing about it, and on this hot dog it stands strong with the...

Short review: Waited over an hour and never got our food. Asked for a refund and left

Long review: Stopped into town to see a band play at Skully's. The hotel we stayed at recommended Dirty Frank's to me when I checked in, so me and my buddy decided to check it out.

We head over to Dirty Frank's and put in our order. The cashier says to wait outside and they'll bring the order out when it's ready. So we sat outside at the benches right by the door and waited. 10, 20, 30 minutes go by and they haven't brought us our order. I see them bringing food for others and people coming in and out. I figured they're super busy though since its Saturday.

40 minutes go by and I'm starting to get concerned. My buddy had to use the bathroom so I told him to check on the food. He goes in and comes out and says the woman said they're working on it, but never asked for a name.

50 minutes now and I'm getting hungry and worried that were going to be late for the show. So I told my buddy we should wait inside and ask about the food. We go in and sit down by the window. The woman comes up to us and says "Are you eating in or picking up?" and I said " We ordered carryout" and before I could give her a name she walks away.

55 minutes now and now I'm waiting in line behind another guy who's waiting on the cashier. After he takes his order I go up and say "Hi, I'm checking on our food because it's been an hour and 5 minutes" and the dude has a shocked look on his face. He goes to the back and talks with our original cashier, who looks at me and then goes in the back and pulls out two bags with our food in it.

He comes up and says "The food had been sitting for too long and it's unsafe to serve. We have to remake it". I say "Sitting for too long? Why didn't anybody tell us?" and then some bald scruffy dude I haven't seen yet comes up and says "We called your name and you didn't answer". I said "No you didn't, we were sitting right next to the door the whole time watching and waiting" and then the dude just walks away.

So no apology for the miscommunication or whatever happened. Just blamed us and made it seem like it was our fault. So we got a refund and left. If you go to a place named Dirty Frank's, expect them to play...