Today the class again went downtown, we checked out two local hotdog restaurants. I had been to Milwaukee’s before but I had never heard of Coney Island. Milwaukee’s is located across the street from the Tyson Event Center on Pearl Street; Coney Island was a little more difficult to find which is located on Nebraska Street. I would say that an important feature of Milwaukee’s is that they have their own parking space whereas Coney Island only has on street parking.

So we first went to Milwaukee Weiner House. Which if you have never been there before than here is a quick over view of how to go about getting your food: you walk in the door, wait in line, order you hotdog or hamburger, decide on a drink and chips, pay, and then go sit down and enjoy your meal. If you want to make sure you get a place to sit I would recommend getting there about 11 a.m. or before to beat the lunch rush.

At Milwaukee’s I ordered one chili cheese dog with a Grape Crush soda. One of my favorite parts about this place is the glass bottles that some of the sodas come in, so fun! Their chili cheese dogs are made with shredded cheese and their homemade chili. Their chili is my other favorite part about this place yummy! I find that usually after two of these hotdogs I am filled to the max so for me the size is just right. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture.)

Grape Crush-Milwaukee Wiener House

At Coney Island I ordered one Coney Dog (has cheese wrapped around it) with mustard and chili and a glass of water. I honestly had no idea what a Coney Dog was but I thought it sounded really good. The man was very nice when I told him I had never been there before and told me what the different toppings were. The service was not as fast here but there were also only two people working at Coney and probably did not expect 20 people to wonder in on a Thursday afternoon. The sizes of the hotdogs were very similar (again I forgot a picture, sorry). I did not find their chili to be as flavorful as Milwaukee’s and I am not fond of a slice of cheese being wrapped around the hotdog. This does not mean that I did not enjoy the hotdog; I mean I forgot to take a picture.

For this post I will not spend as much time on plate presentation because there really is not much to report on. Both businesses work quickly and put the food on the plate to get the food to the customer as quickly as possible. This is completely fine, not many people say they go to a hotdog restaurant to enjoy the way that the food looks excellently placed on the plate. No, you go there to get your food and get out for a easy, fast lunch. So to give some credit the hotdogs at both places were placed in the middle of the plate and mostly all the plates looked the same, depending on how many hotdogs people ordered.

My final would be to say that Milwaukee’s won in my book. This could be because I have been there quite a few times and just love the atmosphere. But on a more food level I like their cheese and chili very much and i will of course go back. This is not to say that I will not go back to Coney Island but I like that I can find Milwaukee’s a lot easier than Coney.

*Fun fact- There is a candy store next door to Coney Island named Sarah’s Candies, the peanut clusters are awesome. Check it out!