THE MUTT HUTT - Restaurant Review

5/28/2013 UPDATE
Reported to be closed and out-of-business.  

I've been off the blogging trail for a while now.  I'm having a really hard time getting moving...I got very sick the week my Mom passed away - it took two weeks to get over that nasty cold and I'm still coughing a bit.  Add to that, our sunny coastal weather is....well...NOT sunny coastal weather.  The wind is whistling, the bay has a chop, it's 48 degrees and GLOOMY outside...for days now!  I think I have S.A.D. on top of the expected moroseness of a post-holiday-constantly-grieving-post-illness January!!!  Whew - that's a lot of stuff to get over, right?

So, anyway, the teen had an appointment at Venus on the island today for a haircut; so we decided to eat lunch out while we were there.  Obviously every other person in the near, and maybe far, vicinity had the same idea.  We stopped in at one of our favorite restaurants and no parking available...FULL!  I had mentioned as we rolled past The Mutt Hutt, that it was a new restaurant and I wanted to try it out some day.  Therefore, the oh-so-intelligent teen said "let's try that new place".  So we did!

My boy is a huge fan of Chicago-style hot dogs...and he mourned the closing of Windy City Hot Dogs in Port Isabel.  When I told him I had heard they had Chicago dawgs at The Mutt Hutt, I figured that would lure him in.  I find it amazing that a child (ok, young man) who will not eat a raw tomato, will not eat relish, and is not overly fond of poppy seeds, absolutely GROOVES on all of those things when they are piled up together.  Go figure!

I digress. (I know you are not surprised)

It was Tuesday, so I don't know if there was a special...
or not. No notice of a Tuesday special that I could see!

In we roll to The Mutt Hutt and it is "seat yourself" we assumed as we were not really greeted and I couldn't really see a clear place to place an order at the bar...so, we seated ourselves and waited.  They were either short staffed or are still struggling with being a new place.  After a bit, a very nice woman, maybe an owner (?), came and gave us menus and silverware.  She also set up another table and then took our drink orders.  She said she wasn't a very good waitress :-) but she did fine, really.  I feel certain this is a family-owned and operated restaurant.  Sometimes that is a bit more challenging to get rolling.

The teen and I perused the menu and looked around at the decor.  I pointed out a Beatles wall that had some Apple Record 45's, some photos of those Liverpool boys my boy is so fond of...and a really old framed Beatles album cover.  I knew I was going to like the people who liked the music we like!  Finally, about 10 minutes in, we got our orders taken.

Obviously, one of us got a Chicago Dog, which comes with fries (appeared to be hand-cut) and coleslaw.  He won't eat coleslaw and I try not to eat fries (or at least not a whole order).  So, I ordered the Shepherd Dog, which was was with sauerkraut and spicy mustard...and I told our waiter to give him all the fries and me all the coleslaw.  That worked out perfectly.

It seemed to take a while, considering it was just hot dogs...and the place was NOT packed.  While we were there, only 3 other tables were seated.  We arrived at 1:05 and our food arrived at 1:33.  I, unfortunately, was watching the clock because we had a 2:00 hair appointment!

I will say, it was worth waiting for!  The Shepherd Dog was a high quality wiener with just the right amount of mustard and a dry sauerkraut (perfect - no soggy bun) on a delicious fresh-tasting bun.  The coleslaw was some of the best I've ever eaten in my life.  An unusual hint of onion gave it a different taste which was right up my alley.  Mayo dressing - not thick though.  As Goldilocks would say, it was JUST rigggghhht.  Yum.

The teen's Chicago Dog was inhaled.  He said it was very good.  His generous mound of fries were, well... "enough for two people"... duh!  I counted out, and ate, six of his fries.  They were delicious.  It's not easy to get hand-cut fries crispy.  These weren't overly crisp but they, too, were just right!  Yum!
Ian elected not to try the coleslaw - his loss!

We ate everything, paid the bill, and were out the door in less than 20 minutes.  I'm sure that new vibrating fork would have been working overtime if we had one.  We were hungry and running late.  However, it was extremely satisfying and filled our hungry bellies.

As with any new business, I imagine it is hard to get the service issues smoothed out.  I think if they can iron it all out and hang in there until summer, the quality of their food will make for a very successful addition to island cuisine.  I love seafood - but having some alternatives is always a plus!  Their Facebook page says they have breakfast... and I saw alcohol behind the bar, so they obviously have that up and running.  I will need to check them out for breakfast.  I didn't see it mentioned on the menu (but I can't say I was looking for that so could have missed it).  Mr. Flip Flop and I are always on the look-out for a breakfast place that serves after 10:00... it's worthless to us if they stop serving at 10...he doesn't get up until 10!

Good luck to the Mutt Hutt...and we will definitely be back!

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

4 – Lip smackin’ - good quality – flip flops will definitely be parked under their table again!