Soda Dog - New venture from Stop 50 (Michiana Shores, IN)

Looks like the folks at Stop 50 Pizza are planning a new drive-in in Michigan City, Indiana, featuring natural casing hot dogs and hand-crafted sodas.

Soda Dog will specialize in what Bardol calls "authentic hot dogs and sausages, and micro-crafted soda."

The all-beef hotdogs in natural casings are being made exclusively for Soda Dog by Kent Quality Foods in Grand Rapids, Mich. Bardol will make berry-flavored sodas from seasonally available fruit and eventually make his own root beer.

Given the folks from Stop 50 are spearheading this venture, this does sound quite promising.

SodaDog—a drive-in run by the Stop 50 people featuring artisinal sausages and soft drinks from small producers. And energy self sufficient to boot.



Sounds like a can't-miss. There's much to like about SodaDog but unfortunately the menu contains a fair number of misses.

Fried bologna is an interesting take on the low-rent classic.



SodaDog uses thinly shaved bologna that brings back unfortunate memories of Carl Buddig. The nicely toasted egg bun provides some interest but on the whole, it's salty and boring. It needs some condiment (but probably not a salty one).

Their natural casing bratwurst is much better.



I don't know if it'd fly in Wisconsin but it's a thoroughly respectable version.

I like SodaDog's natural-casing all-beef Chicago-style dog.



The spicing is different than Vienna's but it's a juicy, tasty wiener. They also do a good corn dog, made to order, with a thin crisp coating.

The Detroiter, with a skinless beef-pork frank, isn't as successful.



The sausage itself simply isn't very good.

The Cottage Frank is another miss. Chili, cottage cheese and diced tomatoes do not make a magical combination.



On the other hand, last year I enjoyed an Italian sausage with red sauce and cottage cheese. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but a clever combination that works better than it has any right to.

My favorite is the Sloppy Dog, one of the best sloppy joes I've had, not too sweet.



Their French fries are pretty good too.

Unlike Stop 50, I don't think SodaDog is a destination in itself but with careful ordering it can be a fun stop.

SodaDog
171 Hwy 212
Michigan City IN
219-872-7632
http://www.sodadog.com/
Memorial Day to Labor Day only

Rene G wrote:

If they subbed lobster for the bologna, they might have a hit on their hands. They have the perfect bun for a lobster roll...it's just the filling that is wrong.

I usually go with the Chicago-style dog, and am happy even if it is more of an homage to a Chicago-style dog than a true replica. To me, the real enjoyment to Soda Dog is their skin-on natural casing franks and split top buns, and their reminiscence to an East-Coast style hot dog. (I believe that it is a mixture of pork and beef.) The texture, spicing, and meat mixture, I think, will remind people of Grote & Wiegel, Mucke's, and other types of East Coast manufacturers (many of which have either stopped production by now or have been swallowed up by large companies). It is distinct flavor from a Vienna Dog, and made in Grand Rapids (at least they were as of a couple years ago).

stevez wrote:If they subbed lobster for the bologna, they might have a hit on their hands. They have the perfect bun for a lobster roll...it's just the filling that is wrong.

You mean you can get fresh lobsters in the Midwest? I did not know that.

Turns out this bun is the perfect holder for sloppy joes too (the angle of the photo above isn't ideal). Who knew? No offense to Mary Ann but SodaDog's split-top toasted egg buns are really good.

aschie30 wrote:I usually go with the Chicago-style dog, and am happy even if it is more of an homage to a Chicago-style dog than a true replica. To me, the real enjoyment to Soda Dog is their skin-on natural casing franks and split top buns, and their reminiscence to an East-Coast style hot dog. (I believe that it is a mixture of pork and beef.) The texture, spicing, and meat mixture, I think, will remind people of Grote & Wiegel, Mucke's, and other types of East Coast manufacturers (many of which have either stopped production by now or have been swallowed up by large companies). It is distinct flavor from a Vienna Dog, and made in Grand Rapids (at least they were as of a couple years ago).

Yeah, they could easily get some Viennas for their Chi-dog but what they're trying is much more interesting. This riff on a classic happens to work (some might disagree) but unfortunately some of their other efforts fall flat.

As I understand it, only the brat and all-beef frank are natural casing. The beef-n-pork frank (used in the Detroiter and some other creations) is skinless.

They apparently have no problem with substitutions and customizations. I should have mentioned that the service and kitchen staff seem very good and haven't screwed up any of our orders. I'm already planning for my next visit: Tail Wagger but on a toasted egg bun (that's a natural casing beef dog with onions, sports, Dijon and shredded dills). Purists be damned.

The New England style, split top hot dog buns are available at Woodman's in Kenosha and for commercial food service at the Highland Baking Company in Northbrook.

Just had a premium single cheeseburger at Sodadog on Hwy 212 outside Michigan City - and it was just outstanding! The beef was excellent (grassfed?, I didn't think to ask unfortunately) and the bun was a cut above along with all the trimmings - the best burger I've had anywhere in quite a while. They've always had great fries too, so I had the combo with (a generous portion of) fries and a drink. For just a little more $ than a national chain - you get a burger, fries and a drink that's far, far better than any place around, chain or otherwise. No comparison IMHO.

In addition to Pepsi products, they have Jones and Faygo sodas. Evidently they are now rolling out their own home made sodas too. I had a ginger flavored soda, it was wonderful - it tasted like real, fresh ginger, much better than even the best commercial ginger ales.

You can eat in your car, at a picnic table outside, or tables inside.

They've had the best dogs/brats etc. for a while now. But given a menu with burgers and dogs, I'd tend to order a burger 9 times out of 10. Now Sodadog has an even more complete menu, so I'll visit much more often now!

A group of us stopped in yesterday for a quick bite on the way to a friend's house. This was my second time there and the food was tasty, the service was very friendly and the prices are reasonable . . .


Hot Dog (beef and pork) with Ketchup
This one was ordered by one of the kids who was with us . . . he actually ordered 2 of them!



All American | beef and pork frank, shredded dills, onion, mustard, ketchup
I didn't get to try this one but it was wolfed down by one of the youngens.



Detroiter | beef and pork frank, Coney Sauce, onion, shredded dills, mustard, shredded cheese
I thought the coney sauce -- and the overall dog -- was really good.



Spicy Corn Dog | beef and pork frank, hand-dipped
I had a bite of this and there was a nice kick. One of the funkiest looking corn dogs I've ever seen happened to be one of the tastier, too.



Cheeseburger | with everything
Solid burger. The patty itself was flavorful and had some nice exterior crispiness. I really enjoyed the condiment set.

As was posted above, unlike Stop 50, which I believe is a destination in and of itself, Soda Dog is more of a 'stop on the way' type of place for me. It's all fine and tasty but doesn't resonate in its category in quite the same way that Stop 50 does. Still, this is quality food in a really cool setting and if you're driving through the area, you should definitely check it out.

=R=

The Cottage Frank is another miss. Chili, cottage cheese and diced tomatoes do not make a magical combination.

Something to point out is that tastes differ. While I personally have not tried the Cottage Frank, I know and have been to Soda Dog where the Cottage Frank was ordered and loved by people who have tried it. I will try one the next time I visit.