Hot dogs are the quintessential street food, which is why it makes sense food trucks all over Austin have been upscaling them into gourmet gastronomy.  After months of following The Evil Wiener on Twitter, I finally made the trip over to their truck.  The Beast is an imposing truck for sure, promising more than your average wiener.  On this day I went with a coworker and his wife (both new to the food truck scene) to see what The Evil Wiener could bring to the food truck party.

Our group brought a broad spectrum of eaters.  For the three of us we ordered a Good Old Americana, a Dog Quito, and a Colonel Klink, plus two sides of fries and one order of Killer Fries.  I can’t say much from first-hand experience with the first two dogs, but the reviews were solid.  The Good Old Americana, which is a plain hot dog with traditional toppings looked like what you’d expect.  The Dog Quito, however, is not a typical hot dog.  Take a wiener, wrap it in a corn tortilla, and deep fry it.  Then top it with refried beans, guacamole, chipotle cream, and pico de gallo.  Whoa.

Dog Quito

To go along with the Dog Quito he also ordered up some Killer Fries.  These bad boys are topped with carne guisada, chipotle sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and jalapeño relish–reminiscent of nachos, but with fries instead of tortilla chips.  Certainly a meal in themselves.  I didn’t try it, but based on the facial expressions accompanying the guttural noises immediately following each bite, it was really good.

Killer Fries

I had the Colonel Klink: a grilled brat topped with sauerkrout, peppers, onions, and spicy mustard.  Not technically a hot dog, but something I tend to gravitate towards when available.  Since it’s one of my old standby orders I had a good idea what to expect, which got me real hungry real fast.  Unfortunately the Colonel Klink didn’t work for me.  I wanted to like it, but everything was overpowered by the mustard.  The brat itself was on the small side and just didn’t hit me with the flavor I was looking for.  The peppers and onions on top were great, at least when not covered in mustard.  It didn’t help that I went to the trailer-turned-restaurant Man Bites Dog just a few days before and had an awesome beer brat.

Colonel Klink

In retrospect, I absolutely should have gotten a wiener instead of the brat.  I’m looking forward to my next visit to try one of the delicious sounding wieners on the menu (I’m talking to you, Mowgli).  For now I’ll just make sure to follow the wiener.