What do you get when you smother delicious hot dogs with delicious homemade chili?  Delicious homemade chili dogs.  Add in some dry humor, a genuinely nice guy, and an unexpected, irrationally good cup of coffee and you have yourself Dogellos.  A nondescript trailer near UT campus in the parking lot of a bike shop, Dogellos is the only dedicated chili dog trailer in Austin.

For my first ever trip to Dogellos I went with the intent on just grabbing some highly-touted coffee.  I pulled into the lot and was greeted by the hot dog man himself, Joe.  You see, he makes coffee ice cubes for his iced coffee, a mean Cuban coffee, and a couple hot brews too.  After grabbing a hot coffee for myself and a Cuban for Ev, I desperately begged was forced into trying a chili dog.

I’ll spare the drama, because Dogellos doesn’t do drama.  The bun is wonderfully soft.  The chili has just the right heat.  The mustard is nicely tangy.  And the dog provides the salty, meaty goodness you need.  With some onions on top for crunch, you have something magical and crowd-pleasing.  If you can believe you get all that for a mere $3.50, then you should make your way over to this little trailer ASAP.

But wait!  It’s not just hot dog plus chili.  To take things up a notch, Dogellos has four serious relishes for those not in the mood for chili.  Each is a combo of fruit and chile, like raspberry/chipotle, mango/jalapeño, cherry/green chile, and blackberry/serrano.  Pick your poison (colloquially speaking of course).  If you’re lucky you’ll get a special seasonal relish (like cranberry-based around Thanksgiving).  Ask nicely and you can get a little sample before committing.  I asked real nice so he gave me a taste of each.

It would behoove you to go try Dogellos over near campus on 24th St in the Freewheeling Bikes parking lot.  And be warned, you will get a healthy dose of dry humor served up with your chili dog.  It’s free of charge, unlike the clearly marked sign for whining.