It seems appropriate that our first blog entry is about a place in the town where we met about forty years ago. When Michelle’s Mom made her cross the street to introduce herself to the new kid on the block. The hilarious thing about this is Michelle is totally shy and was probably dreading it, but she came over anyway. I had no idea at the time, but I laugh now because Michelle ain’t walking across the street to meet anyone she doesn’t know!… Anyway, I am glad she did and from that time on we have been going through this life’s journey together. There have been chunks of time where we have been off on our own paths but somehow we always circle back and pick up right where we left off. One big common denominator has always been our love of food and travel. So to launch this blog here we are at Graffiti Dogs on 10th Street in Modesto, CA. Modesto, the hometown of George Lucas, the inspiration for American Graffiti. The town where we met 40 years ago.

Graffiti Dog is a fun 50s inspired “Gourmet” Hotdog shop. It is located right on 10th Street in Modesto which was the original cruise drag in the 50s. Now it is a retail area in downtown Modesto. We entered into what looked like a modern 50s diner and the employees were friendly and helpful and gave some good suggestions. All of the Dawgs are appropriately named after the “Graffiti” theme. They all looked DELICIOUS!! What were we to do??? Well, we ordered just about one of each. These are 1/4lb all beef dogs, and we ordered 6 total… 1.5lbs of “Gourmet” goodness! Since it was a sunny day in the Central Valley we chose to dine Al Fresco. They have some nice umbrella covered wooden picnic benches lining the sidewalk facing 10th Street. Our order came out quickly and it was time to dig in!!

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I do need to mention that all Graffiti Dogs come with a huge side order of homemade potato chips, and as an extra side you can also order fries or tater tots. Did they say FRIES??! YES PLEASE! So, we had piles of these homemade chips and a huge container of some of the BEST fries ever (crispy, golden, seasoned goodness…perfection) along with six loaded 1/4lb all beef Dawgs. I laugh typing this thinking of the cashiers face when she asked, “Are these all for you?”. We smiled and said, “ABSOLUTELY! With a side of fries please.” The Dawgs arrived, and we stuffed bags of homemade chips in our purses to save for later. Like a couple of little old ladies at a church potluck. Meanwhile shamelessly stuffing those awesome fries in our mouth.

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We lined up the Dawgs side by side to begin our taste test. They had been cut in half for us in the kitchen, but luckily they had given us plastic knives because they were so big we ended up cutting them in quarters. There was a good variety; one with Mac & Cheese (Cop Dog), Chili (Wolfman Jack), Pastrami (Roadrunner Ruben Dog), Classic Chicago (T-Bird), Jalapeno and Avocado (10 Street Brat), & the “House Special” Graffiti Dog. Now we dug in one by one. The hotdogs were good, I’m not sure what they use because all they could tell us was “all beef”. They were filling!! After about the third 1/4 we were full, but we carried on (it’s a rough task, HA!). The only notable change I would have personally suggested is the buns. They were a little too dry and crumbly on the outside. I prefer a softer bun. Also, Michelle being a Mac & Cheese “aficionado” (if it’s not Kraft it’s not Mac & Cheese, Lol!) was not impressed with their choice. I agree that the choice of Mac on The Cop Dog was a bit bland and mushy… and the Wolfman Jack chili dog was great, but would have been amazing with a little spicy mustard.

AND THE WINNERS ARE… The classic T-Bird & the signature Graffiti Dog!

Our first quickie Road Trip to Graffiti Dog was a blast & a success. The only regret is we couldn’t possibly try them all in one visit. We look forward to more Wiener Adventures!!