Soon after we first arrived in Florida, we planned to spend a day playing Taylor Park Disc Golf Course. Aunt Pru told us about a great hot dog stand in Tampa. Unfortunately, that day it didn’t work into our plans.
Chris mentioned the hot dog stand when we decided to play 22nd Street Disc Golf Course. When I looked it up, I realized that it was close to the course, so we decided to go for lunch before our game.
Mel’s Hot Dogs is a small restaurant just outside Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. The red Volkswagen Beetle with a giant hot dog running through it let us know we were in the right place.
The counter-service restaurant offers an extensive hot dog menu, burgers, and sandwiches. There is plenty of seating available.
After entering the restaurant, we took a few minutes to study the giant menu on the wall. Once we knew what we wanted, we placed our order at the counter and found a seat. A few minutes later, they called our name to let us know our order was ready.
Chris ordered a Chicago Style Hot Dog basket, which comes with fries and a drink. Mel’s serves all their dogs on a tasty, steamed poppy seed bun. The Chicago Dog, with mustard, onions, relish, pickle, tomatoes, celery salt, and hot sport peppers, was very similar to the dogs we had on our trip to Chicago, even down to the bright green peppers. We added an order of yummy cheese sauce for the crispy French fries.
I did not see the hot dog combination I wanted on the menu, so instead, I created my own concoction, ordering a Chili Dog, adding cheddar and slaw. The hot dog was perfect, taking me back to the dogs I loved so much as a teenager. The hot dogs were hearty enough for us to be satisfied with just one.
Mel’s Hot Dogs lived up to our expectations. The service was quick, and the food was fantastic. The cost for a beer, a hot dog, a basket, and a side of cheese sauce was $27.47.
This is the second time this week I have seen photos of hot dogs that made me drool and think about the Coney Island dogs I used to get in Michigan as a kid. I am going to have to master making Coney Island dogs at home! Love this post.
There is just something wonderful about a great hot dog.
That bug is priceless! 😂 Love it! The hot dogs look really good. There are a lot of reasons I miss Chicago and a good Chicago dog is one of them. We do have one place near us that does them pretty well, but there’s something about having that dog in the city that’s pretty special.
I would agree that there is nothing like a Chicago dog in Chicago. Mel’s was pretty close though.
Sounds like a great little place to get a hot dog! Thanks for sharing!
I had actually forgotten about it until my husband mentioned it.
Those hot dogs look amazing! Plus that retro VW Bug is so adorable. We will absolutely check this out when we visit Tampa. Thank you for sharing.
The Bug was really cool and the hot dogs were fantastic.
I love the look of those hot dogs!
They tasted just as good as they looked.