Who would’ve thought you could take a simple hot dog and turn it into a restaurant? But MayDay Dogs has done just that and it’s one of the most unique ideas to come into the Edmonton food scene.

I decided to go and see whether this unique idea would live up to the hype. After bringing up the restaurant in conversation, my grandparents became interested as well and we decided to make a family affair of it and have dinner at MayDogs. Even though I had previously done some research on the place, I had no idea what to expect.

Walking down the steps to the basement of Mercer’s, the “hole-in the-wall” restaurant was located immediately on the left. The atmosphere was fun and inviting with great rap music and cool bleacher-style seating. There were two windows, one for ordering and one for pick up, which were framed by black tile. The walls are decorated with retro style portraits of several basketball players, including Michael Jordan. The staff were extremely friendly and allowed us to take our time with ordering and answered any questions we had. While my grandparents perused the menu, I asked one of the staff members the concept behind the restaurant: she told me the idea was for it to be “to-go” style with the option for customers to dine in on the bleachers, benches outside or the bar-style countertop.

The toppings on the hot dog are strange but very tasty. My grandma was the most adventurous out of the three of us and ordered the “Danish Rodman,” consisting of apple ketchup, grainy mustard, diced onion, remoulade (a condiment invented in France that is usually aioli or mayonnaise-based, similar to tartar sauce), crispy fried onion, house sweet pickle, and fresh dill. For a side, there is tater tots with the option of a side of nacho cheese sauce for an added $3. And let me tell you, the sauce was so good my grandma couldn’t let the rest go to waste and ended up bringing it home. There is the option to substitute their “free range pork dogs” for a veggie dog, also for an added $3. For drinks, they have three milkshake flavours (vanilla, Hennessy, and a feature flavour), a wide selection of beer, cider tallboys, wine, and champagne. There’s also the simple options of water and pop; my grandpa and I both had a Coke which was served in the classic glass bottles.

As far as pricing goes, the individual items are reasonable. However, if you’re the type of person who likes to go for a whole meal, it all adds up pretty quick as everything is sold separately. For the three of us, our total was $46 for three hot dogs and two orders of tater tots. Also, the actual hotdog itself was a bit lacking. It gave me the impression of a simple “stovetop boiled” hotdog, which made it a bit uninspiring. The phenomenal dressings and flavours of the toppings is what really carried it for me. Aside from that, I’ll definitely be back again!

Photography by Thai Sirikoone.