As promised last week, I didn't wait very long at all before ordering a New York-style hot dog at the new downtown restaurant Metro.
As proof, the picture accompanying this blog is me holding a Coney Island cheese coney, which is featured on the Metro menu. In case you were wondering, the cheese coney and fries is available for a nice price of $4.75 (reader's note: the Shiner Bock in the picture cost extra).
And before anybody says anything, I do realize that I'm wearing a Chicago Cubs hat in the picture and this could be quite confusing because Chicago has its own brand of hot dog. All I can say is, I wear a Chicago Cubs hat that I purchased at Wrigley Field a couple of years ago. But if anyone is still bothered by this, maybe next week I'll balance things out by eating a Chicago-style hot dog at Rosati's while wearing a New York Mets hat (reader's note: I only wear National League baseball caps, though my loyalty belongs to the Texas Rangers. Probably best if you don't try to understand this as I'm not sure I do. It's just the way it is.)
Sometime between discovering Metro's New York-themed menu and dining at Metro last night, I mentioned to someone that Metro served New York-style hot dogs. I don't remember who the person was, but I do remember he asked if that meant it was an ordinary frank on a soggy bun. I could see what he meant, though somehow that combination tastes good when you buy it from a Manhattan street vendor.
At Metro, my waiter described the frank as having a snap about it. Metro actually purchases its franks straight from New York, so the taste and consistency is authentic. As a bachelor, I've made my share of hot dogs on a George Foreman grill and whenever I go to buy the franks, I prefer Hebrew National beef franks. The wiener on my cheese coney tasted very much like those Hebrew National franks. So there you go.
The fries were tasty too. I dipped them in ketchup. But you know what? They would taste good dipped in ranch dressing. Just saying.
My friend Caleb Roberts joined me for dinner on Tuesday night. In fact, he took the photo seen with this blog. As Mr. Roberts is among my most discerning friends when it comes to food and beverage, I wasn't sure whether or not he would be thrilled with the experience. After all, the place is new and there's sometimes a bit of a learning curve.
However, even Mr. Roberts was impressed, going so far as to remark that he was excited that Metro now existed. We shared fried provolone as an appetizer and he ordered the Philly cheese steak sandwich (reader's note: apparently New York-themed could be expanded to mean northeast United States-themed). He had fairly high praise for both appetizer and entrée.
During dinner, I had a chance to ask our waiter a few questions that had been on my mind. Specifically, is Metro a restaurant or a bar? And will the location still feature karaoke?
The answers: both and yes. Food is served at Metro until 10 p.m., but the bar remains open until 2 a.m. most nights. Thursday karaoke night, a favorite feature of former resident Austin's On The Avenue, will remain intact and Metro has added karaoke on Wednesday night.
However, if it's your first time at Metro karaoke, you have to sing either Sinatra's "New York, New York" or Joel's "New York State of Mind."
Just kidding. It's a good idea though.
