We went to the Firkin & Phoenix (1915 Westheimer) last week for some pre-St. Paddie's Day over-indulging. Hey, the day before a major drinking holiday like that, you have to stretch your stomach out. And what better to stretch out the old gut than a few beers and a hot dog?

The Firkin has this thing they call a "knife and fork Chicago-style hot dog," basically a really long wiener on a French loaf with chopped jalapeños, sliced pickles, onions, relish and diced tomatoes. We ordered this long dog, cut the puppy in half and ate it with our hands without losing a crumb. Knife and fork...eh.

We followed that with a bowl of nachos with tri-colored tortilla chips. Really? Tri-colored tortilla chips, who does that anymore? Firkin, may we remind you that you're in the Tex-Mex capital of the world? Well, that's what we get for ordering hot dogs and nachos in a pub.

And actually, the Chicago dog was amazing. It was one of the best dogs we've had in awhile. And we eat a lot of hot dogs! A lot.

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