bacondog

bacondog vendor cart, 22nd & mission, san francisco

ahhh, one of the finest delicacies of the Mission. to be honest, it had been quite a while since I last had one of these- I used to usually eat them when I was running late for work and had to grab a quick bite. but today I decided I wanted one, and so like Toucan Sam, I followed my nose. the smell from the carts, of bacon and grilled onions, is one of my favorite things about walking down Mission street. the availability of these has fluctuated quite a bit recently, in part I would guess because of winter and the weather, but then I also seem to recall an article in the Guardian or Weekly a couple months back about beat cops cracking down on the carts. while I understand that they aren't the most hygenic food purveyors in the neighborhood and that they may represent a health risk, there is a very simple way to not get sick eating street food, which is to not eat street food. anyway, I decided to check one of the usual spots for a cart, and got lucky. they were just setting up for the friday night rush, and so I ended up with what I assume was one of the first dogs they had cooked today. usually its a little bit better if the hotdogs and onions have grilled a little longer, soaking up the flavor of the bacon grease, but this bacondog still got the job done. I like them with everything, including loads of pickled jalapeños. if you go out looking for these, they can usually be found (starting in the late afternoon/early evening, and frequently only on weekends) at:

-22nd & mission
-23rd & mission
-22nd & capp
-16th & mission (is this cart still there? I avoid 16th & mission like the plague on weekends)
-16th & valencia (same question applies here)

i've also seen them, though not recently, at:

-25th & mission
-17th & valencia near the Elbo Room

if anyone knows any more locations, I'll add them to the post.