From Kliman Online's "Word of Mouth"

Ever tried a deep-fried hot dog?

Yep, you read right: deep-fried. Consider it a kind of gustatory doubling-down. Or taking a really-bad-for-you snack food and squaring it.

The story goes that Subway owner Jeff Weinberger, on a trip to New Jersey some time ago, discovered the wonder of deep-fried hot dogs and thought: Hey, why can't I get these back home?

A couple of months ago, he opened Doc's Grille a couple of doors down from his Subway outlet, in a stripmall in Laurel. The name is an homage to his late father, a PhD.

The dog isn't swaddled in batter, just plopped into the fry basket, simple as that. It comes out looking like something that went awry in science class. Frying gives the dog a kind of second skin -- thin and mottled and just enough to create an extra bit of textural interest. It's tasty, to be sure, although it's a little hard to lose yourself in the experience, knowing that with each and every bite, you're doing your arteries such damage.

The deep-fried dogs are the draw, but I prefer the grilled dogs, sporting nice char marks and stuffed inside the split, square-ish buns you used to get at Howard Johnson's -- although not as buttery. They could use some time on the grill.

Where Doc's comes across as a little too plastic and chain-like is the fixin's bar, which is taken straight from a Subway -- literally in this case, because Weinberg simply poaches from his restaurant's supply in stocking his toppings. Can't blame him, really, but do I really want ringlets of thin-sliced onions on my dog instead of the usual chopped onions?

-September 11, 2007