The next stop was at the
Dogma Grill on Biscayne Boulevard (US-1), in an area of urban Miami known as the Upper East Side. This area was quite run down twenty years ago, but is now undergoing extensive renovation, and is filled with interesting shops and restaurants, intermixed with seedy bits of real estate whose owners are hoping to make a killing.
The first Dogma Grill was built on Miami Beach. There are now three other locations. This one is at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 71st Street.
For the curious, here is the web site, where one can view the menu:
http://dogmagrill.com/ I got a basic 'dog so that I could view and taste it more clearly: 
As you can see, it came on a poppy-seed bun, and bears light grilling marks. It is a National Deli all-beef hot dog, and is garlicky and full-flavored. I would prefer bigger, and grilled more (I didn't ask them to, though).
This is the Southern, covered with "Dogma Chili" and coleslaw: 
I was unimpressed. The central flavor was the "Dogma Chili" sauce, and mostly I tasted some cumin and flour. Maybe this is their take on the Northern Greek/NY-System/Texas/Coney sauces, which are not really a Tex-Mex chili, but I don't think it is done well. Thumbs down.
Here are the fries: 
They were good, but not great. I am pretty sure that they were frozen, and did not have that great internal texture that seems to come from fresh fries.
Here are the onion rings: 
These were good! I liked them a lot. Full onion flavor and aroma, with a crunchy crust. They were made from whole onions. That flavor will cost you about $0.49 per ring, though.
Summary You can view the whole menu at the web site shown above. The core of their menu is grilled hot dogs and grilled chicken breasts. They have a lot of fresh ingredients to put on the hot dogs, and they will combine them with lettuce to make salads, or stick them in a tortilla to make a "wrap". A turkey dog or a veggie dog can be substituted. Although the menu claims that "all toppings and sauces are prepared on the premises using only the freshest ingredients", I saw cans of Sabrett Onion Sauce through a window (which is not a bad thing).
The hot dog menu lists 15 named combinations, and a corn dog. A basic 'dog with choice of mustard, ketchup, relish and chopped onions is $3.15. The top-of-the-line
Burrito Dog has two 'dogs, chili, grilled bacon, yellow mustard chopped onions, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla, for $5.95. The fries were $2.60, and the onion rings were $2.95. A fountain soda, with free refills, is $1.90. Beers are $3.50. A dog + side + beverage combo gets a $0.75 discount.
A basic lunch of a dog, fries and a soda comes to $6.90 - big city prices, indeed! Not a destination for a bargain hunter. I'll be back, because of the location and the onion rings, but I wouldn't cross town to go there.
[to be continued...]
