St Louis Cardinals: Bratzel Dog

I love the Cardinals...I hate the Cardinals.

I have had this love/hate relationship with the Red Birds for a few years. I love the die-hard Cardinal fans, Busch Stadium, the way they treat veterans. But I hate the fact that they have some of the highest ticket prices in the MLB and the most expensive hot dogs.

The Cards also let me down this year. While researching which dog to test I came across the Bratzel, the St Louis Dog and a specialty eatery area called the Food Network Hot Dog Bar. Talk about getting worked up! A whole area dedicated to hot dogs. Unfortunately, the interweb does not delete out of date information. After some searching (it was even listed on the MLB app on my phone), I found out that the Hot Dog bar is no longer in operation. And no one could steer me to a St Louis Dog, apparently it had succumbed to history as well. The Bratzel did survive and seems to be the Cardinal’s only offering as a true specialty dog.

The Bratzel is cleverly named and describes the dog perfectly: a bratwurst wrapped in pretzel dough. That’s it. But as far as I know it is the only one in the majors; and it is pretty tasty, but it could taste better. I had no issues with the brat. It was warm, slightly spicy and a good quality. The pretzel wrap was a tad hard and would benefit from a good steaming before serving. Just get one and top it off with mustard and enjoy the game.

Appeal-the simpleness of the dog is the appeal. Just thinking about a brat wrapped in a pretzel sounds like a delicious idea. 5

Ingredients-I did not get the brand of the brat, but it was a good tasting booger. The dough tasted ok, but was too hard. 4

Uniqueness-a great idea that I have not come across yet. 5

Monstrosity Factor-it was like walking into a room expecting to meet Dracula but instead running into Casper. I had this big honkin’ bratwurst encased in a puffy and soft pretzel bun visualized in my head. It was actually quite smallish. A fan could easily eat two. I did. 2

Value-at $7.25 it is a pricey dog. It would not be such an issue if it was bigger. That is nearly $15 for a meal of two Bratzels. 3

Overall Taste-I have little complaint with the the taste, only the horsepower required to bite through the outer hard crust. 4

APPEAL	5
INGREDIENTS	4
UNIQUENESS	5
MONSTROSITY FACTOR	2
VALUE	3
OVERALL TASTE	4
TOTAL	23

If I had one piece of advice for the Cardinals it would be to pump up the size of the Bratzel. Make it a dog to be reckoned with. St Louis is a beer town and the Brazel is the perfect companion for the the town’s native son: a cold Budweiser.