Scooter's Dawg House
9600 Blackbrook Road
Mentor, OH 44060
440-354-8480

Ok, the entire eating experience at Scooter's can be summed up with 4 words: Deep Fried Hot Dogs.  Awww yeah!  It doesn't get much better than that.  This was the first time I ever stopped at Scooters and I'm glad I did.  I've seen it a number of times, just off 44 North on Blackbrook there, but I've always blown it off as crappy beach food.  Then yesterday, a friend told me that he goes there all the time to eat their deep fried hot dogs and copious amounts of fresh cut french fries.  A situation like that requires further investigation.

I went there for lunch today and I was blown away by the number of people there.  People were coming in from the beach and some suits were streaming in from the businesses on Heisley Road.  In spite of the mad rush the place was pretty laid back.  The man at the register, who I can only assume was the proprietor, was so friendly I was actually taken aback.  He knew the regulars by name and had a kind bit of chit chat for even those he didn't. 

Being my first time at the establishment I decided to hang back a bit and see what they had to offer.  A big chalkboard handing over the register listed at least 20 different varieties of hot-dogs with every topping you can imagine.  Some of my favorite were:

• Extreme Dawg – XXHot sauce, bleu cheese, celery, jalapenos and hot spices.
• Bacon and Cheese Dawg – Brown mustard, cheese and bacon
• Chicago Dawg – Yellow mustard, tomato, dill pickle, relish, onions, cucumbers, celery salt and jalapenos.
• Hawaiian Dawg – Grilled pineapple, mozzarella cheese, tomato and miracle whip. 

Not being that adventurous of an eater I wanted to start with something simple so I settled on the Super Dawg:

I didn't have a chance in hell of picking that up, so I had to eat it like some pansy with a knife and fork.  It was very good.  The hot dog itself was huge (that's what she said) and deep frying it gave it a nice crust on the outside.  In case you can't tell from the picture, that hot dog is topped with cheese sauce, homemade chili and saurkraut.  That's good for the arteries.  The chili by itself was very good as well and I think I'm going to order a cup of that the next time I visit.  It was a top notch hot dog and can easily fill someone up, the best part was the price.  Only $2.85 for all that food.  For those of you with a larger appetite, they have a even longer hot dog that looked to be about twice the size.

In addition to the selection of hot dogs Scooter's also has fresh cut french fries.  I can guarantee you that they are truly fresh cut, I even saw them soaking in a bucket to get some of the starch off the potatoes.  One thing you may want to keep in mind is that Scooter's is completely out of control with their french fry portion sizes.  With my hot dog I ordered a medium fry, but the guy running the register wouldn't let me order it.  He asked if I was by myself, I told him yes and he said, "Good, you'll get the small then".  I was irritated about it for a few seconds until I saw the small fry:

I know it doesn't look like in the picture, but that is a lot of french fries.  The top of that basket easily measured 5 inches off the table top.  It was a huge portion.  With a sprinkling of malt vinegar they were perfect.  Crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.  Just perfect hand cut french fries.  Oh yeah, they were only $1.50!

I'm definately going back, maybe even tomorrow!  Don't just pass it by, its a great place to stop and eat if you are going down to Headlands Beach.  Even if you aren't the beach going type, everyone in Painesville and Mentor should put this on their list.  Excellent food at a great price.  You can't ask for much more than that.