First adjunct professor Stacey Porter gives this Palm Beach County landmark and A+ with
its beach bungalow vibe.
And fun in the sun atmosphere.
She says it's the perfect place to go when you need a break from the normal grind.
Both locals and vacationers alike visit for their signature gourmet hot dogs and mouthwatering
barbecue and they say you'll never leave hungry.
It's in Jupiter and it's called Dune Dog Cafe.
My name is Ricky Berrios.
I'm the managing partner at Dune Dog Cafe.
So we're all American fare.
We're a family focused restaurant.
We have everybody from blue collar workers to suit and ties coming in, sittin' down next
to each other at the restaurant.
Hot dogs, hamburgers is predominately what we're know for when we started in '94.
We sell a lot of seafood, steaks, lobsters.
Our ribs are probably one of our more popular items.
We use a Hebrew National all beef kosher hot dog on a New England style bun.
So you take your hot dog bun with the side shaved off buttered and toasted.
Our most popular dog is probably gonna be our junkyard dog with our homemade dot sauce.
It's like a red onion spicy tomato sauce.
Our homemade chili and cheese and onions.
All our signs here were made by ex-coworkers.
A lot of these things that you see here these sculptures, wooden sculptures were donated
to us by customers.
Our decor just kinda grew as our customer base grew.
This is really all about fun.
I don't think I've ever come to work in the past twelve years that I've been here and
I've every felt like I've had to work.
Most of the staff that's been with us been with us 10, 15, 22 years.
It's really like a big family.
To really experience Dune Dog to really feel what it's all about, you really gotta just
come in.
You gotta pull up and get a hot dog.
Is it right on the beach?
No, it's actually not right on the beach.
It's off of a busy road.
So you would never know that it exists there, but it does feel like a beach cafe when you
get there.
It's like a thatched tiki hut, outdoor dining, beach inspired vacation local loving place.
[Michelle] In the midst of the city.
[Stacey] In the midst of like a railroad track and a busy road.
That is so cute.
Right?
It's almost like they wanted to just kinda take you away from everything, right?
They do.
Yeah and they do and they do it successfully.
I mean locals love it and vacationers love it and it's always crowded.
They do not take reservations.
I had their Yankee nachos to begin with and those are not normal nachos.
They're like waffle fry nachos.
[Michelle] Oh, so the waffle fries instead of the chips?
Yes,
No wonder it's called the Yankee.
[Stacey] They're like crispy, warm waffle fries.
[Michelle] Cheese sauce?
[Stacey] Yes, yes.
Cheese sauce, chili, but they use fresh scallions, fresh tomatoes, so it adds a little bit.
It's not so heavy.
Then I've had their ribs.
I had their half slab of ribs.
[Michelle] Nice.
Baby back or spare?
Do you remember?
Baby back, yeah.
And the tangy barbecue sauce.
Fall off the bone.
That's what they advertise, but sometimes they don't live up to you know.
But this place really tender and delicious.
[Michelle] Nice, Kathleen what'd you think?
I liked it.
I think it would have been great if it was on the beach, because it definitely has that
feel.
So I went with the dog.
I've heard they were famous for them.
I had a chili dog.
I will say, I'm very picky about my dogs.
It had the bite.
You know the skin on.
[Stacey] I love that snap.
[Kathleen] Yeah, it had the bite.
The chili was good.
It tasted homemade not out of a can or anything.
So it was really nice and they put in a lobster roll bun, which I thought was a nice touch.
[Stacey] No doubt.
[Kathleen] So it was almost like an elevated chili dog.
It was very good.
[Stacey] Lovely.
We also had wings.
I had the one with an Asian sauce.
Hadn't tasted anything like it before.
They were fried, but no breading.
You know just crispy skin, which is what I like, so good.
And then I had a pumpkin ale beer, which was delicious.
Cool, Andre?
I had the Chicago style hot dog.
Being from Chicago, I was pretty excited about it.
Because I haven't had the opportunity to have many Chicago dogs since I've lived in Florida,
so that was exciting for me.
So tell us Florida people what a Chicago dog is.
What is it, yeah?
Well a Chicago style hot dog typically will come on a poppy seed bun, tomato, pepper they
call sport pepper,
[Michelle] Those really bright green ones.
[Andre] Yeah they're really bright green and they can be spicy, celery salt, mustard, definitely
no ketchup.
No ketchup in Chicago.
It was very good.
On a lobster roll was definitely a different twist on the Chicago dog, but I really enjoyed
it.
[Michelle] So all of the hot dogs are done with the lobster roll.
[Andre] Yeah everything I seen came on a lobster roll, which was definitely a different twist,
but really good.
Did you have anything else?
Yeah we had onion rings.
The onion rings were really good.
Are they the fat ones or the skinny ones?
The really fat, nice crunchy ones.
They were really, really tasty and we had mozzarella sticks too.
Same thing, so.
[Michelle] What about the dipping?
[Andre] Yeah there was a dipping sauce that was just really good.
It was different.
And they gave it with the mozzarella sticks at first.
And I just kinda noticed, just looking around that everybody was using it for everything
it seemed like.
[Michelle] And it was good.
It was really good.
I actually just took some home.
I'm like, I gotta think this through.
[Michelle] Did you really.
[Andre] There was just so many things I was just looking around.
I'm like, "Okay, I'm coming back here" 'cause we go through Jupiter a lot.
Oh you do, okay.
How was the service Kathleen?
Great, it was four star service.
I mean here you are walking into a shack basically right?
They had runners.
They had just servers.
They had people cleaning up your empty plates as soon as you kinda pushed them to the side.
[Michelle] Smiling.
[Kathleen] Smiling, friendly, talkative.
I mean the service was spectacular.
It really yeah.
Well the two of you had dessert.
[Kathleen] Yeah.
[Andre] Yeah we had the brownie sundae.
I have a five year old, so that was her highlight of the visit.
But it was excellent.
We shared it at the table.
It was great, yeah.
And their desserts are mainly just ice cream based.
[Andre] Yeah.
The kids get with every meal they get a free ice cream.
So that's what I always get too, just like a scoop of vanilla with sprinkles.
Well Stacey, Dune Dog was your choice.
Sum it up for us please.
I think it's a true local landmark, that brings a beachy, fun vibe with great service.
Kathleen?
Definitely great dogs and great service.
Andre?
Excellent service, great hot dogs.
Cool family spot.
Great, well for a beach inspired bite, surf on over to Dune Dog Cafe.
Located at 775 North Alternate Highway AIA, in Jupiter with an additional location in
Stuart.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Reservations are not accepted.
And the average price for dinner without drinks is about 20 bucks.