REVIEWS

Dining out for under $10

- taken from Pacific Northwest, The Seattle Times Magazine (John Hinterberger's Annual Restaurant Guide); November 16, 1997

This category is a culinary patchwork quilt. It contains a colorful amalgam of almost anything in the area that you can eat on the cheap or on the run - and could also include some places that are slightly more expensive restaurants (such as Blowfish Asian Cafe) that offer lesser-priced options if you choose, or need, to order carefully. Over the years, these are the restaurants of which I have become most fond, mainly because I enjoy informality in dining, and I appreciate good values. It's pleasant to be able to enjoy both, without having to wonder if you're getting close to your credit-card limit or becoming hopelessly pedestrian. Obviously, as with the other categories, there are dozens of fine places that we've left out; often, because we've mentioned them several times in years past. Here are some of the more interesting lower-priced choices.

Matt's Famous Chili Dogs

Matt Jones is not a typical restaurateur, nor a typical hot dog-stand owner. A business school grad with a master's degree from the University of Southern California, he went on to become a mortgage banker. But his real love was hot dogs, and a few years ago he started Matt's in south Seattle, primarily as an outlet for clerks and blue-collar workers in that industrial belt.

He serves only the best. The New York-style franks are made by Boarshead in natural casings that snap when you bite into them. The Chicago-style hot dog ($2.35) is made by Vienna Beef of Chicago, and is authentic right down to the steamed poppy-seed buns that Jones imports from Mary Ann Buns in Chicago.

The Chili Dog ($2) has a slather of mustard and onions under a heap of a rather mild chili that is more of a meat sauce than a real chili con carne. But regulars like them; some arrive regularly from as far away as Marysville and Puyallup. And one guy had just gotten off a jet from Miami!

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