One of Philly’s best breweries gets into the hot dog business
To round out their award-winning beers, the owners of Germantown's Attic Brewing Co. have opened a hot dog truck next to the brewery.
Philly is in the midst of a hot dog renaissance for the second summer in a row.
In Manayunk and Grad Hospital, bars are offering hot dog towers. The summer menus at Post Haste in Kensington, Watkins Drinkery in South Philly, and Haddon Culinary in South Jersey have all gone to the dogs.
And this month — a notoriously slow time for Philly’s bars and restaurants — Royal Tavern has been jam-packed with customers hungry for its rotating lineup of house-made dogs.
All that glizzy energy makes it good timing for the debut of what is likely Philly’s most eye-catching hot dog cart, Bad Nina’s, from the owners of Attic Brewing Co. in Germantown. Parked outside the brewery, the glammed-out food truck will sling Vienna Beef dogs on Cacia’s rolls (or, in the case of its Chicago dog, on a Vienna Beef-sourced poppy seed bun) whenever the taproom is open.
Besides providing a more robust food option than the soft pretzels Attic currently offers — and something different than next-door neighbor Deke’s Bar-B-Que — the brand-new cart solves for a problem.
“Right now we need a revenue stream that isn’t just alcohol,” said Attic and Bad Nina’s owner Laura Lacy, who opened the Berkley Street brewery with her husband, Todd, in 2020. “Customers’ attitudes toward alcohol are changing, and we want to be known for more than just a drinking spot.”
The Lacys signed a lease on a neighboring space in 2021, intending to open an all-day cafe with a full kitchen that would also provide food for Attic customers. Four years on, they’re still waiting for the buildout to happen.
In order to break out of the holding pattern, the Lacys started exploring the food truck market, which can be risky, earlier this year. (More than one Philadelphia chef has been burned trying to get a food truck fabricator to deliver.) The Lacys lucked out when they happened on a floor-model truck outfitted with flat-top grill, a fryer, refrigerators, and prep stations — plus custom-color lighting, a TV menu board, and a full sound system — from New Jersey’s Custom Mobile Food Equipment. They got the truck in June, after Custom Mobile wrapped it in Bad Nina’s yellow-and-teal color scheme.
The truck’s name honors the Lacys’ dog, Nina, a lovable pug-Chihuahua who also has a pale ale named after her. (Fellow dog owners will appreciate that Bad Nina’s sells $2 “doggie dogs,” plain mini-hot dogs perfect for feeding to your best fur friend.)
Why hot dogs? Laura said the inspiration came after trips to the Lacys’ respective home cities — Denver/Colorado Springs for Todd, and Chicago for Laura.
“The Chicago hot dog scene was something that we were like, ‘Hey, this seems, number one, like something we could handle not coming from a restaurant background,’” she said. “Two, it’s a fun food.”
That point of inspiration is why a faithful rendition of the Chicago dog anchors Bad Nina’s menu: an all-beef dog from iconic Chicago brand Vienna Beef served on a poppy seed bun stuffed with mustard, bright green relish, chopped white onion, sliced tomatoes, a dill pickle spear, celery salt, and Vienna Beef “sport” (a.k.a. pickled) peppers. It’s basically a dog with a small side salad for $8. (To celebrate Bad Nina’s grand opening this week, Attic is pairing every Chicago dog sold to adults with a shot of the Chicago-famous liqueur Malort.)
Besides the Chicago dog, there’s a classic option and a chili cheese dog (with house-made Texas-style chili). Because we’re in Philadelphia, the Lacys also have a cheesesteak dog, topped with steak, fried onions, Cooper Sharp, and sport peppers. (Skip the dog and get a plain cheesesteak for $10.) Fries, vegan dogs, and an optional bacon-wrapped hot dog round out a menu designed to pair well with Attic’s award-winning beers. Gluten-free buns are also available.
Laura said Bad Nina’s will look to collaborate with chefs, artists, musicians in the neighborhood, and beyond on specials, as Attic does with various limited-edition releases. The Lacys are also looking forward to thematic beer-dog pairings: Think Belgian-style dogs with Belgian ales, Oktoberfest sausages with märzen, etc.
Bad Nina’s is another welcome addition to Germantown’s underserved food scene, which has been bolstered in the last year by the opening of Southeast Asian-tinged Das Good Cafe and Weavers Way.
“Our hope is that if you’re not coming for the beer first, than maybe you’re coming for the hot dogs, and that’ll pull people out to Germantown,” Laura said. “There’s a lot of amenities in other neighborhoods, like Fishtown and Manayunk. We’re trying to encourage people to come here.”
Bad Nina’s at 137 Berkley St., Philadelphia, PA 19144 is open Tuesday through Thursday 4 to 11 p.m., Friday 3 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 1 p.m. to midnight, and Sunday 1 to 10 p.m. See @badninasphilly on Instagram for more details.