Saturday in Santiago: Hogs Salchichería
Hogs Salchichería is the new trendy joint in Santiago. I, a dedicated hot dog hater, was tempted by the promise of non-hot dog sausages. I love sausages, but the Chilean selection is severely lacking, so anything that tries to change that gets my attention. Hogs offers several types of sausages with varied toppings, sauces and buns.
Since I was worried the pork salchichas would really just be gourmet hot dogs, I first went for the lamb sausage and kept it simple with only tzatziki sauce. Was it the best Greek food I’ve ever had in my life? No. Was it a good sausage? Hell yes. Rodolfo chose the all-pork hogs with cheddar sauce, caramelized onion, pickles and bacon and the supersized super hogs made Chilean-style with the italiano topping of avocado, tomato and mayo (plus some mustard for good measure). Both got the thumbs up.
We washed our first round down with a strawberry-mint lemonade and a mango-ginger lemonade, which were good if a bit watered-down. Another note of creativity beyond simply sodas and beers.
Still hungry, I this time tried my own hogs with cheese and very spicy sauce (yes, that’s really what it’s called). Another winner. Rodolfo tried the beef and pork frank again italiano but with barbecue sauce this time.
You may notice there’s a third hot dog on the left. That right there is photographic proof of the downside of our Hogs experience: the service. While we were waiting, another group suffered an order confusion: a hot dog that had been ordered without mayonnaise was served with it. These things happen, but the staff’s approach was to deny that the customer had ever asked for no mayo.
Rodolfo placed our second order. He started to order a hot dog with cheese and egg for himself then stopped, saying “no, scratch that, that would be excessive.” He never chose his bread or a sauce, as you can see by the distinct lack of sauce in the photo. He thought the total he paid sounded high but didn’t check the receipt until we were served: the cashier hadn’t erased the unwanted sausage.
Again, these things happen, although two mistakes in half an hour seems a bit much, especially on a Saturday night when a restaurant should present its A-team. But yet again, the cashier denied any responsibility or recollection of Rodolfo’s correction. Rodolfo had to approach him a second time to insist that he was in the right and deserved his money back or a credit for the amount he was incorrectly charged. You can’t even blame the mistakes on working too fast as everyone behind the counter seemed relaxed to the point of being slow.
Hogs is hot. The food is good, but you only get so long to impress the public. I’d hate to see a fun place with a good taste go down due to poor service. We’ll be back on the strength of the sausages, but I don’t know that we’d give it a third shot if anything were to go wrong next time.
Edit: One thing Hogs does well is social media. Their team saw my tweet mentioning this post and the poor service I received, and they offered a free hot dog and lemonade on my next visit. Rodolfo and I went again this past weekend, and the cashier honored that promise and overall seemed to be a bit more service-oriented, so hopefully a little constructive criticism has done its job!
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Saturday in Santiago
Oh what I wouldn’t give for a completo from this place near the bus station John found on our way out of Santiago…I actually only LOVE hot dogs in Chile!
That’s so funny, although I’ve definitely found my fair share of delicious food in unexpected places. Considering I don’t like hot dogs, avocado or mayonnaise, I think you can see why the typical italiano isn’t for me.
I really like the sausages at Hogs, but completely agree with you that the service right now is pitiful. We last went on a Saturday afternoon and waited at least 20 minutes for our 3 hot dogs to get there.
I understand that they have a small space to work with but they need to step up the speed. It seems like the guy that was running the grill could only mentally handle putting on no more than 2-3 hot dogs at a time.
Really hope it improves though!
Our total wait time wasn’t actually that bad, but we got in before a big rush of people, and even so it was clear that everything was just being done in an overly relaxed way. Take advantage of it being quiet and get your customers served asap!
Really though, the issue for us was that in 30 minutes, there were two mistakes, and both times the response was to place blame on the customer. We only got refunded for the mistake because Rodolfo’s not a pushover, and he insisted.
I hate bad service like you hate hot dogs!
I really hope they improve because I’d love to keep going here.
My husband would be in hog heaven (sorry I couldn’t help myself) there!!! He’s obsessed with hot dogs!
Hahahaha, I will admit I laughed at that one.
This is my kind of place. I’d go nuts with all those toppings, but you’ve got to stop with the food posts. You’re killing me!
I’m sorry! My Saturday posts aren’t always food – technically they’re just things to do and see in Santiago – but considering one of my favorite things to do is eat I do have a tendency to make them restaurant reviews. I will try to broaden my horizons and do something that doesn’t revolve around food
Love the name!
Me too!
Ñami! Ahora me haré fan de tu blog
Jaja, que bueno! Espero que te guste.
The hot dogs look delightful. Too bad the service isn’t good. That would actually discourage people from going there. A new Vietnamese restaurant just opened in my city in China. The food was rated top notch but the service was awful. Orders got mixed up, the food came an hour later and customers swore never to come back again. If restaurants want to attract more customers, customer service should be a priority.
The good news is that they contacted me in response to my tweet and promised to look into the service. I plan to go back soon and add a note to the end of the post if the service has changed for the better.
Avisa si vas de nuevo para ver si mejoran! No quiero ir si me van a tratar mal!
Acabo de publicar un párrafo adicional sobre la visita que realizamos este fin de semana pasado – una mejora en el servicio. Hay que esperar que siga así!