EAT OF THE WEEK! Take Out Window of Hot-Doggy Delights!

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My GF, Dawn Roe is always saying that downtown Asheville needs an authentic take-out window.

She likes to reminisce about the great take-out windows of Portland , OR, where she lived for a number of years. She has specifically mentioned one called Eat or Die that was apparently somehow attached to a bar called Satyricon. She gets kinda simultaneously nostalgic about the past and annoyed about the present when she speaks of this subject, and I’m right there with her! “Yeah, Dawn! Totally. Take out window.” Of course, I am thinking about giant slices of pizza, or a grease-burger ‘n fries coming out of a take out window and being placed directly into my mouth the whole time. Gahhhhhh…. need.

Well, Whaddaya Fuckin’ Know…

I found one, Dawn! Or, that is, my friend Monroe (pictured above) found one, and she took me there. It’s on the side of the dang Rankin Vault right there on Rankin Ave. I’ve probably walked past it a thousand times and never realized what-all was happening at that little window. DUH!!! I’m dumb. And high. And usually looking at my shoes and thinking about doom metal, so I miss a lot of stuff.

Anyhoo… Monroe and I walked right up to the take-out window on the side of The Vault, and we ordered a hot dog, and we cut it in half, and we ate it, and it was great, and Dawn you were so right! YAYYYYY! TAKE OUT WINDOWWW!!!

Now, this is truly an “Eat of the Week,” because (as I write) I just ate this hot dog yesterday, and I haven’t had a chance to get back to The Vault’s take-out window to order more things through it, but I’ve had the vault’s food plenty of times and it’s really good, so take-out window, here we come!

Only drawback: Smoking is allowed on the patio at The Vault. Inhaling cigarette smoke is never my fave thing to do while eating, but, whatevs. This hot dog only took about 5 minutes to shove in our faces, so we only got a little bit of cancer. No biggie.

Nathan’s 1/4 pound dog with bacon, house made kimchi, onion, (mostly) fresh cilantro, and spicy mayo… $5.19.

The hot dog was great! Nathan’s is one of my jams, and true to my expectations of a Nathan’s hot dog, the flavor and consistency on this one were right on. Plus it was served piping hot, which I like. The kimchi and the mayo were both slightly spicy and slightly cooling at the same time, and the piece of bacon was a little chewy, almost like a hard jerky, which added a nice crunch ‘n’ much factor to the over-all feel. The bun was very lightly toasted and a little bit crisp on the outside. That was a really nice touch. All in all, a really good dog! I fuckin’ hate raw onions and would argue that they absolutely didn’t need to be there, but that’s my hang-up, and my bad for not ordering the dog without rawnions. Eh, I lived. I picked them most of them off, like a four-year-old.

I could see myself eating any number of awesome little things out of this awesome little window. Chili Cheese Dogs. Bowls o’ Tots. Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders. Not the full-sized Vault Burger though, because that would take too much time for me to eat. If I’m gonna sit on The Vault’s patio, I need things that I can consume in 6 bites or less, before the cigarette smoke has a chance to seep into my cells and strike me dead from cancer. So yeah, lotta dogs ‘n’ tots in my future from this window I think.

Thanks, Dawn for making me think about take-out windows! Thanks, Monroe for taking me to a take-out window. And thank YOU, Rankin Vault for having a take-out window. It’s awesome. You rule. And that’s why your hot dog is my EAT OF THE WEEK!

Now, you know what we need more of, right? Take out windows!!! C’mon, Asheville!

The Rankin Vault Cocktail Lounge
“Swanky bar for craft cocktails, grass-fed beef burgers, pork belly tacos, Vietnamese hoagies & more.”
Address: 7 Rankin Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
Hours:
Thursday 12PM–2AM
Friday 12PM–2AM
Saturday 12PM–2AM
Sunday 12PM–2AM
Monday 12PM–2AM
Tuesday 12PM–2AM
Wednesday 12PM–2AM
Phone: (828) 254-4993

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From left: Chef Jacob Sessoms of Table; Chef William Dissen, The Market Place; Chef Steven Goff, Standard Foods; Chef Katie Button, Curate; Chef Joe Scully, Chestnut and Corner Kitchen; Stu Helm; Chef John Fleer, Rhubarb; Chef Karen Donatelli, Donatelli Bakery; Chef Peter Pollay, Posana Cafe; and Chef Matt Dawes, Bull & Beggar./ Photo by STEWART O’SHIELDS for ASHVEGAS.COM

Stu Helm is an artist, writer, and podcaster living in Asheville, NC, and a frequent diner at local restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and the like. His tastes run from hot dogs and mac ‘n’ cheese, to haute cuisine, and his opinions are based on a lifetime of eating out. He began writing about food strictly to amuse his friends on Facebook.

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2 Comments

Kevin October 30, 2016 - 4:19 pm

After reading this and Saturday’s far above average temps the lady and I decided to sit outside Vault and try out the window – never knew it was there! Pretty cool and allows outside seaters to get a new drink without having to go inside and wait in a different line.

Robyn October 28, 2016 - 8:36 pm

I think Salsa’s has a take out window, and maybe Edna’s

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