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There’s a strip of Lake Avenue just north of the 210 that you could call Fast Food Heaven. You can find prime examples of everything from pastrami (The Hat) to chicken and waffles (Roscoe’s) to vegetarian fast food (Orean’s). Recently, we checked out the neighborhood’s newest offering, <a href=”http://www.theslawdogs.com/index.html”>The Slaw Dogs</a>, which caters to foodies and junk-food junkies alike with its gourmet twist on sausages and fries.

Slaw Dogs is a shade of Pink’s and a slice of The Oinkster. Like The Oinkster, it takes a “slow fast food” approach to a traditionally quick and dirty dish, combining different kinds of sausages (Italian, Polish, rippered, butterflied, etc.) with lavish and/or exotic ingredients (think kimchee, a la Kogi, or infarction-inducing fried egg and chili, a la Fatburger).

It also has some of the best service you’ll find in any takeout venue, fast food or not.

Tucked into a tiny strip mall with an oddly shaped parking lot (if you miss the narrow turn-off, good luck: The back streets are a frustrating maze of dead ends and one way streets), Slaw Dogs is done up like a roadhouse, with wood paneling, a huge menu chalked up on a sandwich board, and old-fashioned squeeze bottles for the ketchup and mustard.

After drooling over the endless menu (like Pink’s, there’s a bunch of specialty dogs as well as the option to build your own), I opted for the Reuben Dog: No bun, but grilled Rye, with traditional Reuben accoutrements, including ‘kraut, Russian dressing, swiss, and pastrami, and a butterflied spicy polish dog. (Check out our original post at MIXED WELL for more photos.)

I helped my wife Yuri out with her TNT Super Dog, served up like a burrito in a ginormous tortilla and oozing with chili, cheese, bacon pastrami, fries, grilled onions, and the optional fried egg.

Lisa, my preggers sister-inlaw, ordered one of the daily specials that was packed with premium curve balls like kumquat chutney, minted onions, and curry, a bunch of bright flavors that blended well.

We also shared the 1/2 and 1/2 basket, with Belgian as well as sweet potato fries. While it’s hard to measure up Slaw Dogs’ Belgian fries against The Oinkster’s twice-baked potato perfection, they were pretty good, fresh cut, just thick enough, and more importantly, not too salty.

On the other hand, we stole a glance at some eat-in diners who’d ordered the onion rings, and we’ll have to try those suckers next time: You could’ve played ring toss with them! We’ll also have to come back to try Amy’s Homemade Fudge, which rounds out one of Slaw Dog’s combos, and has foodies raving.

As we mentioned, the service at Slaw Dogs was really terrific. Both of the folks in front were incredibly friendly, and even offered to top off my drink before we headed out. We suggested they start honoring the KCRW Fringe Benefits Card, and they liked the suggestion and said they’d give it some serious thought.

Does this mean North Lake will become the next Eagle Rock? We sure hope so. With cheaper rents and plenty of people roaming around for food, it seems like the ideal place for creative restaurateurs to set up shop.

We love seeing folks chasing their foodie dreams and putting together new twists on old favorites. Best of luck, Slaw Dogs!

By Chris and Yuri (see more of their posts). You can find more of Chris and Yuri's writing at their own website MIXED WELL.