CALGARY: Obama dog

My office is very politically astute at lunch time. When Parliament got prorogued, we marked the occasion with perogies.

While a lovely meal was served to U.S. President Barack Obama on his first official visit to Canada on Thursday, we knew we had to have some sort of American food for lunch. We knew it wasn’t going to be healthy, but how to narrow it down?

“What do they eat in Chicago?” Jenaya suggested of Obama’s home city.

“Hot dogs!” I said. “But theirs have pickles.”

So we headed to Tubby Dog on 17th Avenue S.W. I was amazed at how many people in our office had never heard of this fun place.

The service is always nice, and they serve 1/3-pound dogs. It’s got old video games, and kitschy toys stapled to the wall.

Meegan got a Tubby Dog ($6.75), overflowing with chili, onions, mustard, cheese and bacon bits; I got a Sumo Dog ($6.50), that comes with wasabi, Japanese mayo, pickled ginger and toasted sesame seeds; and Jenaya got a “choose your own adventure” with mustard, ketchup and relish.

Her idea of adventure is different from mine.

Fries were just OK, but the onions rings were gigantic and full of delicious grease.

Hope you enjoyed your six hours in Canada, President Obama! Y’all come back now, you hear?

(Apologies for the crappy photo; I only had a crappy cellphone camera.)

Tubby Dog, 1022-17th Ave. S.W., Calgary, (403) 244-0694. Open Monday to Thursday 11:30 a.m.-late, Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m.-really late , Sunday 1 p.m.-late.