There is a small building in old Covington that is hidden to the masses, unless you know of it. I’m talking about 400 N. Theard St. Here, right across the street from the courthouse on an odd triangular corner, is Rob’s Rockin’ Dogs. Maybe you have seen the decorative hot dog on Boston Street while trudging through the after-school traffic, luring customers to this delicious food.

After being led there by the excited hotdog, you’ll see that the owner of Rob’s Rockin’ Dogs has designed the whole place like a rock n’ roll museum, from the posters of bands to the classic tracks always playing in the background. The owner (who would not reveal his name) states that he was actually a semi-famous rock star who left the rock-star life to make gourmet hot dogs. He states that he planned to play guitar for Peace on the Streets, but his wife thought it would be better to express his talent in the kitchen.

As I was looking through the menu, I noticed the 15 different specialty hot dogs ranging from “The Classic Rock,” with mustard and onions, to “The Punk Rocker,” with a bacon wrapped sausage dog topped with grilled pineapple salsa, teriyaki sauce, and fresh jalapenos.

Rod’s also features a “One Hit Wonder” of the month, which is a special hot dog that has to do with the current month. This month’s One Hit Wonder is “The Mardi Dog” that has a sausage dog with sriracha, beer cheese, purple cabbage, and bright green candied jalapenos. All these ingredients create a beautiful green, purple, yellow Mardi Gras-themed hot dog.

After staring at the menu for 20 minutes at all the options, I finally decided on “The Zydeco.” The Zydeco has an alligator sausage dog, pepper jack cheese, red hot marinated grilled onions, spicy mustard, and ranch. After I ordered, I looked around at the menu a little more and found something the owner likes to call “The Big Band.” The Big Band is a monstrous, 15-inch hot dog that weighs in at a whopping one pound with two pounds of toppings including jalapenos, sauteed peppers and onions, chili, mustard, coleslaw, tomatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese. Anyone who can actually finish it will get their picture on the wall, and their meal is free. However, there is a catch…you have to finish in less time than the person before you finished. The leading champ of The Big Band is Chad H. with an ultra-fast time of 4:57.06 minutes, beating the previous record holder by 3.1 seconds.

By the time my food was ready, I was officially starved and ready to dig in. I went to take my first bite, and all the ranch and spicy mustard mixed with the juicy, well-spiced alligator sausage, blending together perfectly. I went in for another bite and got a huge chunk of spicy onions and alligator, cradled in a crunchy boat of french bread. All of the flavors in that hot dog are crazy good together.

I highly recommend going to Rob’s Rockin’ Dogs. Everything there is worth a try, and the rock bar ambiance is fantastic. Next time, I’m going back for The Big Band. Overall, I give Rob’s an 8.5 out of 10.