Hot dogs, condoms and other sundries from Stuggy's

( Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun / October 24, 2012 )

Minimum delivery: $20

Delivery fee: $4.99

Took: 1 hour

Delivery radius: Fells Point and Harbor East (South of Aliceanna Street, from Bond Street to Wolfe Street)

No longer content with simply serving some of the city's best hot dogs, Stuggy's in Fells Point has jumped into the delivery business with a massive menu that confounds the expectations of any wiener joint. Options start off normal (wings, pizza and, naturally, hot dogs), take a sharp turn (tacos, ice cream, candy) and quickly floor it to a surreal land where getting cookies, milk and a Trojan Ecstasy three-pack of condoms delivered to your home seems reasonable and convenient. Throw in tampons, a half-dozen red roses and peanut butter treats for the puppy, and you've got a possible Stuggy's delivery.

But if a recent Sunday evening order is any indication, you can expect a wait. We submitted our order online (Stuggy's only uses eatbmore.com, so no need to pick up the phone) at 5:45 p.m., a time that likely included starving football fans and a dinner crowd. The food arrived an hour later, which was hard to accept given the fact we could have walked to Stuggy's in the mean time. Twice.

The food was easy: A Motor City Dog ($6.29), a Beast Dog ($7.59), fries ($5), pepperoni pizza ($11) and six chocolate chip cookies ($4). So we challenged Stuggy's with the miscellaneous items, including a lighter ($1), a two-pack Answer Pregnancy Test ($10) and a six bottles of Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA ($10).

The dogs were predictably tasty, but came undressed. Given the wait time (for the record, we were never told when to expect the delivery), this saved us from a soggy dog, an indication Stuggy's has considered the logistics of delivering a hot dog wrapped in tinfoil. The two biggest disappointments were the pizza (greasy and lacking sauce) and the fries (cold). The cookies, soft and seemingly fresh baked, were the most pleasant surprise. The WTF-items were what we expected -- a cheap-but-working red lighter (a trusty Bic would surely cost more than $1) and an unopened pregnancy test kit that promised accurate results.

But it was the fact that Stuggy's could deliver beer to our doorstep that made this new service seem novel and nearly worth the wait. Stuggy's offers seven brands of beer, ranging from Miller Lite and National Bohemian (both $8 each for a six-pack) to Flying Dog and Heavy Seas ($10 each). There's red and white wines, too, which all cost $19.99. We ordered a six-pack of Dogfish Head Beer and requested "60-Minute IPA if available" in the "special instructions" form.

Our delivery guy, who arrived via bicycle, handed off the bottles and food, and asked for my I.D. He snapped a photo of it with a point-and-shoot camera and had me sign a paper that confirmed he verified my age. If I hadn't presented I.D., the delivery person would have kept the beer but still charged for it, according to the website. Alcohol cannot be purchased without food, either.

These are miniscule hoops to jump through given the end-result (Beer! Without leaving your place ... on a Sunday, no less!), and the process was extremely easy and could help Stuggy's Delivery really take off. Gourmet hot dogs and good beer in the same delivery? Sounds like a wise business decision in Baltimore, if there ever was one. -- Wesley Case