Hot dog! Hare and Hatter opens

Miranda Ives and family opened their Hare and Hatter Café and Sausage Emporium in El Paseo last week, where Sonoma Sausage last sold sausages and hot dogs.|

Miranda Ives and family opened their Hare and Hatter Café and Sausage Emporium in El Paseo last week, in the very shop location where Sonoma Sausage last sold sausages and hot dogs.

Ives and friends have cranked this one up a big notch to a hi-fun vibe with a variety of sausages, flatbread pizza, pickles, salads, breakfast pastries and burritos, soft pretzels, coffees and other beverages, and a special Monday through Friday Happy Hour.

Starting with breakfast, you can stop by for a breakfast burrito, croissant with sausage or bacon, egg and cheese, or a toasted bagel ($4.50 to $6) or donuts, pastries and muffins ($2 to $3). Lots of creative coffee drinks, including a delicious Vietnamese iced coffee and organic Chai tea latte. 'Milks' come from cows, almonds, soy, hemp and coconut, plus condensed milk for the Vietnamese coffee.

The menu dazzles with 17 sausage and hot dog varieties that include, among others, a Vietnamese Banh Mi made with pork sausage, pickled carrots, jalapeños, cucumber and Sriracha mayo; a Rye Reuben with 100 percent beef dog; the So Sonoma with chicken apple sausage, melted brie, grapes, pesto mayo and mixed greens; the Famous Chicago with Kielbasa sausage with yellow mustard chopped onions, pickle relish and pickle spears; plus a California Dream vegan sausage, the Bombay with chicken curry sausage, the Texas Star made with Lagunitas Hot Beer Sausage and a bacon strip, and several more.

Finally there's the Classic American Hotdog that comes with DIY mustards, ketchup, mayo and relish. All cost $9, except the Classic, just $7. Bargains by ballpark standards.

Or, you can order a Sonoma Sausage Flight of three sausages, three dipping sauces, French bread, cheeses, pickles and olives, two glasses of house wine or beer or one of each ($24). Or try the tasty mixed sausage flatbread pizza topped with arugula and Parmesan shavings ($12). Both of these can serve two or more, or yourself the next day.

Look forward to trying the pineapple and horseradish 'homeslaw,' a mixed greens salad with Parmesan, the pasta salad and the soft pretzel with sea salt ($3.50 to $6).

Hare and Hatter's wine list is short but includes Schug, Gloria Ferrer, Sebastiani and Chateau St. Jean (all $6 per glass), while beers come from Lagunitas IPA and Little Sumpin' on draft and bottles Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Lagunitas Pilsner, and Modelo Especial (drafts $5, bottles $4).

The Hare & Hatter is at 414 First St. E., 235-8093.

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