There are few local spots that scream Berkeley quite like Top Dog. Plastered across its walls are pieces of Berkeley history in the form of newspapers, murals and posters \u2014 and this is before even mentioning the 10 iconic Top Dog hot dogs themselves.<\/p>\n
And yet, not much has seemingly changed in the establishment \u2014 the old-school menu and iconic signage outside feel everlasting. However, this month, Top Dog is embracing the new, venturing into Downtown Berkeley.<\/p>\n
The beloved Berkeley spot has linked up with bar and pool hall The BreakRoom to open \u201cTop Dog Downtown\u201d inside its establishment, featuring a limited Top Dog menu which will be sold alongside BreakRoom\u2019s beer menu in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody I\u2019ve ever talked to has such great feelings about Top Dog and experiences with it. So I thought they\u2019d be perfect,\u201d BreakRoom owner August Wagele said.<\/p>\n
According to Wagele, Top Dog\u2019s Downtown location will open with a limited menu of five of Top Dog\u2019s signature sausages, along with its potato salad and chips. While the partnership is indefinite, there is a trial period for Top Dog to \u201cfeel confident,\u201d Wagele said.<\/p>\n
Wagele described meeting the Top Dog owners a few years ago on a search to change food options at BreakRoom. Looking for options to draw people in, he found the collaboration perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up in Berkeley, I\u2019m a fourth-generation Berkeleyan,\u201d Wagele said. \u201cTop Dog means a lot to me and the people I grew up with. So (what\u2019s) really important to me is also expanding Top Dog\u2019s legacy and continuing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This partnership marks Top Dog\u2019s first expansion after closing all but the first of their four locations across the East Bay, most recently closing a 14-year-old shop in Oakland on Lakeshore Avenue after the owners decided to not renew their lease.<\/p>\n
The restaurant previously operated a shop for 20 years on Center Street in Downtown Berkeley, but that also closed in 2024 due to impending construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a staple, and I think the people that work here have a lot of character, so that makes it enjoyable too. I would say it\u2019s got a certain charm to it,\u201d customer and UC Berkeley student Jaden Mena said about the beloved Berkeley spot, adding that he looks forward to checking out the new partnership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are few local spots that scream Berkeley quite like Top Dog. Plastered across its walls are pieces…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[178721,764,10109,28547,178722,114624,143,145,144,178720,53856],"class_list":["post-452259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-august-wagele","tag-berkeley","tag-cal","tag-center-street","tag-jaden-mena","tag-lakeshore-avenue","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-the-breakroom","tag-top-dog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}