Winky Dinky Dogs

So I often forget about this place but I remembered today. There was parking out front so that's cool. The owner was sooo nice answered questions and was fully accommodating with our requests. Ordered the world famous fish sandwich 9.5 (first off they give you like three prices of fish so it's a big portion. The fish is seasoned well, I think it's fried in cornmeal which I love it has a nice crust to it. I love my fish fried hard and it was the perfect crunch. The reason for the .5 is just because I would prefer the bread to be toasted but that's my own personal preference. The sandwich has onions, peppers, pickles tomatoes which there plenty so every bite is gSpicy hot dog with grilled onions/peppers 10/10(this hot dog is like grilled butterfly style which I love. The sauce plus the heat from the dog balances out and then the onion has the right balance. The beast mode fries with shrimp (my fiancé ordered this and almost licked the bowl lol, just kidding but the sauce on the fries is sooo good, the garlic has a nice balance to it and the fries are FRESH not frozen so you know it's sooo goodPickles 9/10 I got a fresh made pickle it was soooo good and a little spicy you can tell it was made fresh. Homemade lemonade 10 you can taste the lemon, and then it's sweetened perfectly because it still has that lemony kick Grape koolaid 10 this is classic. Grape koolaid I like my koolaid a little tangy so this was perfect to me I think everything above cost about 70.00 minus which people may say it's pricey but I think with the portion size and flavors it was spot on and worth every penny.

Winky Dinky Dogs opened in Burma Bears' vacated space. Interior refurbished with mirrors, some Winky Dinky signage, a few stools, & a table. Ordered after asking a few questions re: menu. After ordering, "owner" asked me if i was a cook or a food critic. Told me i'm not a cook so i must be a food critic. Offers: vegan dogs initially, recently added soul food. All items labeled Winky Dinky ....no pricing. Food arrived 10ish minutes. Eats: oxtail (29.75) 3ish pieces over steamed long grain rice, with light sauce. Tabasco sauce. -oxtail "baked & basted" for hours. Also cooked in crockpot. Green peppers, sliced white onions too.Oxtail tastes semi-tender, parts near bone dryish. No flavas..*told owner oxtail dryish, gravy like water. Response: no complaints. Guess he doesn't read reviews.-gravy looked/tasted ala thin water. *was coughing violently at one point, dryish food causes this. Owner gave me a bottle of san pellegrino water. Cough went away. 3.5 stars Dinky=small, insignificant. Foods named appriopiately**leftovers ate with housemade? Tabasco sauce. Dryness/blandness disappears

Have you ever seen a movie called Hollywood Shuffle? I have. In fact, it is one of my all time favorite movies. One could say that it features Winky Dinky Dog. It is a documentary-comedy. I believed that Winky Dinky Dog was fictional until last year when I saw their cart at LakeFest. WinkyDinkyDog is real, y'all! They exist! You can go in person or order delivery.Did you know you can get a not-dog (vegan hotdog) from Winky Dinky Dog? I am so obsessed already. Plus, they have un-gentrified banana pudding! It was tasty. Get some! I really enjoyed their foood and friendly service. I plan to return.

Support family owned, local business!!!I like it a lot! Vegan friendly-they prep and cook on separate griddles than the meats. Oh! They make their own dogs too! They have a large variety of options. Can handle large orders on the fly. Our team loves the gumbo, doggies and me of course the vegan. Great service.

I had the Mac n Chz dog and it was great. Nice big portion and flavorful. Service was friendly and he told me all about their other options. Chill little spot. Said they bring a smoker on Thursdays through the weekend so I'm coming back to try that out.

Omg! Was hoping this was super hot dog spot like the ones in LA! And it is so official! The jerk sauce on my hot link dog was so good!! This was a good quality link! So I'm excited to try the vegan dog next! The buns are a great vehicle for these high quality meats! They will toast the bun on request! Service was great, easy and quick! The vibe are so Oakland! Chill for a bit and watch some tv, or stop in for take out! I love this addition to downtown Oakland! Winky Dinky!!!

I've wanted a place like this to exist for so long, especially at those later hours in the night after leaving a concert when the folks start grilling the hotdogs with bacon, and in spite of the delicious smell I just don't care for hotdogs. A hot link with bell peppers, onions, and mustard though?! Absolutely. Anyway, before I get your entire hopes up about this spot being open late night, the hours are early. They close at 3pm as far as I know during the week. If you work nearby, live nearby, visit the lake often or plan to, give this place a try. Here's why. Okay soooo is it just me or have we never ran into a spot that serves grape kool-aid? Collectively, I think most of us can agree that it's not common, at the very least. Seeing this space was open and wanting to try it since seeing the postcard size flyers on my car + my bf's extreme excitement for it, we gave Winky Dinky a try. They do serve hotdogs, of course, but they have hot links and chicken andouille sausages (insert drool emoji, seriously) as substitutes which. I ordered a hot link, blackened - IYKYK - with everything. Everything included bell peppers, onions, mustard and their aioli sauce. Seeing grape kool-aid on the menu I had to have it. Oh gawd, it was so good and ice cold. As someone who just adds pickled jalapeños and mustard to my hot link when making it at home, I do like their twist with aioli sauce. Next up, their gumbo. I have to give the gumbo a 3/5. Don't get me wrong, it's good and the portion is quite large, but I attribute that to all of the rice that is in the container. It'll run you about $32. Inside of the gumbo there's shrimp, chicken, sausage and the regular veggies/herbs that are made with it. Two things - I wish it had crab legs AND I wish it was more soupy. I'm accustomed to having much more chicken broth and about a scoop of rice with it. Anyway, both of those things missing would have taken it up a notch - crab, shrimp AND chicken would have knocked me off of my feet but nonetheless, I was satisfied. The interior is small, but there is some seating. As stated above, they do close early but that is completely understandable. It's across the street from Snow Park, which is across the street from the lake (Lake Merritt to all the Bay Area visitors). Parking? Meh. Service? Good. Anyway, I'm not making gumbo any time soon. I don't have a stock pot large enough at the moment so with that said, I'll be back. It was good, plentiful and I had to come back to it the next day to finish - it was a lot.

Food: on point, flavorful, tasty, filling. Service: welcoming, friendly, prompt. Ambiance: chill, comfortable, plenty of places to sit.I came to grab food to go, but I felt so welcome and comfortable to stay so I did. The owner was super kind and thoughtful. I got the BeastMode loaded fries. Chicken, jerk sauce.

I have only been here once, but it was rather mediocre. The food we had was "meh." The fried fish was okay, but nothing special. The hot dog was pretty good, but if you're from New York or Chicago, you will be disappointed. The weird part is their pricing - as in they are not posted anywhere. Not in the restaurant, not on the website, nowhere. I asked if they had a price list, or a menu with prices, the guy says No, but we should. If you want to know the price. I can enter it into the register and tell you. One item was about $35 or so. Glad I asked! Nice guy, but weird menu. I hope they make it,

10/10!!!! Stop what you're doing & head over to Winky Dinky's!! This was the best VEGAN HOT DOG I've ever had. Service was quick (11:50a on a Wednesday) Ambience was giving bay vibes w/ old school tunes on the TV. The owner is super cool & friendly. Ya'll see all that goodness in the video.