There’s a new dog in town – goes by the name Super Perros

Review by Jeremy Barnett

It started as an illegally run hot dog stand in front of Alex Zaninovitch’s house. After he was told to discontinue selling food there, he bounced around to several gas stations and parking lots. It took about a year but Zaninovitch’s finally found a home for his biz. His stand is now a restaurant bearing its original hot dog stand name: Super Perros.

Maybe it’s the mix of reggaeton and Latin pop or the walls decked out with framed Colombian posters, but something screams homegrown business at you while entering Super Perros. The laid back ambiance of the restaurant is very personal; so personal that customers have literally changed the restaurant in more than one way.

From a distance it looks like some sort of kindergarten class project, but a closer look shows it’s just one method of customer input into Super Perros. A collage of Post-it notes covers a wall in the restaurant: each Post-it, a different customer; each customer, a different comment.

All sorts of quick sentences plaster the wall. “Me encanto,” “So damn good” and “Better than Burger King and McDonald’s combined.” These comments do not only add to the restaurant’s decorations, but have inspired T-shirt ideas, which are on sale at the front counter.

Customers have also inspired the creation of menu items. When a hungry student was not satisfied with a regular hamburger, The Double was created. When a Super Perro was not enough for another customer, Twins was made on several occasions by special request until it got on the menu.

Super Perros is Tallahassee’s first and only Colombian fast food joint. What is Colombian fast food you may ask? Let’s just say it’s American fast food on steroids.

The restaurant’s hot dog style goes beyond the traditional ballpark frank Americans may be used to. Their self-named hot dog, The Super Perro, is a beef hot dog loaded up with ketchup, mustard, mozzarella cheese, chips, mayo, pink sauce and pineapple. Think that’s a lot to try and picture? Try eating it. The plethora of flavors makes for a steamy, sweet and unique taste that no traditional fast food has yet to offer in town.

The Super Perro is paired up with others such as The Mix, The Double Mix and The Boss. Each hot dog brings a different appeal and a different flavor.

Along with its famous “perros,” the restaurant offers traditional Colombian hamburgers. Again, it is a juiced-up version of what Americans might be used to eating. Overstuffed with bacon, chips, sauces and cheese, the burger partners with their traditional hot dog to make up the majority of the menu.

Along with its fast food, however, Super Perros can counter any craving for traditional Colombian food. They offer traditional treats such as arepas, tostones, and empanadas, and 80 percent of Super Perros food is directly imported from Colombia. Wash that fact down with one of their many imported beers and you got yourself an international meal.

In addition, Super Perros has gone digital to help keep their customers in sync with what is going on. They have online groups on Facebook and MySpace in which they send out coupons for free food and drinks, and they also have a traditional web site at www.superperros.com.

Super Perros is open Sunday-Wednesday from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
and Thursday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 a.m.

It is located at 2010 West Tennessee St.