Getting messy with the chili cheese tater tots from Dog Haus

Once in a while you come across a snack that makes you truly thankful you’re alive. A snack that will let you get completely lost in the blissful five minutes it takes to scarf it down. For me, that snack is currently a brown paper container full of the chili cheese tots from Dog Haus in Pasadena. And yes, we said tots.

Each order is a mound of crispy, golden brown tater tots smothered in rich, meaty chili -- the kind of stick-to-your-ribs chili you’d want to eat from a thermos, on a freezing night, in front of a campfire.

The entire thing is covered in a blanket of gooey cheese sauce, then topped with cubes of hot white onion.

You should not wait for your order to cool down before attacking. Once it hits one of the restaurant’s wooden Biergarten-style tables, dig your fork in, and don’t stop, even if it burns. Getting two orders and calling them dinner is also completely acceptable.

It’s safe to say Napoleon Dynamite would have traded at least 100 lanyard keychains for these.

An order of chili cheese tots is $4.25 before tax. You can also get the chili cheese combo on the restaurant’s regular Kennebec potato fries for the same price. Dog Haus is also known for its extensive beer selection at the Old Pasadena location, and a menu full of loaded dogs served on King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls.

Look for our full list of L.A.’s great chili cheese fries on Daily Dish next week.

93 E. Green St., Pasadena 91105, (626) 683-0808, doghausdogs.com

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