Toronto eatery’s “Rob Ford Crack Dog” capitalizes off mayor’s drug scandal

Toronto businesses are jumping on the crack video bandwagon and making big bucks off the city’s embattled mayor troubles.

At Craft Dogs, the “Rob Ford Crack Dog” has been their number one seller since the King Street eatery Craft Dogs introduced the hot dog two weeks ago, just before Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine in a drunken stupor.

Brian Morin, partner and chef at Craft Dogs, said the $12.95 hot dog, made with cheese curds, French fries, beef cheeks and wiener gravy, is addictive, just like crack.

“He definitely qualifies to be a wiener,” Morin said.

“We made sure it was hot and spicy because he’s always in hot water. We braised some beef cheeks because he’s cheeky as can be. And we put some cheese curds on it to look like crack. It’s really quite delicious.”

Morin said the Crack Dog makes people laugh.

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“We just finished our lunch rush and the first five customers all had Crack Dogs. They’re really popular and this makes people laugh about it,” Morin said.

But Morin said not everyone is pleased with the hot dog. He received a threatening phone call Tuesday morning from an outraged man.

“I was really upset,” Morin said. “It’s horrible. We’re a brand new business and we’re trying to do something different. So when somebody starts threatening our business, it’s really hard.”

Craft Dogs isn’t the first restaurant in Canada to add a Ford-inspired item to their menu.

In Regina, Nicky’s Cafe unveiled a “Toronto-style” Cracked Pepper Burger last week. Like Morin’s Crack Dog, the burger has been a strong seller.

“I hope I have a sense of humour,” Morin said. “It just seems fun. We’ve got a big fat plump wiener, Ford is big and plump and he’s the butt of everyone’s jokes.”