Our trip to see the last night launch of the space shuttle (STS-130 Endeavour on February 8, 2010) included a lot of dining out and birding, which I’ll be writing about this week. I’ll start with the worst restaurant, Dogs R Us on Highway 1. (Please note that Highway 1 splits into Washington northbound and Hopkins southbound. The restaurant is on Hopkins.)

We noticed Dogs R Us Friday night, after eating at Dixie Crossroads on Garden Street. It’s located next to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals thrift store, which we thought was pretty twisted.

From the inside, Dogs R Us resembles a large house. Otherwise, it might as well be a Hooters: the waitresses are all pretty and skinny and dressed in black short-shorts and pantyhose and low-cut referee tops. Even so, the place was packed with families and was surprisingly quiet. Georgetown was playing Villanova on one of the big screens. The service was slow but good; when we asked our waitress for something, she calmly said, “Just give me a second; I’ve got to catch up a second.”

Todd didn’t like his dogs much, though. He said the Coney Island dog (mustard, onions, chili) was good, but the other was only “reminiscent of a Chicago dog.” It needed real sports peppers and “nuclear relish.”

I ordered the Fresh Catch meal, which surprisingly for Florida, turned out to be mahi-mahi, a Pacific fish. I took a few bites of the sandwich and then just ate the fish, which had so little Cajun seasoning I could hardly taste it. The fish was cooked properly, though.

If you go to Dogs R Us, go because you like sports bars, not for the food. Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs in Denver has nothing to worry about, that’s for sure.