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Chef's Dog House

4.2 (134 reviews)
InexpensiveHot Dogs, Burgers

Chef's Dog House Photos

CHEF'S DOG HOUSE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Chef's Dog House

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Jason P.

Chef's Dog House in Newington is one of my favorite CT hot dog places because of their tremendous flexibility with condiment choices. To be clear, their hot dogs are good quality, Chef's grills them to perfection and they serve the dogs on great buns grilled in butter. But it's the huge selection of free condiments that distinguishes Chef's from other top CT places. Today for lunch, I ordered two plain hot dogs, a small chili and a small side of shredded cheddar cheese. Pre-Covid, you could go to the condiment bar and Chef's probably had more than 20 different options including multiple types of relish, peppers, onions, kraut, chipotle mayo, and various flavored mustards and ketchups. Now, those toppings are available in small plastic containers with lids, which is a reasonable adaptation. If you have go to hot dog toppings, you may not need 20 plus toppings to choose from. Me, I'm usually stuck on about five different specialty dogs. At Chef's, you can cut the hot dogs in smaller pieces and have a few different types of dogs. Today, I created the following mini dogs out of two standard size dogs: an onion mustard and kraut dog; a chili and shredded cheese dog; a ketchup and sweet relish dog; a chipotle mayo and pickle relish dog; a mustard relish dog; and a dog with chili and mustard. Do I need 6 different mini dogs instead of two regular size ones? No. Do I want it? YES! Chef's is Five Stars for its hot dogs. It's Four Stars overall for me because of the atmosphere/decor etc.

Gosha A.

Great hot dog place to go. I have the best hotdogs. Great service and they are delicious and quick

Prairie Dog
Kevin D.

Very friggen impressive food in the middle of a random strip mall behind a 7-11. First things first, this place is a dive. It ain't pretty, and I will not try to pretend that it is pretty. What they do well is they make awesome burgers and dogs, and they do that very, Very well. The owner is incredibly passionate, always greets guests with a smile and checks in with his diners to make sure everything coming out is good. He shows care for his customers, which is always a welcome sight. The portions are generous, the food is delicious and not healthy for you at all. This is the type of place you go to where you don't really care about the diet and want a very well executed burger or hotdog. That being typed, this is also the type of place that doesn't want you to go home hungry. We actually came back to this location after having their hot dogs and saw them deliver a plate of burgers to the next table. We were full after the hot dogs, so we had to come back the next day to try the burgers as well. The burgers were cooked to the right temp, filled to the gills with toppings and tasted amazing. it's very unassuming, but also very tasty. Kudos to the Chef, and a great place to get a dog or a burger!

two men at the counter
Heather B.

Wasn't sure what to expect but wow... these dogs are damn good. I had the pastrami and Swiss dog. The dog itself was full of flavor and was topped generously with yummy pastrami. Pops had a chili cheese dog and kept going on about how good the dog was and chili as well. When asked if he'd return, I don't think I even finished the sentence before he proclaimed Yes !! Lol he wants to try the chili burger next time so he can get more of that chili he's in love with. He liked it so much he's going to bring his friends here and even took a menu to share with them. This small family business had friendly folks at the helm and provided great service.

Des D.

What a great find! My husband and I recently moved just a few streets away from Chef's Dog House and after driving by countless times and seeing all the hype on yelp we had to check this place out! The menu has something for anyone! It honestly took me several minutes to end up deciding what I wanted because everything seemed amazing! My husband and I went with their junkyard dog and chili cheese dog. Overall an all around great dog! The buns were toasted and buttered (such a nice touch!) and the toppings were heaping. The dogs themselves were awesome as well! The service was extremely friendly and welcoming! They even noticed how quickly we devoured our food and noticed how much we enjoyed it. We were even given complimentary ice cream cones because "everyone needs a ice cream on a hot summer day!" How sweet!! We will definitely be back a lot!! If you're in the mood for a hot dog, burger, breakfast, or pretty much anything check out Chef's!!!

Fries and slaw
Tim B.

You sir, deserve 5 stars! You have also taken over the number one spot from Botsford Drive-in for the best hot dog in CT. That's right! There's a new #1 dog for the first time in almost 20 years! The Botsford King Dog Loaded is now # 2. What's the new # 1? Pastrami and swiss dog!!!!! Oh my goodness that is the most amazing dog ever! This place cares about the food. It was evident immediately upon looking over the menu. They have an amazing breakfast, a great selection of salads to go and yes the best dog and burger menu I've ever seen. Look out Corey's! This place makes burgers as interesting as yours but doubles down with awesome dogs and the most amazing condiment bar I've ever heard of. At least 4 different types of mayo! Garlic, Chipotle, Jalapeno, Regular, various mustards etc. This place is tiny and amazing! I'm going to be updating this as I return often to work my way through the menu. Today's selections were the junkyard dog (onions, chili bacon-wrapped dog on a grilled bun) and the pastrami and swiss dog (bacon-wrapped dog piled high with pastrami and melted swiss on a grilled bun). One of the guys had a marsala burger (mushrooms, marsala sauce and cheese on a burger) and another had something called a godzilla burger (not sure what wasn't on that one!). I also tried cauliflower soup which was awesome. The service was the most friendly I've ever experienced. What a great group of kids work here. The place is flat out perfect in every way except that it is in an odd location. From the outside you would have no idea how special the inside is. This one is definitely worth making a special trip. I'll post more info after a few more visits but for now take my word for this one and get here with an empty stomach!

Tiramisu warmed up - not sure what to make out of it
Sho R.

This is a small mom and pop hot dog store. As the name suggests the most important thing here is hot dog. And you should try the hot dog here for sure. I went for prairie dog and it was good. It was a hot dog topped with frizzled potato. Godzilla burger was huge. May be it was 7 inches tall. Eating it is a messy affair. But was good. Beef and barley soup was good. For dessert I went for Tiramisu cake. They asked if I wanted it warmed, and I said yes (didn't know what it meant). Tiramisu came liquidy. I have no idea how to still call it Tiramisu. May be I should have just gone for the Tiramisu cake and said no to warming.

Just the dogs!
Janice M.

I can't believe that I didn't write a review, the first time we visited. We discovered Chef's through Groupon...who doesn't love a deal?! On our first trip, I had the Southerner (a special that day)...a hotdog buried under a delicious pile of pulled pork. This trip I tried the Prairie Dog. This hot dog was was wrapped in bacon, topped with onion dip and covered with Frizzled Potato (fried strings)! I was a little worried about the dip, but it really worked. My husband stayed true to his first pick, the Red Devil. A Red Hot smothered in a red pepper cream cheese and topped with fried jalapeños. For his second dog, he tried the Junkyard Dog. The bacon was a little underdone and the onions were grilled, so he'll be sticking to the Devil next time. If you're more of a traditionalist, you can get a plain dog and hit the condiment bar. Just be careful, some of those relishes are very hot! Chef's also offers hamburgers, sandwiches and traditional sides (fries, coleslaw).

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2 years ago

Great food, just don't plan on being super ambitious after eating. Huge portions, heavy food !!

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3 years ago

Came here for first time last week. Best burger I have had in a while. Will definitely be back often.

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4 years ago

Great place. The hot dogs are the BEST, Very pleasant atmosphere. Definitely recommend

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6 years ago

Favorite place to grab a dog! Variety of hot dogs for everyone! I live nearby so it's also convenient and on the cheaper side!

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Ask the Community - Chef's Dog House

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