After a restrained devouring of donuts in the hotel lobby, we boarded the bus for our first official stop, Doogie’s (read the Roadfood.com review) in Newington. It’s a great place for hot dogs, in a hot dog-heavy area of the state. After the unfortunate demise of Rosco’s Big Dog in Hartford, Doogie’s turned out to be the next best thing—well, depending whom you ask. Some swear by the dogs at Augie & Ray’s in East Hartford, while others are dyed-in-the-wool fans of Woody’s in downtown Hartford. Neither spot does it for me (though Woody’s unflagging support of the Miami Dolphins gets major props!), for I prefer points south like Top Dog in Portland and Guida’s in Middlefield. Now that Chef’s Dog House opened in Newington, we haven’t been back to Doogie’s in a very long time and were excited to revisit their Food Network-ed fare.
Their spicy relish is a big selling point for us, and many folks on the tour were drawn in by the two-foot-long dogs (and maybe a random shrimp po'boy, below):
ChiTownDiner shows off his Boston Dog (with bacon and baked beans) like a proud father:
The buns are not normal hot dog buns but thicker rolls to handle more condiments:
Thirteen-year-old food blogger Asher Z poses with some trepidation next to his two-footlonger:
After we sampled a couple of hot dogs, we decided to order a burger, mainly because we'd never tried one before. The Doogie Burger was a hit at our table: char-grilled patty with grilled onions, bacon, and special sauce. It was so good that I might give up hot dogs here in lieu of this beauty:
Another great stop for dogs, burgers, and fries, Doogie’s started our day out right:
Bruce: There's nothing like a mess of two-foot-long dogs to fire up a bunch of Roadfooders! There was much picture-snapping and chuckling and oohing-and-aahing when the dogs started coming out. I liked the dogs and toppings very much, but I have to give special praise to that random shrimp po'boy that Sue ordered. It was quite spectacular, the big creatures fried, greaselessly, not a moment too long.
