Mr. Mac’s Canteen

Mr Mac’s Canteen | What to expect

Place your order for a hot dog, a cheese dog, or a chili dog, and as soon as the natural-casing frank is pulled up out of the hot oil and rolled around on the grill to get a crisp crust, it is bunned and placed in a cradle for dressing with your choice of mustard, relish, onions, bacon bits, or sauerkraut. It is then wrapped and/or put on a paper plate. Customers carry their own to a table in the spacious dining room.

What to eat at Mr. Mac’s Canteen in Monroe, CT

The hot dogs are first rate; Mr. Mac’s Canteen chili puts them over the top. The folks behind the counter usually warn first-timers who order chili dogs that Mr. Mac’s chili is very, very hot; and indeed it is. Unlike typical chili-dog toppings or Coney sauce, this stuff is as dark as a good Mexican mole, and every bit as thick and complicated. At first, it tastes sweet, seductively so. In moments, the sweetness yields to blossoming heat and pretty soon your tongue is on fire, in the best possible way.

The signature chili dogs lead a broad fast-food menu that includes hamburgers and double hamburgers, fried clams and fish & chips, deli sandwiches, and morning egg sandwiches. One outstanding feature of all these items is the bun in which they are sandwiched: fresh, fluffy, quality bread.