ChiDogo's, Local Hot Dog Chain - National Harbor and College Park, Closed in 14 UP

[goodeats]

Which street vendor is serving the best hot dogs or half smokes in Washington,DC?

Not a cart, but 14th & U seem to be the happening cooridor these days.

ChiDogos. (have not tried, but Vienna Beef dogs Chicago-style are the best, right?)

[Arcturus]

Vienna Beef dogs Chicago-style are the best, right?

Oh my god. Correct.

Now I'll have to go into the city. This is great news.

[AlexC]

I am not a Chicago hot dog expert, so feel free to take this with a grain of celery salt, but I didn't think my Chicago-style dog today was very good -- the one I had a few months ago at O'Hare was markedly better.

The biggest problem was the relish, which seemed like standard green store-bought stuff, not the neon green I was expecting, followed closely by the Keystone Kops-level service. The dog itself seemed a little thin to me too, though maybe that's a necessary evil when so many toppings come into play.

A coke, loaded dog and a fries came to $6.29 total, which is cheap enough for me to give the place another shot, but I think I'll give it a couple months.

Alex

[Chris Cunningham]

I went here saturday night and the place was empty at 11 pm they had opened on Monday. I ordered the basic combo...dog all the way, fries and drink.......staff was friendly and eager to learn and please...the food.....simply not memorable or worthwhile...The dog was a bit under cooked, minimal toppings and cold bun. I had hopes that it would really be a good hot dog, but I actually think any street cart dog beats this one hands down.....dont have any desire to return..EVER

I will go to Windy City dogs in Leesburg,m next time I'm out that way...superb dogs.

[MTPeter]

I was there on Weds evening, by coincidence a few minutes before Obama drove by on 14th. He didn't stop.

I think the place is fine but definitely not destination worthy.

I appreciated the friendly staff, the hot dogs were OK but nothing notable - unlike other reviews I've seen the fries were quite good, better than the hot dogs. I love Chicago style hot dogs but given the proximity to Ben's, I'd pick a chili cheese Half Smoke.

[sklarithy]

Having lived in Chicago for 3 years, I came to love Chicago Style Hot Dog's and got excited to hear of ChiDogo's opening (terrible name btw). I got to try a dog and fries from here on Saturday night, and sadly do not think I will be returning anytime soon. The dog is good quality (Vienna Beef), but only comes steamed with no grilled option. I know a Chicago Dog normally comes steamed, but there should be an option to have it grilled (or griddled). They also put the bun in the steam table when the order is placed, not leaving much time to heat the bun. The fries come frozen and were not very memorable.

The staff was friendly and eager to help. My other beef with the spot (no pun intended), was that the space looked like a "franchise." It has zero character and for a 14th and U location, would seem to benefit from a little bit of edginess.

[ad.mich]

I was in the neighborhood around lunch time and when I saw the signage I realized that I'd been craving an Italian Beef sandwich for a while. I went into ChiDogo's with pretty low expectations, given the feedback I've seen here and elsewhere. Seeing how I wasn't expecting much, I was pretty pleased with what I received. The bun was steamed and filled with a fairly substantial portion of soaked beef, and then the entire sandwich was dipped in the spicy gravy. Topped with giardiniera and a pile of sweet and hot peppers, this was a fairly accurate re-creation of the gut bomb I remembered. Maybe not a perfect recreation, but close enough to work. This isn't destination dining by any means but it's a pretty solid option if you've been out on U street and from what I saw from other orders coming out, if you're here I'd highly recommend getting the sandwich over their Chicago-Style dogs.

Combo (plus the surcharge for adding the peppers) came to about $10. As mentioned above, the fries are frozen and unmemorable. I think I need to try the DC-3 Italian Beef later this week to compare.

[fuzzy510]

Closed, and has been for a while. Although I believe they're still opening their location in College Park.

[DonRocks]

Closed, and has been for a while. Although I believe they're still opening their location in College Park.

College Park and National Harbor.