Duchess in CT

What do you all think about a duchess dog with the works? I even like their chili dogs...I like their chili. I grew up in CT and hung at Rawley's and the Canteen but like duchess over Rawley's. And when I went to SDW I could not have been more under-impressed.

We're butting heads. I don't mind a Duchess (and congrats, Shen, for getting the spelling right) dawg, but, for me, SDW still rules. Ihave the Canteen in #2.

Ace in Bridgeport

Is it connected with the Duchess Diner on Campbell Avenue in West Haven? Or the old Duchess at Chapel and Howe in New Haven?

Duchess is OK - but they knocked down a Stamford icon called "Giorgio's" down in the Shippan area (right across from Cummings park beach) that made awesome chili dogs and chili burgers. They had a knack for toasting the inside of their buns with butter on the griddle. I remember the chili being pretty hot there.

When the place sold and Duchess came and built a brand new restaurant there is when I really began to try thier food. They are pretty good, but they make too many items, so something gets lost in that "Diner" mentality of Giant Menu - Small Quality Control.

Duchess has a great dog around lunch. Just don't have one to late a night. They tend to leave them on the grill to long and the bacon is dried out. But having said that for the price they are a great dog at a very good price. It is one of my stops when I vist Ct. from San Diego. My parents live in Milford and we stop at the one off the 95. The other place in Milford with great chili dogs and regular hot dogs is The Greeks on Cherry Street.

The Duchess Restaurant chain has 17 locations throughout Connecticut and is in no way associated with the diners in West Haven or New Haven.

Ace - the Canteen just isn't the same since the original owners sold it. You want the old Canteen, go to Mr. Mac's in either Milford or Monroe.

Right now, through Feb. 25th, Duchess has a 99 cent dog with the works special.

I, personally, like their Hummel's dog served on a French's Bakery (on Soundview Ave in Stratford) roll. The dog is fried, then grilled.

It's a toss-up with Legends on my list as the 2nd best dog in Milford.

Like Duchess okay...SDW is over-inflated...!!! Legends in Milford has them both beat...

I agree (and this pains me) with Long Dog that the Merritt Canteen is but a shadow of its former self.

And yes, I have never had a better weenie roll than those from the French Bakery in Stratford.

But, Big B., you'll never cause me to lose my faith in Super Duper. Ate there yesterday and it's still my favorite, hands down.

long dog, Thanks for the information.

Ace...they don't use French Bakery Rolls. And their Millers aren't Millers anymore...

Is the canteen in bridgeport under new management? I ate there a few months ago and the dog was damn tasty.

I'm in northern CT I've heard of super duper weenie and rawley's but not duchess..any help with directions. I'm checking out hot dog stands in CT with the idea of opening my own small hot dog counter. I've been traveling mostly northern and central CT have found a handful and i will post them if anyones looking in this area. Thanks

the Duchess chain is mostly in Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

For you in Hartford, the closest one is on Rt. 68 in Wallingford.
Address is 124 Church St

Other towns with a Duchess are:

Naugatuck -- 15 Meadow St
Ansonia ---- 60 Pershing Dr
Shelton ---- 853 Bridgeport Ave
Monroe ----- 134 Main St
Hamden ----- 2425 Dixwell Ave
Branford --- 33 Leetes Island Rd
Orange ----- 240 Boston Post Rd
Milford ---- 343 Old Gate Ln
Stratford -- 690 Lordship Blvd
Bridgeport - 35 Boston Ave
Fairfield -- 625 Post Rd
Fairfield -- 2315 Black Rock Tpke
Norwalk ---- 157 Main St
Darien ----- 302 Boston Post rd
Stamford --- 637 Shippan Ave
Danbury ---- 104 Mill Plain Rd
Danbury ---- 276 White St


Best dog in Hartford has to be Rosco's Big Dog.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Is it connected with the Duchess Diner on Campbell Avenue in West Haven? Or the old Duchess at Chapel and Howe in New Haven?

o

Oh my. the Duchess on Chapel Street. All I can remember about the Duchess (was it really spelled without the "t"?) is that a guy I knew used to wind up there at the end of the night and order poached eggs on toast, and the elderly Greek waiter would sing out "Dro Po To".

Do you remember the Robin's Nest on, I guess, York Street?

Duchess has been serving great dogs for close to forty years. My first experience was at the Ansonia location on Pershing Drive in the sixties. They pirated the bacon in the bottom of the roll from a place in Bridgeport called Tomlinsons(was the best around when it was in the little shack) but has now changed location and owners and longer measures up. SDW doesn`t do it for me as they are always under cooked and over done with condiments. Milford might be the hot dog capital with geat dogs at Jimmies of Savin Rock, Turks, The Greeks, Chicks, Frankies,and Pauls. I believe all of these places serve Hummel hot dogs made in New Haven and for my money are the best on the planet. Rawley`s in Fairfield is a winner as well as both Swankey Franks locations in Norwalk and Westport. As you go north on 95 Nicks Char Pit in New Haven and the Glenwood in Hamden stand out(Hummels of course). As someone who now lives in Hartford County the only places that are decent but not on par with those previously mentioned are Roscoe`s and Woody`s in Hartford and Barts in Windsor. If anyone has any others in and around Hartford please chime in.

MartinT...you never mentioned Legend's Drive-In...also a Hummels provider! Check 'em out

In East Hartford, I like the dogs at Mickey's and the East Bridge Diner.

Walt

http://www.duchessrestaurants.com/

Martin T...There are a few places in the Hartford area to check out, none of them are outstanding but each has its own uniqueness. First there's The Ranch House Exit 34 off 91. HAD the best sauce around, but that was years ago, the original owner sold the business and recipe. In Canton on RT 44 is Junior's. North to West Springfield on Rt5 is The White Hut, since 1939 I believe. In Agawam on the Agawam Westfield line by the State Forest is Rescue 911, a small shack serving good dogs and burgers. Of course there's Doogies in Newington, Capitol Lunch in New Britain, Sakadi's Hotties in New Britain, Harry's in Colchester. The Top Dog cart in Portland. A cart on rt 75 in Windsor locks in the parking lot of Albert's steakhouse. Holyoke has Nick's Nest on Rt 5. Also there's Pluto's in Bloomfield. And I'm in the process of putting together a Business plan to open a hot dog place in the Windsor Locks area projecting to open by the beginning of next year. I hope this helps. If you come across any let me know. I'm in the process of putting together a hot dog pamphlet listing all of CT's great dog places. (I'm planning on giving it free to Roadfood members.)

Xfireguy- Thanks for the spots. I forgot about Doogies which is definitely a winner. I wanted to say that a few of the spots I mentioned earlier are actually in West Haven(Turks,Jimmies,Chicks,Frankies). Sorry. Thanks to Bigbite for Legends which I have been to and is great. Remember when it was Mr. Sizzle?

Don't forget the Dawg Haus - 1360 East St, New Britain.
Also Blackies on Rt. 70 on the Cheshire/Waterbury line

The Dawg Haus uses a Grote & Weigel dog (as does Doogie's); split and grilled, and served sandwich-style on a potato roll.

Blackies is a fried Hummmel's.

Except for SDW, Hummel's is the primary dog used in the southern part of the state.

Rawley's used to use Roessler's (as did the Windmill in Stratford), but I heard Roessler's had problems back in January and was out of production.

Windmill switched to Hummel's, and I don't know what Rawley's is using these days.

When you go north of Meriden, you start to see more diversity in the brand of dog used, and less Hummel's.

Nick's Char Pit is off I-91 Exit 8 on Route 17 (Middletown Ave) in North Haven.

In my opinion, the dog used at Rosco's in Hartford (made in NJ) is the tastiest dog in the state.

Rosco's is the best hot dog in Hartford. For those of you in Hartford County that haven't listed it, I question your opinion. He may be new, but even the former owners of Capital Lunch eat there. This guy was a hot dog nut and has been all over the country. If its slow, you should try and ask if the owner is there and talk to him.

Hello all lovers of the hot dog. I would like to clear up
a few items of misinformation. First of all, the dog served at
Duchess is grilled only, not deep fried as many others are.
Next, we did not pirate the bacon on the dog from anyone, in
fact we have been doin it since the 50's. Also, our family
built and opened both the diners somebody mentioned in New
Haven and West Haven, however they were both sold years ago.
This is why they were named DUCHESS.


Good EAting to all

Duke the Dog

quote:

Originally posted by long dog

Don't forget the Dawg Haus - 1360 East St, New Britain.
Also Blackies on Rt. 70 on the Cheshire/Waterbury line

The Dawg Haus uses a Grote & Weigel dog (as does Doogie's); split and grilled, and served sandwich-style on a potato roll.

Blackies is a fried Hummmel's.

Except for SDW, Hummel's is the primary dog used in the southern part of the state.

Rawley's used to use Roessler's (as did the Windmill in Stratford), but I heard Roessler's had problems back in January and was out of production.

Windmill switched to Hummel's, and I don't know what Rawley's is using these days.

When you go north of Meriden, you start to see more diversity in the brand of dog used, and less Hummel's.

Nick's Char Pit is off I-91 Exit 8 on Route 17 (Middletown Ave) in North Haven.

In my opinion, the dog used at Rosco's in Hartford (made in NJ) is the tastiest dog in the state.

Long Dog- The Windmill only recently switched to Hummels because Miller`s of Stratford went out of business. The Windmill is a throw back to a different era and a great spot. I`ve never been there when there were not mailmen,police and firemen knocking off some dogs(always a good sign that you are in the right spot for eats). Roscoes serves Thumanns brand hot dogs which are native to New Jersey and used almost exclusively in North Jersey at all the famous spots.

Martin T,

The Thumanns that are served at many North Jersey spots is different than the Thumanns dog served at Rosco's. In North Jersey, they use the dog made specifically for deep frying. This dog is used at Rutts Hut, Hirams, Libbys, The Goffle Grill, Johnny & Hanges, and others. Some, like The Hot Grill, and Callahans, use a beef/pork dog from Sabrett. The North Jersey places that serve an all beef dog use mostly Best and Sabrett. The dog used at Rosco's is Thumanns griller. It has slightly more flavor and is 75 % pork to 25% beef. The deep fryer has 2 more ingredients to aid in deep frying, and contains more pork; 80% or higher. The Thumanns griller, for whatever reason is not used at places that grill beef/pork dogs. There is only one place that I know of in Hackensack that uses this dog. Grote & Weigel is the preferred dog used for grilling.

quote:

Originally posted by Scallion1

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Is it connected with the Duchess Diner on Campbell Avenue in West Haven? Or the old Duchess at Chapel and Howe in New Haven?

o

Oh my. the Duchess on Chapel Street. All I can remember about the Duchess (was it really spelled without the "t"?) is that a guy I knew used to wind up there at the end of the night and order poached eggs on toast, and the elderly Greek waiter would sing out "Dro Po To".

Do you remember the Robin's Nest on, I guess, York Street?

I don't remember any waiters at the Duchess (yes, there was no T) on Chapel, only waitresses. But, the last time I was there was around 1964. As to Robin's Nest, I don't remember it.

quote:

Originally posted by HiHat

Rosco's is the best hot dog in Hartford. For those of you in Hartford County that haven't listed it, I question your opinion. He may be new, but even the former owners of Capital Lunch eat there. This guy was a hot dog nut and has been all over the country. If its slow, you should try and ask if the owner is there and talk to him.

HiHat- I agree that Roscoes is a very good dog. As far as Capital Lunch its all about the sauce. Its so heavy that it really doesn`t matter what kind of dog you use as is the case with most chili dogs. Not a big fan of capital lunch.