Riley's Hot Dog & Burger Gourmet — Restaurant in New Britain

My wife loved her first visit so much, she wanted to take me there to share her find, which was a recommendation from a friend who works for the City of New Britain (City Hall is just up the street).

Well, she was absolutely right.

This small gem in the crown of New Britain is open for lunch and dinner five days a week (closed Sunday and Monday) and is open later on Friday and Saturday nights. The service is friendly. Order at the counter when you come in, take your drinks to the table in the industrial chic dining room, and your order is brought to you, hot from the kitchen.

The hand cut freshly fried potato fries, lightly salted, are browned to crisp perfection, and the selection of hot dogs and burgers (I had a locally made Martin and Rosol kielbasa patty on a fresh, locally baked bun with melted cheese and real Polish sauerkraut made to a local family recipe in their own kitchen) with the most wonderful choice of ingredient combinations. My wife had the Rueben dog (with corned beef, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on a Martin & Rosol hot dog).

They feature Avery's sodas, recently mentioned on many national news programs for their Clinton and Trump soda flavors (available only through the 2016 election). I had the Avery's birch beer soda, which is MY favorite.

They also have a large selection of bottled beers, mostly from the local region.

The dining room is light, airy, and has comfortable tables and chairs. There are also some outdoor tables under umbrellas for those who want to dine alfresco.

Call ahead and place your order, and it can be ready for you to eat in, or take out.

We will be back, for sure. My wife is right: it's delicious and a really nice place to eat.

Bring the kids. They'll...

I was disappointed. I ordered a Classic Dog and a Chicago Dog. The Classic dog had no meat sauce on it when I got it. I assumed that I had read the menu wrong and it just came with mustard and onions. It sucked because I love the combo of meat sauce, onion, and mustard and that is the "everything" dog at many of the hot dog places I've been to around the country. Needless to say there was nothing special about an onion and mustard dog. Then I tried the Chicago Dog. My favorite dogs in the world are some of the Chicago Dogs in Chicago. Now, one of my biggest pet peeves is a place that sells Chicago Dogs but doesn't do them correctly. This place doesn't do them correctly. I can't even really tell you what was the worst part of the dog was. The tomato wedges being slices of unripe tomato. The bun definitely doesn't do it justice. The traditional pickle spear was pickle slices. I think it was the relish that ruined it the most . Maybe way too much and the wrong kind. It's been 2 hours since I ate the dogs and I can still taste that nasty relish. It's like the nasty corn syrupy and tangy taste you get from those mass produced sweet relishes that are the norm in grocery stores. That's all I tasted on the Chicago dog. I couldn't even eat half of it. I didn't want to finish it. I just wanted to go and try to block this experience from my memory. The beer was good, hence...

Friendly, professional, and tasty! I have a nut allergy and by calling in my order was told that it was okay they get that all the time. She explained when written on the order all the food stays far away from the peanut oil. Actually, they mentioned just the fries are cooked in peanut oil so everything else is fine. We tried the loaded Salty balls! 😯 Lol. They were fantastic! 4 perfectly cooked potatoes small but good size order. Coated in cheese, bacon, chives, and we were given a little tub of sour cream to place on them. Omg. DELICIOUSNESS!! I loved having their Salty balls in my mouth!😋😜 Now for their meat. We tried the American classic burger and the patty melt. Thick and juicey. Tasted like a summer BBQ in the middle of winter. The American had all the basics you love. Chopped raw onion, yellow mustard, ketchup, tons of pickle chips and cheese. The patty melt made me jealous tho. As great as my burger was, the patty melt is on another level of flavor. Fresh rye bread, toasted, sautéed soft onions, a burger cooked to juicey perfection smothered in Swiss cheese so when you pull it apart the cheese gets all strings and your mouth just starts to water. We tried a side of Mac n cheese also. This was good. Definitely homemade. No kraft here! It had paprika in it which added a nice flavor. We will be back and trying more amazing menu items. Keep up the...