Chuck Wagon — Restaurant in Sanger

Every year my family makes the trek from SoCal to vacation in Shaver Lake and every year I pass by the Chuck Wagon in Sager California wondering what magic resides in this walk-up food shack with the proclamation...Home of the "Chili Dog". This year my wife helped me with this bucket-list item by agreeing to stop at Chuck Wagon for lunch before heading into the Sierras. Was it a good "Chili Dog" you ask? Oh Yes, a very good chili dog...I would highly recommend it if you like Chili Dogs. But, if you do not like chili dogs this will not convert you. The Chili Cheese Fries are also great, they put lettuce on top...I think that is the Chuck Wagon version of a salad. The star of the show is probably the Frito Pie my wife ordered. What is a Frito Pie you ask?...One small bag of Frito corn chips sliced open sideways, and then add chili, cheese, onions, and lettuce...served with a spork. Delicious!

I love that this place has existed for all these years and just keeps on going. It was obvious that it is popular with locals, not many tourists stopping in. Would I go back? You bet! That being said I don't think it will become a yearly tradition as my wife and daughter were not as thrilled with the Chuck Wagon as myself. But this place put a huge smile on my face and I will surely be back their...

The Chuck Wagon is a Sanger, CA institution. As a long, long, long time Sanger resident I may be biased, but I do love this place. If you have never been there before, it may seem intimidating but the staff is willing to answer questions. The "Clark Burger" (no affiliation) is your standard double cheeseburger. The chili is a meat (no beans) chili. If you like good, greasy chili, then you will like this. Much better (IMHO) than Tommy's in Southern California. I know from which I speak on that point, as I went to school in SoCal and spent many a late night at Tommy's.

Fries are crinkle cut and always done to perfection. I recommend using them to scoop up any chili that has fallen off of or out of your chili dog or Chili Clark.

Best bets? Most anything with chili on it - chili dog, chili cheese fries, chili Clark. Note that chili cheese fries come with lettuce and onions on them. I order without those items, but it is a matter of personal preference.

I will forever (or until such time as they get a new shake machine) miss having a chocolate milkshake with...

I got a Clark burger plain (just meat and cheese on a bun), wife got a chilli cheese dog with onions, and we split chilli cheese fries without onions. The chilli is sauce and ground beef without beans. The fries are the crinkle cut type. I thought the chilli has a light taste reminiscent of the taco meat that you get from Taco Bell but the wife disagreed. Overall the taste of the food isn't going to explode in your mouth. It's plain. The burger was lightly seasoned and I'd say the taste in the meat was mostly from the grill rather than seasoning. I think the key here is to get the chilli sauce on your hot dog or hamburger. Even if you do get the chilli it's not aggressive, it's not going to make you think it's homemade and it's not going to win any chilli contest. It's also not likely to give you heartburn which is a plus. Lastly, the chilli cheese fries came out less warm than you would expect. This could be due to the wait time. We went on a Saturday at about 630PM and there was a sizeable line and we waited about 15 minutes to...