Dave's Hot Dogs — Restaurant in Sayreville

Contributor's note: Dave's Hot Dogs, although officially listed as being in South Amboy, is actually in the Borough of Sayreville. It is approximately 1/3 of a mile south of the town line, according to Google Maps. According to Alex, who was at the counter when I visited, the postal address is South Amboy, but if you need an ambulance, please call Sayreville.

Dave's Hot Dogs is one of the top hot dog places in the entire state of New Jersey. Located in Sayreville, it is a most unpretentious structure; you would almost miss it if you didn't see the outside court of benches, but once you enter, it becomes a great experience. I had the pleasure of meeting Alex, who was in charge that time, and I found him to be a most engaging and affable person. It was a lull time of the day, but the staff was still busily handling the necessary food maintenance chores. The chili was being prepared in a new bowl, a supply of new dogs was brought in to replenish the pot and other miscellaneous details were being attended to. As for the building, it has, as I've mentioned, a very unpretentious decor. There are only eight chairs at the counter, and fortunately, a few tables outside, in case of overflow and good weather. The hot dogs are, I believe, Sabrett's, which are a top notch brand. In addition to my dogs, I took a cheese steak to go, and found it very substantial and surprisingly large and well worth it. All told, it's one place I definitely want to get back to when I...

I honestly do not know how their reviews are as high as they are. I also don’t know how this place stays open. I’ve been going here for a couple of years, sporadically, and I’m honestly baffled at the people they have working there. Not only do they burn the simplest orders, but they don’t great the patrons when they come in, they look unhappy at what they’re doing, and they take forever to fulfill orders.

When I walk in there I feel the apathy these girls exude. I remember sitting there once for 10 minutes before one of the girls turned around to face the counter. And when they did turn around I realized there was someone else waiting there even longer than I had who had not been acknowledged yet. It feels as though there is no training for employees on how to manage their shift, cleanliness standards and pulling you hair back instead of letting it hang over the food, catering to the public, being able to cook multiple things at a time and cook things efficiently and quickly.

I believe they had one girl there last year by the name of Jessica or Jennifer. She was the only one that made me think this place wasn’t so bad. She always greeted me with a smile when I walked in, she was friendly, she seemed to take pride in her work and knew what she was doing.

I’m just a bit perplexed at the people they hire...

We are new to the town, just moved a few months ago. I found this spot while searching for local places to support. I tried to do online ordering for pick up and I was very surprised with how easy it was to place an order on their website. I would much rather ordering direct from a place’s website as opposed to having to go through another service so I am very happy they have a solid ordering option on their website.

Service was fast and friendly. The food was done way before pick up time and was ready on the counter when I arrived.

The hot dogs were great! Nice snap to them, and the buns traveled home well. Had a nice steamed feeling to them as they wrapped everything for me. We also had chilli cheese dogs and they both were delicious!

The fries were good and were a good portion size, but because I forgot to unwrap the foil off them when I picked them up they felt a bit soggy. Next time I will ask them to not wrap it with foil so they don’t soak up steam. Everything was hot and great though so there really is no complaint here, we just like crispy fries and I am assuming that’s what the fries were before they sat in my car for the car ride back so not knocking them for that at all.

Happy with the experience and the food, we will be...