Matt's Famous Chili Dogs — Restaurant in Seattle

I used to frequent the Matt's hot dogs location that was in Bellevue many many years ago. I also frequented the location that was in Ballard. Both closed, and I thought they were gone forever. You can imagine how pleased I was to come across this (perhaps original?) location right in the heart of Seattle's industrial area. I personally like to get the veggie sausage Chicago style dog with cheese and fries on the side (don't forget to include a side of jalapenos!). If you're not familiar a Chicago style dog has relish, onions, tomato slices, mustard, a pickle slice, celery salt, and a hot pepper. Holy cow, simple eats are always hot and fresh never get old. So freaking good! Next time I'm going to try the sauerkraut dog. Drinks come in one size with vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry shake options.

I've been going for lunch most days over the past few weeks and it just doesn't get old. I think it's actually this business's name sake who takes orders. He gave me a frequent buyer card, and I'm almost through my second card already. Matt's is located in a good working class area with diverse clientele that make this...

I want to preface by saying I hate hot dogs. Husband drags me to all the hot dog stands and I naively order thinking “this time it will be different.” It never is (save for a chicago dog in Chicago). Until now.

Low expectations. We got a chili dog, Seattle dog, and New York dog. Honestly I liked them all, which is saying a lot. Tried a bite of each, would have been happy to finish any of them. None had that overwhelming “hot dog” flavor, but it worked well with the ingredients. The dog to bun ratio was good. Ingredients cooked nicely. Almost no wait time, and Matt the owner was super friendly.

The inside is small—no seating but a counter to stand and eat at. There are outdoor picnic tables, but it was snowy out so we are inside. There’s a heat lamp, which was nice. The whole place was clean and cozy.

Per my husband, the hotdog (just the weenie) itself was one of the best he’s ever had, and the overall dogs with ingredients were his favorites we’ve had so far.

Husband liked the New York dog best, son liked the chili dog, I liked the Seattle dog.

I would genuinely go back. That’s...

The Nicest Workers; The Grossest Food

SoDo is officially where food goes to die. How do you mess up a basic chili dog? You produce worse-than-canned chili, that's how.

I'll start with the good: the hot dog is a nice natural casing hot dog, the onions are crunchy, and the bun is streamed soft. Nice touch. With mustard and relish, this is probably okay.

Would it be worth the hilarious asking price of $3.60/dog? No. Of course not. That's absurd. If they were $1.50-2.00 or so, I'd say: go nuts.

But the chili is absolutely horrific. I'm not sure how you're "famous" for greasy, weirdly orange, tasteless mush like this; but where I'm from, chili is very spicy and flavorful, and doesn't need to sit atop a hot dog to stand out.

This is worse that high school cafeteria hot dogs. If you want cheap hot dogs, visit Ed's Kort Haus in Phinney. At least he doesn't feed you a line when he sells you his $.75 "Bar-Ass Hot Dogs". And they're better, too!

Totally gross. Even if the dogs were $.75, I couldn't recommend it.

I'd rather eat frozen Salisbury...