Ted's Hot Dogs — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

Wow - what a disappointment! I grew up with Ted’s and now live outside of the WNY area. Came back to visit family and went for lunch at the Transit Rd location because of how much I USED to love this place.

To start, their system for ordering has completely changed - instead of a line where you get to watch the hot dogs being grilled over charcoal and prepared to order in front of you, you now order from electronic kiosks. It’s not an intuitive system. The woman with two small kids in front of us took a long time to figure it out and then her order got lost! She had to start over and redo her entire order.

After we ordered, we tried to find a seat in the dining area. It was packed and we had to wait until a table cleared. Shouldn’t have worried though as the food took nearly a half hour to be ready. We ordered at 1pm post-peak for lunch hour) and the food arrived at 1:25pm. I’ve waited less time at five star fancy places! I overheard a table nearby joke that if they were having dinner at Ted’s, they might want to order now (at 2pm) so it would be ready by dinner time! Clearly, we weren’t the only ones with issues.

All this would have been tolerable except the quality of the hotdogs has dropped significantly. The bun on my foot long dog was clearly several days old and the toppings were sparse. The hotdog itself was warm (not hot) and showed no signs of the famous charcoal grilling Ted’s is supposed to be famous for. I ordered onions, zesty mustard, bacon bits and jalapeño’s on the hot dogs. The bacon bits were dried out and hard. There was barely any mustard on the hot dogs and the pickle was simply not there. I would have gone back to complain (or at least get missing condiments), but the line was interminably long. My wife’s order of a regular hot dogs with chili and cheese was also disappointing. Chili clearly out of a can and a hot dog that was lukewarm. About the only food bright spot was the onion rings. Fresh, hot and crisp. Thought about ordering another order, but I didn’t have the spare hour it would take! The onion rings are the reason for the extra star or this would have been a one star review.

The staff there was trying, but they were disorganized and not efficient. I’m sorry to see this once great restaurant drop the ball so badly. As my wife noted - we’ll do better making our own at home...

As someone new to Buffalo I was told to go to Ted's. It was July 4th and what better to do than get a hotdog right. Wrong! We pulled in and got in line the place was buzzing with excitment food flying every where and people yelling orders to their team members, it seemed fun. When it was our time to order the woman rudly said "what do you want." We placed our order for three dogs and watched them get tossed on the grill. The woman behind us ordered a burger, now I can look passed the woman being rude but what happened next I could not look passed. After grabbing the raw beef and throwing it on the grill, using the same hand and same glove she reaches into the bag of hamburger and hotdog rolls grabiing handfulls and passing them down the line. This same woman then began to yell at the boy working the register for going to slow (infront of all of us customers). Don't get me wrong I didnt walk into Ted's expecting a grourmet experience but I figured that basic manors and hygine would be in play.

We finally get our order, missing the pickles ordered which at this point we didn't worry about. My hotdog was more of a bun soaked in cheese than a hotdog with cheese on it. Needless to say we will not be back. I guess we will have to go try the families break off joint down the road, this might be the reason the left to open...

The staff is wonderful because they are polite and understanding with the customers and each other! They are also usually very efficient and do a great job with the grilling/other food service. The hot dogs, burgers, chicken, fries/rings and milkshakes are fantastic! The only 2 reasons I cannot give a 5 star rating is as follows:

1. Bathrooms-The bathrooms need to be seriously upgraded and kept more cleanly! 2)Food ordering/cash out-This is an absolute mess and the reason why I only go to Ted's during the least crowded times! The teens through 20-somethings know what they want and want it now! Payment is via plastic only. The elderly take a lot of time choosing and possibly changing orders when ready to cash out. They want to use coupons and pay in cash to the exact penny. I apologize for the generalization, but this has been my experience since I started going to Ted's in the 90s. I frequently feel that I am pushing the people in line ahead of me as the cashier wants me to pay, but the customer ahead of me has not received their food, or is in the process of selecting condiments. A new system of ordering and cashing out needs to be...