The Dogfather

Don’t be fooled by the small hot dog stand look of of this establishment.
The catering is flipping fantastic! We had a party this weekend — ordered Italian Beef, Italian Chicken and Ravioli.
The beef is supreme — not something order by a food service supplier and reheated. Nononononono. Beyond outstanding. And the bread. mmmmm. Again, not a bakery delivered roll early in the morning. Baked in house.
The chicken? Never had any as good as this. The seasoning was spot on. And tender.
Ravioli. Huge ravioli. The sauce — Nana would be proud. There were leftovers and I am hiding them for myself. Even kept the leftover sauce for another meal. Do you sell this sauce?
The chopped salad is better than Portillo’s. And that is a hard salad to one up.
Owner Tony is personal, makes you feel one of the family. Staff in the restaurant are fun.
This is my go to caterer from now on.

My family and I still frequent here about once a month, and genuinely find their food «pretty good».
— hot dog prices VERY fair (Tuesday’s .99 all day. M-​F .99 between 2 – 4 pm), especially compared to Portillo’s ($ 2.85 before tax) and Scooby’s ($ 2.99 before tax. If you want peppers that’s .60 extra before tax). Note: Hotdogs are almost identical to Scooby’s.
— Fries are good and you get a TON. However, they can be a little salty. Note to restaurant: Just add a pinch or two less of salt.
— Italian beefs — potential is there, but like many have said — served on the wrong bun. I even professionally asked the owner this on his fb page, and he replied in a friendly way stating that they chose to use «rolls» instead of Turano bread for their own reasons, most being a freshness factor. I believe the rolls they use are homemade and made right at the restaurant. The beef IS GOOD, but I don’t like the soft hoagie-​type doughy rolls. I simply think they should be using Gonella or Turano french bread.
We will return.

Been eating Chicago style hotdogs for over 50 years. This place was great when it first opened and was good for many years. Seems they are either afraid to raise prices or are cost cutting as the quality is no longer the same. Toppings are scarce and hot dogs are no better than what I can buy at my local grocery store. Too bad. we need a good hotdog place in the Western suburbs.

This place is the best. Hot Dogs are great, fries are good. Food is exceptional and a great value. The only problem is they have Pepsi products, I like Coke products
My go-​to place when I am out and about.

I loooooooove the Dogfather! Great hotdogs and great fries. The hubs and I order a large fry and it should probably feed 3 people, but we really like fries. Don’t judge.
Gotta love the 99 cent special on Tuesdays — the line will be out the door people, so just an fyi :)
Next time I am trying the Gyro and possibly those motz sticks.

I had this place bookmarked for a while. Huge portions, but was not happy with lack of flavor.
Ordered the garlic cheesy beef. Didn’t notice any garlic at all, and beef didn’t have any kick to it.
Onion rings were so-​so.
I’d probably go back for their Vienna hotdog $ 0.99 special, but not for the beef.

This place is solid, the beefs are huge. Its your typical hot dog joint. Only complaint is two times ive ordered for takeout they forget the hot pepper, but charge me for them.

Loved this place when it first opened. Then, about a year ago, 3 times in a row went in at dinner time, placed order, no cooks to be seen. Cashier calls them, they still don’t come. All 3 are on a break at the same time and not responding.
Didn’t go there for a year. Tonight decided to try again. Walked in, no cooks to be seen. Placed order. Cashier calls the cooks, they don’t come. She takes a few more orders, finally they all come out from the back and start cooking. They cook fast, everyone is served, the cooks retire to the back… A new customer comes in and orders. Then 2 more. Then a phone order. Still no cooks. The cashier yells «Orders»! Still they don’t come. Customers waiting for food start to become aware there is no one cooking. Finally they come and cook.
Never again, terrible service.

I was excited to go here because of it being featured on Chicagos best. Food was just average. Fries were undercooked. Garlic cheesy beef was pretty good but super soggy. The one biggest complaint was the place was filthy. Several tables available but they were a mess. I had to clean it up myself to have somewhere to sit. Don’t think I will be going back.

Great hot dog, chicken sandwich, and maxwell polish. Owner remembers everyone. Line goes fast and food is quick and cheap. Def a must stop in bartlett

So I finally cheated on my beloved Portillos and tried the Dogfather. I must say, it was no Portillos (I don’t know what kind of crack Portillos puts in their food to make it the greatest food EVER but no one can beat it. NO ONE) but it was a close second.
We got some hotdogs and a cheesy garlic beef with some fries. The hotdogs were pretty darn close to a Portillos perfect Chicago Red Hot. I could go here for hotdogs any day and not actually miss Portillos at all. The large fries we got were crispy crinkled and delicious and were honestly big enough for 2 – 3 people to share. (P.S. No one needs that amount of fries. That said, I ate half the bag myself… for shame.) The beef was great too with its crispy garlicky spicy yumminess at the top and gooey au jusy goodness at the bottom BUT I definitely prefer the dipped gooey bread and fall apart beef (doused in hot giardiniera) that Portillos offers. I guess it’s a matter of preference really. If you want your beef to be more like the old Garibaldi’s with its crispier baked bread and its tougher but more flavorful beef, come here. If you want your sandwich to be a drippy gooey fall apart mess that melts in your mouth, go to Portillos. Honestly, I wish that I could have the best of both worlds and have Portillos make my beef on their garlic bread and call it a day because I do like the garlicky touch that the Dogfather puts on their beef.
Overall, this place was excellent if you live in Bartlett, like a nice cheap meal, and don’t compare it to Portillos.

This place is pretty good. The Hubs, nugget, and I recently stopped here for a quick meal on our way home from Elgin. The restaurant is on Route 59 in a stripmall near North of the Border restaurant. The hubs and I had hot dogs, fries, and tots. The nugget had the cheeseburger. The food was good. I can’t complain.
It appears as though they are really trying to expand their catering business. There were lots of signs about it. They also appear to have some awesome specials like 99 cent hot dogs all day on Tuesday. What a bargain.

This is a great place to get a quick, cheap, but decently good bite to eat.
My husband and I have lived in Bartlett for four years now and finally decided to stop by for some food.
He ordered the hot dogs and a tamale, while I got a burger no bun and fries. I was a little disappointed by the tamale as it was one I could buy at jewel. We were very happy with everything else though.
The best part, it was a Tuesday, so the hot dogs were one dollar. Thus, making our bill with tax, 10 dollars.
Win in my book!

Love the beef. Well I should say loved I just moved to Texas and compared to all of the food down here in Texas the food up north is amazing. But by far I miss the dog father the most I would usually have the beef twice I week. I NEED IT!
Ps. If you are reading this owner I need some beef asap

Their cheesy beef is amazing! We’re also had their gyro and chicken pita which are also very good. Fries and onion rings are a treat. We love stopping in here for a quick lunch on the weekends. Prices are very reasonable. Have to try their hot dogs on our next stop in!

Can’t recommend. I’ve watched an employee pick up garbage and then walk directly to handling food without washing his hands. Seen employees throwing pitas which hit the side of food storage bins and then land on the counter before being used. I walked out immediately. The Italian beefs are served on the wrong bread. They use rolls that immediately turn to mush instead of French rolls. I don’t understand this decision. It renders what could be a good sandwich an inedible mess. Strange.

This is a nice and clean little hot dog joint on RT.59 in Bartlett.
I had the garlic cheesy beef today with fries and a drink. I’m a big fan of Portillos beef but I actually liked this version better. The menu ranges from burgers and dogs to beefs, chicken and gyros. The prices are reasonable too.

I thought the food was ok, would I waste the gas again. Also PuT THE AIR CONDITIONING ON. It was 91 degrees outside and it felt like a 100 degrees inside.
I feel bad for the workers. And the owner pulls up parks his truck upfront like a douche bag… PuT the air on Mr. Hot shot.

The Dogfather is alright in my book.
We popped in for a quick bite and to meet up with a friend. I went with the Garlic Cheezy Beef, which is an Italian beef on garlic bread, and it was pretty good. I wish it wouldn’t get wrapped up in foil if you’re dining in because the bread became soggy, as did the Tater Tots, while waiting for my friend’s order. Still, the sandwich had good flavor and my fiancé says their Combo Beef-​n-​Sausage is better than Portillo’s version.
We showed up on a Saturday right when they opened, so it was a bit chilly inside. Hopefully it warms up in the winter as they get things cookin’.
The tables weren’t very clean, so I ended up wiping one off with napkins before we sat down. It would have been too tight a squeeze for five in a booth but they have stand alone chairs available and a counter with stools.

I’ve passed the Dogfather many times en route to visiting my parents in Schaumburg, but never stopped. I finally did on Memorial Day (hey, lots of places were open!) but sadly they weren’t. So today while sort-​of in the area, I decided to stop by.
I walked inside and noticed every table was taken (probably a good sign), so I placed my everything Chicago Style Hot Dog and small fries to go. I wasn’t acknowledged as I browsed the menu, and I felt as though the cashier subconsciously was trying to rush me to order. This nameless cashier clearly had better places to be. Besides the scowl she wore and the look of boredom on her face, my entire interaction with her consisted of a conversation one might have with a child.
«What would you like?» «A Chicago Style dog with everything, small fries, and a small drink, please.»
*Writes my order on the bag; «name?»
«Heidi»
*types in order on iPad.* «$ 3.91»
*hands over money*
«It’ll be ready in a few minutes. *hands me my cup for my drink*»
So I get my drink, and less than five minutes later, the girl calls my name, puts the bag next to the drink machine, and that was it. No «Thank you, have a nice day» or anything along those lines. Nada, zip, zilch. As a first time visitor, I was put off by her attitude. Maybe I caught her on a bad day, but regardless I felt like a burden and not a valued customer. I grabbed my order and made my way out to the car, not looking back.
The fries were crinkle cut, piping hot, and perfectly salted. The hot dog came on a poppy seed bun, a good sized pickle spear, two thinly sliced tomato wedges, onions, mustard, celery salt, relish, and sport pepper. All ingredients accounted for. I was disappointed that there was only one sport pepper and the celery salt was applied to the pickle and not the hot dog itself (I usually take the pickle and eat it separately from the dog). The hot dog was good, but nothing spectacular.
Their menu consists of the typical items you’d find at other hot dog joins; burgers, Italian beefs, Gyros, Maxwell Street Polish, pizza puffs, mozzarella sticks, etc. The prices for their items are fair, if not cheaper than you’d expect. They do have a menu for kids called «Little Pup meals» which includes the item of choice with a drink and tater tots.
The restaurant was clean, despite all the people dining in. The only exception would be the extremely sticky floor by the pop machine, although that’s a given at nearly every establishment. It was also rather warm inside, so I’m glad I didn’t stick around to eat.
Overall, the food is okay and the prices are reasonable, so it’s worth stopping at if you’re in the area, but don’t make it your destination, as other reviewers have said.