Jimmy Buff’s

This place awesome, for any bad reviews, you gotta be nuts, they been In business forever, must be doing something right. Place is old and dingy, but I look at that as old school character. Menu is kept simple, Hotdog, Sausage, potato, pepper and onion, it’s a great marriage. Prices are awesome as well. Definitely make my way over there more often, I grew up on Charlie’s Hotdogs, the Travel Channel Food Wars was way wrong, Jimmy Buff’s blows them away by far.

Awesome as always! I’ve been a fan for a very lo-​o-​o-​n-​g time! I no longer live in the area and was back recently to visit family and thought I’d stop in. While hot dogs are pretty basic fare, and there’s not a lot you can do to really screw it up really badly, I gotta say the addition of a gratuitous amount of potatoes, onions and peppers with a slathering of ketchup and mustard does something to take a piece of hotdog (hamburger, sausage, steak or chicken) to an enlightening new plateau. It’s denfinitely as good as I remember! Pretty interesting what you can do with a few simple ingredients thrown together, huh? Great comfort food! Keep up the good work… and keep ‘em coming!

Best place to go for the authentic Italian hot dog! Hot dogs with fried potatoes, onions and peppers. The BEST!

JIMMY BUFF’S is the best Italian hot dog & sausage sandwich you can get anywhere. I’m 68 and have been eating BUFF’S since I was 14 in Newark, N.J. The double dog, double sausage /​combo or «chicken» are the best buy for the $. The employees are efficient and if you call in, your order is ready and waiting no fuss. When in Caldwell, West Orange, N.J. visit them and enjoy good eats.

I grew up on Jimmy Buff and it’s good to be back in the area and have Jimmy Buff again. This is good old fashion comfort food. this place does it right… and there is a reason they been in business for years… Italian sausage, hotdogs or cheese steak. whatever you want.

Kind of got lost getting here from jersey city, but as soon as i got to there location in west orange they had plenty of parking space (their own lot). I go in, ask what they were famous for and thats what i recieved… a hot dog split, fried, on a flat split bread, with onions, potatoes and ketchup… was about 5 $, and well worth the drive, so juicy… its like the bread soaked up all the flavors and made the whole meal come togeather… i mean place is awesome, bumped into the owner after i ate heading back to my car, even asked how it was, and i told him pretty good… if you are around that area of new jersey its a must try… i mean. jimmy buffs has been around for a long time, and now i see why! I will definately be back for more food in the near future lol

I major blast from the past. I have not had an Italian hotdog like this since I was a kid. Great can’t say enough about it. You would think something so easy to make would be easy to find in a place like New Jersey The birthplace of the Italian hotdog but I have not had one this good since I was a kid in the 70s. This is a great cheat food. I don’t get many days to cheat so something like this made it worthwhile.

Wow! Talk about feeling like you’re in New Jersey. From the moment you walk in, everything about this place screams New Jersey. From the owner to the staff to the décor and of course the food.
Sure this is not everyone’s cup of tea or should I say everyone’s type of hotdog but I have a real appreciation for what it is. How this place could get any less than four or five stars is beyond me. People claiming the food is too greasy and complaining about the staff is just ridiculous. You know before you step foot into this place what you’re signing up for so if you don’t like hot dogs that have been fried and you don’t like a little grease to go with your bun then why even come inside? Why even leave a review at all based on your food preference if you straight up know they serve these kinds of hot dogs!
I love these types of places, it makes me sad that there’s not more of this in every town across America! It was a highlight of my New Jersey stop, and I will definitely be back!

Forget your cholesterol levels and go visit Jimmy Buff’s at least once. I had the italian sausage with peppers and onions, topped with potatoes and boy was it a treat. The peppers and onions combination was perfect and the potatoes were delicious. The guys cooking up the sandwiches were very nice and you can tell that the place has many regulars. It’s not a place that I’ll visit frequently, but when I need an italian sausage fix I’ll certainly be stopping by.

This legendary New Jersey hot dog joint is okay, I guess. The place is kind of a dump, the area isn’t the most glamorous, and the food. .. okay (at best).
I was at least hoping for some fat Italian guy in a Yankees hat to ask me what I wanted. Instead, some middle-​aged hispanic guy appeared from a back room and just kind of looked at me. I took that as my cue to order, so I did.
I had to try their famous Italian hot dog. Sweet peppers, onions, and potatoes, covering a thin hot dog atop a thick slice of Italian bread (mustard is spread lightly on the bread and a generous amount of ketchup topped the mammoth concoction). When my order was ready, it was just too much. The potatoes were overkill. I had to remove about ¾ of them to even have an opportunity to get my mouth around it. It’s not the most user-​friendly dog. Unless items are removed, it really requires a knife and fork (a plastic fork was provided).
I made the necessary adjustments and sampled my first Italian dog.
Meh.
Not my thing. Difficult to eat, way too heavy on the potatoes. .. I ordered a regular hot dog as backup in case the Italian dog was too crazy. And it was.
It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t anything that was ever going to bring me back to the joint.
2.5 stars but, since that’s not an option and I don’t feel it’s worthy of 3 stars, I’ll throw it a 2.

Traveled to west orange today because I was shoppingn in livingston. I grew up in newark and had great memories of jimmy buff’s hot dogs. Used to love going to the jb in East Hanover. So sad that I could not eat the hot dog because of all the grease. Please reopen places where you have people who are proud to sell your hotdogs.

When I was but a little boy, sometimes my dad would come home from work, hug and kiss my mom and she would ask if he had a Greaser for lunch.
The aroma of the oil lingers that long which for many of us is a good thing.
As a child he would bring me to the long passed Irvington location now and then which hooked me till this day.
Over the years I have repeatedly enjoyed the dogs and sausage from the West Orange location, then the East Hanover one that was kind of short lived.
To be honest I have never tried the other biggies in the biz, like Dickie’s and Tommy so have nothing to compare Jiimmy Buffs with.
Getting to it, there is nothing else quite like one of these greasers which some have complained are too oily.
What do you expect when the food is cooked in hot oil and for the veggies, they sit and rest and take on flavor bathing while waiting to be added to a sandwich?
This is not health food folks, it is gluttony at it’s finest.
Hmmmm, as I write this I feel my fix for a double dog coming on…

I’ve made trips from near and far to Jimmy Buff’s to feast on their awesome hot dogs. These are not just hot dogs, however. As the other reviewers have stated, you get dug out italian bread filled with fried potatoes, peppers, and onions that have been cooked up in some tasty grease. Slather it in mustard and you’ve got a real Jimmy Buff’s Italian hot dog. Don’t come here if you want to be healthy, come here if you want a damn good hot dog.

Having read good things about it, and for many years wanting to try it, a friend and I went to Jimmy Buff’s for lunch at about 11:30 a.m. before New Year’s Eve. Upon entering the somewhat rundown looking building, we found ourselves not only in the ordering line, but also cramped in the very narrow aisle that exists between the counter and the exterior windows. (There is only enough room for another person to squeeze by if they went sideways). There are a few tables in the cramped space inside the building. A bunch of folks made use of the area and ate.
We each made our order for an Italian Hot Dog, then waited in line for about 10 minutes for the short order cook to prepare the order after completing the orders of people in front of us.
While waiting, my friend note a hand writing sign (about 5 inches by 7 inches) taped to the counter stating that the business operated on a Cash Only basis and an ATM machine was located outside of the business. Not only did we not have cash and needed to go to the ATM and pay the $ 2 ATM fee, but we were left with an immediate bad taste in our mouths (pun intended).
In my opinion, any legitimate business that is cash only is suspect in my mind and my opinion is that the business doesn’t care about its customers. I understand the desire for a business to minimize its costs and maximize its profit. One way is not having to pay a 2−3% transaction fee for each credit card purchase it has. But the reality is the merchants simply tack the fee on to its retail price to the customer (although they hide it as a cost-​of-​goods expense, since the credit card companies do not allow the fee to be passed on, officially).
Any business not accepting cash, in my opinion, does the following: 1) Adds an unnecessary burden on the customer for having to get cash and pay a $ 2 fee (far more than the 2−3% the merchant would pay if they accepted the credit card and passed along the fee to the consumer); 2) Prevents the budget conscious or business expense tracking customer from having a receipt for the purchase to keep track of their expenses; and most importantly, 3) Makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for an auditor, the IRS or a law enforcement agency from knowing exactly how much cash came into a business, thus that simple complication leaves open a potential for a business to underreport its income and leave itself open to corruption. I’m not saying this is what is going on at Jimmy Buff’s, since it has been in business for decades and has a good reputation, but the potential for a business not taking cash is there, regardless. Obviously, Jimmy Buff’s policy of not accepting credit cards ticked me off and cost me $ 2 more for my food than I planned to spend. Strike One!
Strike Two — The short order cook wore a plastic glove on his left hand and no glove at all on his right hand. The purpose of the gloved hand is to keep the food sanitary and not transfer germs and bacteria to the food and make a person sick. Yet, he routinely used the gloved hand to open and close the refrigerator that was behind him on his left side, to get the uncooked, unwrapped, single hot dogs, sausage and other items and place them in the fryer in front of him. He used the ungloved hand to take the onions, peppers and potato slices from the counter behind him and into the fryer’s oil. (A female in the back of the store cut them, put them in the bowl and placed the bowl on the counter). He also used the gloved hand to touch the cooking utensils, countertop and anything else he needed to. So much for proper sanitation/​foodborne illness prevention!
As the cook prepared my sandwich, I asked for extra onions and peppers as he put a sparse amount on it to start with and I asked for my potatoes to be well done. What I received was a charge for the extra veggies (one fork full more than the fork full he originally put on) and undercooked potatoes. Plus, the hot dogs were not crisp (did not snap when bitten) as they should when fried or cooked properly for an Italian Hot Dog sandwich. Strike Three (and maybe more)!
Since I took the sandwich to go, I discovered the issues while on the highway and heading out of the area. As a result, I was unable to eat the food, but just picked at the onions and peppers.
Enough of my opinion, here are a few from my friend: The onions and peppers were greasy. Hot dogs were undercooked and salty. The bread was too air blown, adding volume, but not taste.
My opinion — Save the trip. Save the $ 2 cash ATM fee. If you want a real (and good) Italian Hot Dog, do as I have been doing for many decades — go to Dickie Dees on Bloomfield Ave. in Newark. (At one time Jimmy Buff’s had another location in the vicinity, but not actually in Newark that competed with Dickie Dees, but that has closed some time ago). Dickie Dees is much larger, has great Italian Hot Dogs and is real close to the best Italian Bake Shop in the area — Calandra’s.

Made the mistake of ordering the single and not the double. As this uses just a quarter of their classic roll, you cannot really eat it as a sandwich but instead need to eat the potatoes off your plate.
This is a huge error as you do not get the sublime combination that all of the mixed ingredients provide. Do no repeat my error! Go for the double. You can thank me later.
The place is grimy and kind of filthy looking and the bathrooms are ½ scale, but their signature dish is indeed very good.
Still, in its heyday, I would have preferred the Italian hot dogs Frank used to provide at Starlite Pizza in the same town.

«Oh, Jimmy… Jimmy! Oh, Jimmy Buff’s, can’t get enough!»
Alright, I’ll admit. The song is catchy… aaaaand the food is tasty!
I like these types of places. It’s good, it’s local, and it’s Jersey. There’s a lot of history behind Jimmy Buff’s, and frankly, I’m glad that I was able to finally taste *the* Italian hot dog from this New Jersey institution.
Double Combo ($ 7.38) (A): Wowzers! What I ordered was a double serving of hot dog and sausage wrapped up in a mustard-​slathered Italian bread alongside peppers and onions. To top it off, thick slices of potato are lined up across the top then doused with a generous amount of ketchup. Bite into the hot dog and sausage and you will get a nice «snap» with it. The potatoes were cooked perfectly and the onions and peppers went well with everything. I liked the hot dog, but the sausage was probably my favorite.
Sorry, but if you’re looking for a heart healthy lunch with an orange-​lemon-​carrot-​zucchini smoothie, this isn’t the place for you. Jimmy Buff’s is a calorie counter’s worst nightmare – or secret sinful desire.
…and don’t worry about the sandwiches clogging your heart’s arteries. I mean, c’mon – your heart has six of them after all.

Food was amazing best Italian hot dog in New Jersey hands down also have to try out there steak combo, keep in mind you don’t have to buy potatoes on the side as they come inside your meal enjoy !!!

$ 7 cash. That’s all I had. I had just left Egan’s and I was kinda buzzed. I did a quick Google Maps to see how to get back home and then it happened. Google Maps showed me it. It put Jimmy Buff’s on places near-​by. Why’d it happen? I don’t know. I don’t care. I went.
No one in the parking lot. Actually, there was no one in a 750 feet radius it seemed. I walked in, told the woman to just give me something good with a «soda on the side». It happened. The little woman behind the counter took a delicious, soft bun and plopped some mustard inside. She then took her long fork stick and dug around the GREASE for some sausage. Two pieces. She then took her long fork stick and dug around for some peppers and onions. Success. FINALLY SHE DUG AROUND TO FIND SOME ITALIAN POTATOES! SHE FOUND THEM!!! With a little ketchup on top, this bad boy was finished. As I stood there drunkingly drooling like Homer Simpson, I paid, grabbed my sandwich and sat on the porch thingy this Jimmy Buff’s has.
I can taste this Italian sausage sandwich as I’m writing this. This place isn’t good, it’s great. It needs to happen once a year. More than that and you’ll ruin it for yourself. Go when you’ve had a few, it makes it better.

Holy Crap am I full. No, seriously, I feel like I’m going to explode. Ever see Monty Python’s «The Meaning of Life»? You know, the scene where the waiter convinces Mr. Creosote to eat just one «wafer thin mint?» «it’s only a tiny, little thin one»…yeah, THAT’s how I feel right now.
In all my years in Jersey I had never eaten at any of the Jimmy Buff’s locations (even the one my father worked at as a kid-​the one in Kenilworth), and this I tell you is a travesty. I honestly think I just ate the least healthy thing I have ever eaten in my life.
So, I am going to disagree with my Unilocal buddy Pasquale who thinks these are the worst dogs in Jersey, but I can’t give it the five star treatment like Liz D. either. If you like Italian hot dogs this is a place you HAVE to try. If you’re on a diet don’t even pull into the parking lot. I was going to do a ‘double’ like my co-​workers, but being a bit of a purist I wanted to try the hot dog and the sausage on separate sandwiches. Flavor-​wise I think this was the right decision… though my stomach may not agree with me right now as I sit waiting to explode.
As everyone else has written-​you get a ripper (hot dog or sausage cooked in hot oil) onions, peppers, what seems like a whole sliced potato-​also fried in the hot oil, mustard and ketchup, on ¼ of a loaf of round Italian pizza bread. And yes, my dumb ass had one hot dog and one sausage. I’m telling you again, this is, to quote Liz D, «greasy, fatty, over-​the-​top DELICIOUS.» Jimmy Buffs is truly a New Jersey Institution-​home of the original Italian Hot Dog, and there’s a reason it’s been around since 1932.
I think I brought a tear to my Dad’s eye when I sent him a picture of the Jimmy Buff’s sign-​he said it brought back «old and dear memories of my past.» Now that he’s in Florida and can’t get good ol’ Jersey food, he’s gotta live vicariously through me sometimes. Wish I could sit down and have one with him… tomorrow though-I’d wish for it tomorow because I can’t eat anything else today.

Italian hot dogs may have been my most favorite discovery since moving to Jersey almost two years ago. Just hearing about the concept makes my mouth water: bread stuffed with deep fried hot dogs, onions, peppers, and crispy fried potatoes.
This place may be the originator of the Italian Dog, but I wasn’t really impressed.
The flavors of the onions and peppers weren’t fully developed. Even worse, the potatoes were greasy (and this is coming from somebody who doesn’t mind a little grease) and didn’t maintain their crispiness well.
Service crossed the line from «delightfully brusque» to bad. Trust me, I’m Chinese, I have a lifetime of going to Chinese Restaurants. I have a high tolerance for bad service.
Well, another place checked off for the New Jersey Hot Dog tour.