RETRO Dog

Worst hot dogs ever! Ordered 1 gal root beer to take w us which normally costs a few dollars at any other root beer stand, ended up costing $ 15! Unbelievable, and it tasted like crap too! Never again!

Went for lunch with co-​workers. I had the Chicago dog and onion rings with a drink. Dog was excellent, rings not so much. Incredibly greasy — even too much for rings. Unfortunately my co-​worker had a disasterous Retro Burger. There was a 9″ or so brown, curly hair found in the MIDDLE of her burger.
We observed a female employee with shoulder-​length, brown, curly hair; not tied back or in a hair net, cooking the food. This is gross, unsanitary, and bad restaurant management.
According to
— retail food protection — Chapter 2 – 402.11: «(A) Food employees shall wear hair restraints such as hats, hair coverings or nets, beard restraints, and clothing that covers body hair, that are designed and worn to effectively keep their hair from contacting exposed FOOD; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-​service and single-​use articles.
It was asked that the burger be re-​made, and yet again, the same female employee was cooking as before. The practice of employee hygiene is a basic essential of running a restaurant. Shame on the owner for not being aware of day-​to-​day operations with his/​her employee (s).
I will not be going back, nor recommending this establishment.

I love a good hotdog. I was out with my son and we came across this place. It looks like a new place trying to look old. So, the name is perfect. The layout reminded me a lot like sonic and the drive ins back when I was really young. The interior is really nice and I thought they did a great job of decorating.
I ordered the Banzai dog and my son ordered the White hot dog. We also decided to get a large order of fries to split and my son got a root beer. We went there about a week ago and my son is still talking about how magnificent the root beer was. He also loved the hot dog, but said it might have been a little salty. I thought that the banzai dog was also fantastic. The banzai sauce is really what makes it. You could put that on just about anything and make it taste good. Plus, its covered with bacon.
Whenever I order fries and I see that they are fresh cut fries, my brain automatically thinks Malt Vinegar. I grabbed one of the containers and took it back to our seat. We were seated along the windows so when the light hit the container, something caught my eye. It looked like there were 2 – 3 ants floating in the bottom of the container. I took the container back to the counter and gave it to the person there and showed them, told them I thought they were ants. Then I noticed all of the vinegar containers had this substance in them. I went back to my seat and a few minutes later the manager shows up with a pan, in which she had poured out the vinegar in to show me they were not ants. She explained that it was a fatty spongy substance that collects in vinegar containers. I told her that I have several different vinegar containers at home, some that I have had for 2+ years and I have never seen this substance. I She said it is common and found it on the internet. So of course I asked the obvious question, «How long has that vinegar been in those containers that it would have this fatty spongy substance?» She told me that they empty them every week and refill them. Now, I know I look like I just fell off the yam wagon, but I find it hard to believe that your vinegar forms that in a week and mine hasn’t in over 2 years. My ten-​year-​old was able to ascertain that you were full of crap so needless to say, your excuse needs work. I wasn’t asking for a free meal, just say «Geeze, that’s gross. let me get you a new one.»
Regardless of the vinegar incident and the manager clearly trying to cover her ass, I thought the place was great. I will probably return again if I am in the area, but I think I will skip the fries and vinegar.

I have two kids. 7 and 9. They love retro dog, so we gladly go regularly. While the service is a little limited, they more than make up for it with the quality of food. Overall, it is good place to go to get a great burger or dog and fantastic French fries.
Overall, great spot for dinner. Definitely recommend.

My friends and I walked to Retro dog after school. We assumed it would be cheaper than wing warehouse. The staff was helpful and friendly. My friends and I got milkshakes and burgers.
I got a milkshake and cheese fry and my friend, who I payed for, got a burger and milkshake. I didn’t expect the total to come as $ 20 but we enjoyed our time there and the food was good.

very good tasting hot dogs, a lot of options for toppings. a little bit more expensive than you’d want just for hot dogs, but the atmosphere is awesome and there’s a lot of menu choices. I would recommend.

Drove by after a long run and we were curious… No expectations… and were super happy after! We were pretty hungry, order a Carolina dog and Chicago dog (yum yum). The all beef dogs are excellent and they have a good choice of hot dogs types. The Buckeye shake was delightful, but we love PB and chocolate so you can’t go wrong. The fries were basic. Would stop back if ever in the area again!

New drive in — classic style! Hosted my son’s 8^th birthday here and the staff and food is amazing. They brew their own pop, root beer and beer as well. Lots of special events and great burgers and dogs.

I appreciate what they’re trying to do here. They went all-​in on the retro drive-​in look and unique variations on the dog-​and-​burger menu.
I’ve tried three different dogs and one burger; fries and rings. The meat and fixings are fine — not spectacular, but OK. On my most recent visit, the poppy seed bun for the Chicago dog was distinctly stale. (I’ve run into a similar problem at some other places, where they don’t sell many Chicago dogs so the special poppy seed buns sit around for far too long.)
I’ll echo what at least one other commenter said: The sodas are bizarrely small portions. They boast about their own root beer. In house, it comes in what looks like a nice-​sized chilled glass mug, but turns out to be largely ice. I got a to-​go version one, and it was a tiny cup, again with the ice — and filled to the brim so that spilling was inevitable.

This is my regular lunch stop when I am in Stow. The food is fantastic. There isn’t an item on the menu I haven’t had and haven’t enjoyed.
Come for the food, but stay for the shakes. If that isn’t your thing go for the root beer on tap. It’s the best in town.
The monthly food specials keep the menu interesting.
The absolute best aspect of Retro Dog is the staff. I haven’t met a better crew anywhere else.
In short, this place receives two lion fists up from Voltron.

It’s been over 2 years and I’m still in love with this place. Not just the amazing food but the staff and the whole atmosphere! Please don’t listen to the weird negative reviews. This place is a positive uplifting part of our community who deserves patronage for all the help they give to other businesses, school and other groups. Give it a try you won’t be disappointed. And if you are then talk to the wonderful owners, they will always go out of their way to make you smile. Good people.

i’m generously giving RETRO Dog 3 stars because it’s a cool concept and a cool looking place. there was really nothing wrong with our food, it just wasn’t awesome and there was a HUGE issue with the place we didn’t notice until we sat down (we ate inside).
it was Danielle’s idea for lunch (because she thinks i have the palette of a 4 year old, i guess) and we drove out after making our final payment for our September vacation (which was on the way).
Danielle ordered a Memphis Belle Chicken sandwich and i ordered a Carolina dog and a White Hot dog. we got these as combos so that we could share an order of fries and an order of onion rings and each came with a soda.
Danielle said her sandwich was good but was served very hot (which i’d like to think is the idea, right?). the White Hot that i ordered (a hot dog made of veal and pork — which looks «white» when cooked) was good enough, but not terribly flavorful. it could have used a spicier mustard or maybe just more than what was on it (which honestly looked like enough). i didn’t care for the Carolina dog (a Coney w/​coleslaw and yellow mustard). i didn’t like the coney sauce or the coleslaw. in fact, i removed the wiener and ate it separately — making it considerably more tolerable. the fries and the onion rings were good, though maybe the rings were a little overcooked. i thought they tested good anyway. the sodas were really small and the entire cup was filled with ice so that you took about 3 pulls off the straw and the Coke or Diet Coke within was gone. they were kind enough to refill, though.
our biggest complaint was that the place was overrun by flies. they were everywhere. i’m not some dandy that can’t handle a fly here and there, but there were like 8 per table just hanging out flying around and on the food and just buzzing our faces while we tried to eat.
assuming we go back (and i would like to try the Kraut Dog as well as the Big Sal sandwich and maybe others) we’ll probably order from our car or we’ll get it to go and dine without the flies.

This is a cute place that my husband took me to one evening when he was unexpectedly craving a coney dog. My husband doesn’t particularly like hot dogs of any format so I was pleasantly surprised.
Although the coney dogs were good, they had yellow squirty cheese on them which was a little overpowering. We were expecting a coney dog with meat sauce, stadium mustard and onions. The hot dogs, although tasty, were miniscule and engulfed by the buns. There was ample food for the money and the root beer was delicious!
Sadly the night we visited the place was a ghost town… it was a weekend evening and there were 3 cars total in the parking lot.
One pitfall is that we drove our convertible — it was a beautiful evening weather-​wise. This caused problems with the drive-​in tray that attaches to the car window. The trays at Retro Dog are designed for car windows which run straight up and down — unlike any car today that is aerodynamic and has slanted windows. Our server nearly dumped our dinner in our laps when trying to attach the ill-​designed tray to our window. This situation was followed by a perplexed and confused look from the car-​hop who offered no solution other than to hand the tray to my husband and I so that we could «figure it out» ourselves. Unlike Swenson’s (which obviously plans for car-​side service year-​round) Retro Dog doesn’t offer (or our teenage waitress didn’t know about) a special tray designed to fit INSIDE the vehicle.
IF we visit again we’ll be eating inside. Much ado about nothing.

Really great food! A nice variety of hot dogs, toppings, and sauces. They also have burgers and fries. We ordered a footlong dog, a natural casing dog with bacon, and the home on the range fries. Amazing! The fries were a bit spicer than expected, so we «had» to order ice cream. Darn. :)
Overall, a really great little place. I’ll be back soon.

I have never had a negative experience here! Quick service, food is ready quickly, servers are sweet. Cream soda is addicting! The hot dogs and burgers are delish! We have been coming here since they opened. Only thing we have never done is go inside to eat. It’s always so fun eating in the car with the kids! You should eat here!

I just loved this place! Neat atmosphere and the entire staff was friendly and helpful! I got the Hula Burger and BLT Fries — loved the hula sauce and burger! The fries were very good too — but next time I’d get the fries with hula sauce on them.
They have very cool ice cream options too! One of cups has a sundae at the bottom and a milk shake poured over it!
I can’t wait to take my family here! These kind of burger/​hot dog joints are my new favorite places to find!

Traveling through town, we were looking for an inexpensive, quick, unique place for lunch. This is certainly it. Wonderful hot dogs and great frozen custard. The atmosphere is great but the highlight had to be the onion rings. Wonderful batter, crispy and delicious. Would certainly recommend this place. Our family of 4 ate lunch for about $ 34 without custard.

Not what I was expecting. The «retro» style was only apparent by the colors of the restaurant. 1990s music was playing.
The food was nothing to write home about. The same veggie hotdog can be bought from the local grocer. The vegetarian coney sauce was nothing fantastic.
Fries are not fresh cut. Not especially delicious.
On a positive note, my mud pie shake was delicious.
Friendly staff.
2 dogs+2 fries+2 shakes dine in= $ 20.81
Overall, it was mediocre. Not worth the bill.

Move over, Swenson’s, there’s a new car hop diner in town and it comes with an awesome interior and some of the friendliest staff on this side of the Mississippi.
I’ll say it once, I’ll say it a million time: there’s so few cool places to eat in the ‘burbs. Retro Dog has the feel of an old school car hop but hasn’t opted for the ‘we’re going to call it vintage but really we’re just cheap and cheesy’ décor so many others have and instead is decorated with custom art that I expect comes from an awesome designer.
I opted for a traditional Retro Dog with onion rings and a ‘mini’ twist cone. I hear they make the dogs themselves and I could believe it’s true– they were better than your average hot dog and grilled to perfection. I saw a few reviews that mentioned the coney sauce was a little sweet and I didn’t seem to think so but then again, maybe it’s because I compare sweet sauce to Skyline Chili (blech).
Opt for the onion rings over fries– the batter is unlike any ring I’ve had before and you won’t have any of that soggy onion nonsense either.
They have a large selection of frozen treats including malts, floats, custard, etc. I got a ‘mini’ (still large) twist cone myself which they were nice enough to bring outside after I was done with my meal. I can’t rave about the staff here enough.
This is the perfect summer hangout spot for some solid food and good hangs. It’d be a cute first date, a group of friends or just a nice lunch outing with you and your dog (they serve doggy sundaes!).

Great local joint with an old fashion car hop service or eat in there dining area bar stools and tables.
They have great dogs, burgers made to perfection with all kinds of toppings. The dogs are great love the Chicago dog best in the area. The shakes and ice cream can’t go wrong and try the old fashion root beer float.