Danny’s Dog House

It’s a shame this place is now closed down and Danny is not around because this was one of my favorite late night grubs in Delco. They had a great Italian chicken cutlet around. I loved mine with sharp provolone and long hots. The staff was always friendly and the late night atmosphere always provided me with a few laughs. Gonna miss Danny and this place.

Shitty dogs and shitty service! Expensive !

Danny’s does a great job. Originally he started as a hot dog stand but has expanded his menu to include most anything from burgers, to cheesesteaks to fries etc. Usually you will find him there behind the grill cooking. I get the same thing: 2 dogs well cooked with mustard and onions and a soda. The dog is a foot long in a solid roll. Opened late on the weekend for the folks out at the bar looking for a nosh on the way home. Its a good place to turn to to satisfy those munchies. Worth stopping in.

I’ve been to this place 4 times now and have enjoyed myself every time. I’ve tried 4 of they’re 30 or so specialty dogs and they were all pretty darn good in my opinion. The owner Danny has been working the grill every time while also keeping me entertained with your usual banter from a true delco guy. All in all a great little hot dog joint with a wall full of late night dog lovers.

So, when there is so much competition in southern Delco for sandwich places, why would a place like this stand out? Where I’m from, if you want a good hot dog, you go to The Last Stand. If you want to sit at a counter to get a burger and fries, you go to Nifty Fifty’s. If you want a cheesesteak, there are 20 places you can go. There’s a ton of competition for the under $ 10 eating crowd. If you want to succeed, you have to do something better than everyone else, or different than everyone else. A lot of sandwich shops have come and go in my area, including a few at this location.
That’s why I want to give this place a chance. They’re doing something you don’t see much of in this area of Delco. They’re thinking outside the box.
Now, sure you can get the basics here. You can get cheesesteaks, fries, burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, etc. I came in here with very basic expectations only because I wanted to try some place new to add another notch to my Unilocal belt, so to speak. But when I got in and saw the menu, I found a pleasant surprise.
There are about 30 different types of gourmet hot dogs on the menu, each with a different name. The owner was working the counter, and he told us the stories of how he came up with them. Apparently a lot of them are inspired by different hot dogs that are served at baseball stadiums across the country. There’s a Houston dog topped with beef brisket. There’s a Cincinnati dog that includes cinnamon and chocolate syrup as a topping. He also has an Elvis themed hot dog with peanut butter and banana. Now that caught my eye. I was afraid to try it. He assured me that people order it often and love it. Maybe down the line I’ll cave.
Look, I don’t know how good these gourmet dogs are. I went basic on my order with the straightforward Texas Tommy and waffle fries. But I have to applaud this effort. Trying to create an unusual menu gets points in my book in this area. I do know that there were 4 other people at the counter when I went in who seemed very happy with what they were eating too, so maybe he’s on to something.
My order was pretty darn good. He serves up foot long dogs on toasted hoagie rolls. The waffle fries had some seasoning to them. It’s pretty hard to screw up a grilled hot dog on a toasted hoagie roll fresh off the grill in my world. When I saw that the sodas are one size for $ 2, I wondered. But he was generous with the refills so that worked out.
My hot dog, order of fries, and soda came out to $ 11, which might be slightly high. But you do get a big order of food for that price so no complaints. You do get what you pay for here.
He’s won a return visit from me sometime in the future, that’s for sure.