Little Red Caboose Sandwich Shop

The burgers were ok. I’ll go back for a hot dog next time. I hear that’s where they shine. Cute place.

We have been here a few times in the past, and the food is always hot and delicious. The people are usually nice and helpful, but today they were awesome! Kathy was so nice! Thanks guys.

One of the coolest, most nostalgic places to eat in Winston-​Salem, or anywhere for that matter. I ate here in the70’s, and I still do today. I havent died yet. I havent got sick. This place is more than just a number on a piece of paper on the wall. Its more than old photographs on the wall. It is the very fabric of space-​time itself.
Dont go here and expect gourmet. This is a sandwich shop, on the side of the road. It does what it does the best. Certainly one of the best hot dogs in the greater triad area, and the hamburgers are solid too. You order at the window and then wait on your order. You can sit outside or dine in. By all means acceptable since they have been here long enough to do it! Sure it is a little dingy, and looks aged inside. Its been here for over 40 years! Give them a break! How many restaurants have stood the test of time like The Little Red Caboose? Outside of fast food you will be hard pressed to find more than one. If it were not for places like this then there would be no Nick’s old fashioned hamburgers, no Hops burger bar, no Burger Warfare, no Hamburger Heaven, no Big Burger spot, and your entire existence would have been altered and irreconcilably rearranged.
So I for one am happy to salute you, and give you 5 stars.

Definitely one of those places that you would refer to as a «Hole in the Wall.» You can order at the outside window or go inside and order and sit there. Service at the window is curt, but efficient. The inside shows its age a bit but, again, there’s some charm in that. My coworker and I chose to sit outside behind the building.
I ordered two hot dogs with chili, mustard, and slaw. Dogs were quite fine. Everything was hot. Ingredients blended well. They were generous with the mustard and slaw, which are my favorite parts, so I was a happy camper.
Will I return? Absolutely. It’s definitely in my rotation of hot dog place in WS.

Stopped by here after picking up some lumber to build something else. Figured why not since I always see it when I’m driving in that area. It seemed to be mostly a hot dog joint so why not go that route?
Tea was standard for this area when it comes to sour tea (you know the unsweetened kind, I’m one of those people). The dog was alright but an odd almost hot pink color. What made it actually stand out was the chili and the actual grilled onions.
Would I eat here again? Yup if I drove by. Would I go out of my way? Probably not. We’ll see if any other hot dog places stand out more for that scenario.

Everytime I go «home»… I have to have a hot dog from the little red caboose! Everything on it please :) (red colored hot dog, coke slaw, little bit of chili)
Plus it holds a special place in my heart… it’s a place that a person I miss very much used to take me to once a week when I was a young :)

So… hmmm. While in town for the day, someone told me about Winston-​Salem being known for their hotdogs and recommended the Little Red Caboose. I’m not a huge hot dog fan, but my son is a train fanatic so I decided to give it a whirl.
First, some Unilocalers said it is in a bad area. I don’t know about that, so much as it feels rural and the people I saw looked more hillbilly than scary. I mean the «place» next door is a food trailer selling pork skins and peanuts. We ate in the back of our van (more on that to come) and I didn’t feel the least bit unsafe.
So anyway, part of the lure was that I was told you eat in a caboose. Well., not really. The caboose is the kitchen. The dining area (and I use this term loosely) is a trailer attached to the back of the caboose and has less than zero character and a funky/​mildewey/​old house/​yucky smell inside. I admit I am super sensitive to odors, but there was NO way I was going to eat in there. Even my 2 year old pointed to the door and said «no». So, we hightailed it out of there. At this point I was having serious doubts about eating there, but we were starving and I had no clue about any where else to eat in the area, so we stayed. We decided to order at the front window and eat in the back of our van. Spying the «A 99%» health department rating helped that decision a little.
So the food. There are several dog options, burgers and misc sandwiches. It would appear that all choices are roughly $ 3 with no side and if you add side and drink it is $ 3.00 more. I chose a Top Dog served all the way (chili, onions, slaw and mustard) with onion rings. Grilled cheese and fries for the little guy. The dog was really, really, good, I will say that. The slaw and chili together were very tasty. Dog itself good enough to eat plain. Onion rings were Oreida like the kind you get frozen at the grocery store. No real onion, just minced up onion with breading. Gross. Grilled cheese looked soggy but okay. Fries were pretty yucky. We ate very few of them. In the end, the dog was the only thing worth the trip. If I were to come back (doubtful) I would order two dogs and skip the sides.

Food is barely passable, and check the sanitation.

The little Red Caboose is a great place to take the kids and whole family to eat! It is a very cool retro diner in a Train car! Excellent food!!!

I think this is my brothers favorite place in town. It’s a real caboose and they offer some pretty good hot dogs and fries. It’s on Patterson and just inside the bad part of Patterson. I’ve ordered and spent the wait time looking over my shoulder. Prices are low and the food is great.

If you are looking for a bit of an adventure with just OK food then try this place out. This is the kind of wacky place you go to just to say you have been there. Don’t expect gourmet anything. Think more along the lines of hotdogs with relish out of a tear packet. Doesn’t sound great I know but it’s fun with a group and hey you get to eat in a REAL Caboose! (A/​C included free). Kids will love this place.