Food

Twenty-Four Inches Of American Heaven

Doogies and the Clam Digger

2525 Berlin Turnpike

Newington, CT

Visited July 14, 2010

Beer Selection: None

Food: Someday you’ll tell your grandkids about it.

By Matt Norris

I’ve known about Doogies for a while now. After all, my sister, nieces, and nephew live in Newington.

But my marathon-running sister has some sort of aversion to junk food, meaning 2-foot long hot dogs are definitely not her scene.

But in my mind, there is only one thing better than a foot-long chili dog.

A TWO-foot long chili dog!

And that’s why Doogies is such an internationally known culinary destination. Twenty-four inches of a perfectly grilled frankfurter smothered in cheese and chili. The stuff American dreams are made of!

But if I was ever going to indulge in the pleasure of Doogies, it was going to have to be a day I was driving through Connecticut when my sister was out of town – a day just like today.

And Doogies lived up to my high expectations. All these years of waiting, dreaming, and anticipation was all worth it for two feet of pig, chili, cheese, bun, repeat. Over and over. I consumed every last bite. Plus curly fries.

Sometimes mammoth-sized food novelties like this fall far too short on quality. But Doogies’ famous hot dog isn’t just big. It’s darn good too.

Perfectly grilled, smothered in a quarter gallon of chili and cheese, and all on a bun that held up surprisingly well—considering it contained enough meat to make John Holmes feel inadequate.

The sturdy bun was a godsend for my suit and tie. Nothing runs up your dry cleaning bill quicker than 24 inches of chili dog.

In fact, I was so impressed with just how well this monstrosity held up, I actually left Doogies with regret.

Regret that I just consumed a week’s worth of processed meat in one sitting?

Heck, no!