Larry Olmsted

"Beyond the grilling, Ted’s other signature is lots of toppings, but while many hot dog places boast weird piled-high combos, here it is more about layering your preferred flavors. The standout additions are the excellent bacon — real slices and not ersatz bits — and the house chili sauce. The secret house hot chili sauce is thick and stronger than the tomato sauce-like version many hot dog places use, and adds more deep smoky flavor."

Robert Sietsema

"There’s a foot-long, a normal size beef-pork frank, and a plumper, redder, all-beef weenie, traditionally garnished "all the way" with ketchup, mustard, sweet pickle relish, Ted’s hot sauce, chopped onions, and a dill pickle spear, reminiscent of a Chicago red hot."

Laura Siciliano-Rosen

"At Ted’s, order your char-broiled hot dog well done (some char is the traditional way) with the first staffer you encounter inside; when you reach the second staffer, you can ask for “the works”—which entails mustard, diced onion, sweet relish, ketchup, hot sauce, and a pickle—or maybe go for something simpler, like hot sauce and onions, so you can better taste the pork-beef dog and Ted’s famous sauce."

Dan Myers

"The cooked-to-order dogs (available in regular-sized, foot-long, and jumbo all-beef varieties) get a nice char from the charcoal, and you’ll be missing out if you don’t top it with Ted’s famous hot chili sauce, based on a recipe brought from Greece by founder Ted Liaros. It’s sweet and spicy, and they thankfully also sell it by the bottle."

Donnie Burtless

"Their signature menu item, a charcoal broiled Sahlen’s hot dog, sounds deceivingly simple but is one of the best meals in Buffalo at any time of the year. I recommend ordering everything on top but you definitely can’t miss out on their spicy hot dog sauce."

Hollister "Holly" Moore

"Ted's is famous for their "hot sauce." It's really chili as in chili dog. Not all that hot, but with a kick and a strong tomato flavor. Topped with onions - a great dog. I went for the foot long."

Stephen Rushmore

"The hot dog is cooked to charred perfection. During the grilling, steam is allowed to escape via fork punctures to prevent splitting and ensure the hot dog has a blackened exterior that provides a snappy casing for the meat. The overall flavor is a balanced mix of fresh meat and peppery spice."

Bruce Bilmes

"The dogs develop a crusty exterior to go with that unique Western New York pork-and-beef hot dog taste (pork/beef hot dogs are common pretty much everywhere, but somehow the ones made in Western NY are special). Tell the dresser how you’d like it garnished; we (well, one of us) can’t resist the hot sauce, but it’s not absolutely necessary to fully enjoy these dogs."

Brian Hayden

"They get slapped around, they get poked, all of that creates more surface area to create that crunchy, sometimes verging on burnt flavor that I think make a hot dog so delicious."

JK Grence

"The dogs themselves are no slouches. The Ted's here is the sole western outpost of a small chain around western New York. As such, they keep it authentic by getting skin-on dogs shipped from Buffalo. I usually go for the jumbo all-beef dog."