Is this the Best Chili Dog in East Texas? Longview, TX Citizens Say Yes!
Is any food worth stopping traffic for? Well some Longview citizens believe their favorite chili dog is! I’ve been eating at Hot Dog Express on and off for all of my life.
When I was kid and my mom had errands on that side of town, we would drive through and get a hot dog, or several, and bring them back to the house to enjoy. Later as a college student, it became a date night experience regularly.
My boyfriend and I spent many an evening sitting at the picnic tables out front, each enjoying our favorite custom chili dog and sharing an order of fries. The fries worked great for scraping up the toppings that often found their way onto the red and white wax paper wrappers.
It was a cheap date for us, but we always enjoyed it, and following a recent post in the Facebook Group “All Things Longview,” we aren’t the only ones who loved our chili cheese dogs.
It escalated quickly.
A woman recently posted about the traffic that the drive thru lane causes by spilling into the right hand lane of HWY 80 approaching the restaurant at lunch. She wrote:
“So this may piss some people off but how long has the hotdog place on 80 been a traffic hazard?? I guess there’s no way to fix it or no apparent reason to? I don’t exactly look forward to being rear ended because a line is out in the street?? Y’all are the most welcoming bunch of people let me tell ya. I wouldn’t expect my neighbor to piss on me while on fire around here”
Longview loves it's chili dogs.
Very quickly, longtime citizens of Longview began defending what some called a ‘staple.’ Others went so far as to call it a historic landmark, and most everyone shared their love for this long time local business.
There were a few commenters who agreed that traffic is an issue there, and that most people know to stay in the left lane at lunch and dinner when approaching the area. Quite a few others utilized their creativity in noting to not mess with their ‘weiners.’
Some commenters couldn't resist the opportunity for humor!
If you would like a good laugh today, scroll through these highlighted comments. Just be prepared, you might find yourself wanting to drive to Hot Dog Express today to try one of their famous chili dogs for yourself!