When in Rhode Island... do as the Rhode Islanders do... So we heard that wieners/hot dogs were a staple part of the food culture. We decided to try some on a late Saturday night. We didn't do much research on which spots had the best ones. It was also past midnight, so we just chose a spot that was open late and close by. We ended up at Ben's Chili Dogs in downtown Newport. It's conveniently open until 2AM on weekends. The interior resembles that of your typical take out/fast food business. It's clean and has a few tables for dining in. It could use some TLC, though. The ceilings and walls could use more color and decor. It looked bare and sad. The menu is as straightforward as it gets. It focuses on hot dogs and your staple sides like fries and onion rings. They're known for their chili and hot cheese sauce toppings. Additionally, they also sell poutine, tater tots, soups, soft serve ice cream, and shakes. We ordered three different kinds: cheese dog ($2.99), chili dog ($2.95), The Works dog (~$3 for chili, mustard, onion, celery salt). We also ordered a small side of fries ($3.99). The hot dogs were just average, nothing to write home about. The presentation wasn't too appealing. I doubt they were freshly made. The buns were cold and smushed. I expected the meat to be super savory with a hint of smokiness, but it was bland. The hot cheese topping looked as if it was old and just reheated. It wasn't thick or saucy at all and had a texture similar to plastic. The fries were okay. They needed to be crispier. You might get better at 7-Eleven. I'm not a wiener snob nor am I from the area lol, so take my review with a grain of salt. Just expected more from a specialty hot dog joint. read more

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Ben's Chili Dogs is so punk rock it's a total dog dive! When I dream of having a flesh tube of meat Ben's is my ideal place I wanna grab one. Now in reading the reviews I saw some wankers grumbling about the service but let me tell you the salty guy taking my order and serving my dog was awesome, exactly what you'd want. I mean if this guy hasn't served less than 1,000,000 dogs I'd be surprised. Now the decor is like a NYC Times Square Dog stand from the 80's. It's what attracted me to begin with. A place needs some grime to give it character. After I ordered I grabbed a window seat in one of the table for customers. The window spot allowed you to see the passerby's heading down to the port. My meal initially was a Chili Cheese Dog, Fritos & Coke. LOVED IT ! It came and was so tasty I needed more so I ordered a Clint Eastwood Style hot dog meaning yellow mustard only. Both dogs were succulent and delicious. The bun was soft and the dog was prefect, the kind of meal if I was on death row I'd want for my last one. One last thing the value is amazing, 4 hot dogs, 1 bottle of Coke & bag of Fritos less $20... Can you flipping believe it, I couldn't but I was here so yes it happened! Salty Guy thanks for serving us some amazing hot dogs! The experience was worth twice as much. I'll be back for sure ! read more

Ben's Chili Dogs - Hot Dogs Near Me - Newport, Rhode Island

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Very Rude waitstaff tonight. Homeless man lying on the ground outside. There are better places to grab a quick bite without dealing with the ignorance of the server. I left without getting food. (I will say the hotdogs are always very good.) the service is awful. read more

Great little Hot Weiner shop although a little grimy ... I go with my father in law whenever I'm in town... price is nice, good selection. I generally do two all the way. 4.3 stars read more

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Yummy! Fast service! I enjoyed a Delicious Cheese Dog and a Chili Cheese Dog, both were fabulous! read more

Ben's Chili Dogs - Chili Cheese Dog Cheese Dog - Hot Dogs Near Me - Newport, Rhode Island

Looking for an old school chili cheese dog we ended up at Ben's. Their shop looks like how you would expect a traditional hot dog joint to look, and their dogs taste exactly how you want them to taste! The chili and cheese were unique and delicious. The staff keeps busy making these delicious dogs all day, so swing by and grab one today! read more

Ben's Chili Dogs - Chili Cheese Dog - Hot Dogs Near Me - Newport, Rhode Island

Continuing to explore the menu. Today I found that the chourico and cheese dog is a brilliant combination. Popular with the locals for take out so they must be great. read more

Decent Dive. Should really be a 3.5 but I'll round up. The chili dog was a 3.0. The cheese sauce leaves a little to be desired, but the light chili spread wasn't overly messy, which was nice. The plain dog with onions, mustard, and relish was a 4.0. Solid classic dog I could eat all day. Poutine was a 3.75. I liked it. I did not find the gravy to be thin as some previous reviews commented. Overall the place has a decent selection of sides and drinks and variety of hot dogs for a great price in today's America. My wife and I will be coming back for sure! read more

2 chilli cheese dogs and a can of coke for For $8.50. You can't beat the price for the flavor. Better than Willy's wieners ( which would be $16 for 2 and half the flavor) read more

This may be to most difficult review of my life. I've been a avid Ben's fan for over 40 years often calling it my most favorite food in the world. It's what I would want as my last meal. Sadly, Ben's is over. It was changed somewhat with the for sale about 10 years ago. But now it's barely recognizable. I looked forward to multiple meals at Ben's whenever I'd come home, today ended that. The Chile was salty and spiced completely different than it used to be, the cheese was flavorless. RIP Ben's. I'll remember you from when. read more

Very nice people, for sure! 9 out of 10. Unfortunately the Yelp deal for the lobster roll and chowder for $11.99 apparently isn't available until July. The lady gave us another discount, which sometimes comes up on Yelp, which was super sweet. We had our hearts set on the lobster roll and homemade chowder. Ordered some dogs. They were relatively unremarkable. You know, regular hot dog taste, chili was pretty good. Not much selection beyond hot dogs and fries. Apparently they have chicken wings, but they are not on the board and didn't hear about them until we were leaving and somebody mentioned them. Good prices. Friendly service. I might come back if I were in the area again. read more

Ben's Chili Dogs - Inside - Hot Dogs Near Me - Newport, Rhode Island

Dogs!! Not bad for a small joint. Good dogs for a reasonable price! Lunch complete!

Service is "pronto." I had a hot dog with chili and cheese, and it hit the spot. The soup of the day is a kale Portuguese soup. It was tasty. It has kale, and chunks of chorizo sausage, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots. read more

Simple hot dog joint offering many side options with their hot dogs. Service was easy and quick and took great care in preparing. Got it for takeaway and the dogs didn't lose the toppings. It seemed clean inside and wasn't overly busy. read more

Been going for 40 years. loved the place for being simple in every way. Good food, simple menu but, my god has this place gown down hill. Food taste different and watery. STAFF are some of the rudest people I have every come across is the hospitality industry. I will never step foot in that place again and its sad. People like this dont deserve peoples money. They write text books on how to destroy a business and this is chapter 1. read more

My god I love this place. I mean, who doesn't like hot dogs? There's street parking and it's cash only. It's a bit expensive for one hotdog but my go to is the chili cheese dog with onions. There is seating but it's more of a to go place. My one problem is they want you to call ahead for ten or more hot dogs and if there's two of you or more- we always exceed ten. Which it only takes them minutes to make but sometimes I forget to call and they seem upset by my order. But that's my only problem with this place. It's great for kids and cravings! read more

A long time, classic hot dog institution on the main drag (so you must do a bit of looking for parking). Small and cozy. Many families and a lot of takeout. Kids can add their artwork to the fully covered walls. Good dogs (you can customize as desired). Typical steamed buns, chili and cheese and onions. Cheese was different than many I've had around the country but still good. Only regret was that I would order extra chili next time. Order two dogs and a side or if a bit hungry - better order 3. Quick and friendly service. A very cheap and quick meal or snack. read more

Bad vibes. Immediately grumpy and rude on the phone for no reason. They allegedly don't have pickles or jalapenos? Two hotdogs on a sleepy off-season Sunday took... 30 minutes? And they screwed up the order to top it all off. Haven't eaten here in years but it's clearly gone to $h¡t "in these unprecedented times" lol get your self together it's a hotdog shop. Based on my past experience with some family members, gonna go ahead and guess that these employees are pretty pilled out on somethin. Very low energy- sad! read more

My husband, who just had a major surgery, had to sit and listen for 15 minutes while the server was helping some drunk lady...then a family walked in when finished and she ignored my husband and went straight to the family. Very very very poor service. This is not the first tim with this same rude lady at Ben's. The chili digs are good, but service is horrible!! Go to WALLY"S. Service is fantastic read more

If I could rate it lower I would. Did not receive food or service because staff had more important things to do. I am a local business owner, I despise Yelp, and I reopened my account just to give this review. I got hard disrespect from lazy and complacent staff. They have no clue how to serve a customer. Zero stars. Hard non-recommend. read more

Stopped by here on a whim. Was in the neighborhood enjoying a nice stroll and wanted something quick delicious and inexpensive. Only one kid working but was very quick and had our order ready in about 5 mins. Had the two chili cheese dogs, fries and a coke. Roughly 10 bucks. Left full and happy. Old school diner vibes inside, nice little view of the main street, great for ppl watching. Nice little place that hits the spot if your hungry for a quick bite! read more

Just moving to the area and all, the husband and I checked this place out as it's very close to where we live and besides, who doesn't love chili dogs?! I got the regular combo with 2 chili dogs and a soda while my husband got the combo with the Portuguese churico dogs. The chili looks like Cincinnati-style with no beans and the dogs are served with some mustard and diced white onions. Nothing to write home about but a solid chili dog nonetheless. I tried a bite of my husband's churico dogs and they were very tasty; apparently since there's a huge Portuguese population in the RI/MA area, the sausages are made out of a place in Fall River and that's where Ben's gets their churico. So happy there's a place like this nearby! read more

I love bens chili dogs, I have them weekly. The food tastes great and you don't have to wait long at all. The only problem I have with them is how they package their dogs. For example, here's a chili cheese dog, all the toppings stick to the paper & when you open up the dog all the toppings come off. This isn't a once in a while thing either, it's every single dog. Also don't be deterred by the photo, it may not look too appetizing but it's very very tasty. read more

Ben's Chili Dogs - Chili Cheese Dog - Hot Dogs Near Me - Newport, Rhode Island

I've been stopping by here everytime I visit Newport for work. I really like the simplicity of this place. It's been consistent for years. I love the garlic salt that goes on the dogs. I wish a bit more chili and cheese went on the dog. Prices are fair. Cash only. There is an ATM inside. read more

Amazing place. Food is great. Now bad flaws and the staffs humor is amazing. They are the best people and make amazing food.

One person working with a bad attitude was the start of a bad dinner experience on 7/6/22. Cold person, cold food. Disappointing.

No longer great. Just meh. Chili has changed, cheese has changed. Both are pretty tasteless.

In Newport, cheap lunch is hard to come by. The chili dogs here fit the bill. The dogs we had didn't have much meat or even beans on the dog. There was just a thin line of such. It was flavourful nevertheless. I wouldn't recommend the dogs if you are looking for something special. I don't know how it could win the"best chili dogs" voting in Newport. I also had a Rhode Island style clam chowder. It was a broth style clam chowder. It was strongly flavoured with black pepper, which I was not surprised. There was some clam bits, though I wished there were more. I was not complaining though, cause this was the only shop I came across that sold RI style chowder during my stay at Newport. 2 stars for the dogs. An extra star for the Rhode Island clam chowder. read more

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Solid and classic dog spot. Gotta support this classic place. Delicious chili sauce, best way is with cheese and chili!

I've been going to Ben's forever. They have the best hot dogs I've ever had. The staff is very slow. Always talking about how much they do, arguing amongst themselves. I don't have time for that at lunch, make my order so I can go. One women who works there looks miserable every time I go. She worked at another store on broadway, I stopped going there because of her. read more

Absolutely classic chili dog spot. Satisfies that hot dog craving with a cash only, laid back atmosphere. The prices are solid and the food is great, especially the poutine. Hit it up! read more

Me and my coworkers order from here at least once a week. The hot dogs are always great. We always order using grubhub and this past order we were missing two hot dogs from our order. We called the store and the owner personally hand delivered the missing hot dogs to us. Service like this doesn't exist anymore in most places. Will definitely continue ordering from here. read more

Not anything like when Ben ran it or anything like any RI Weiner joint. Slow as heck, not interested in serving you. I do swing in as there are no options I know of in Newport. The woman who works when I'm there is miserable! Very offended if you ask for a chilly dog: "like why are you here lady!" Got 8 for family without onions or mustard, how I like them, just because I did not want to snap on the eye roll this lady would give me if I asked for 4 with 4 without. Now on my trip down 24, I swing into Warren to quench my craving! read more

So good, yet so cheap. You won't regret this! The ambiance is so amazing. The food is amazing and the service is so amazing

Found this place in college and have loved it ever since. The Chili Cheese dog is amazing. You cant eat less than two. The owners have changed since I was in school but they have kept up the same quality of food and service. I miss being able to go there more frequently. read more

For a chili dog joint in downtown Newport to survive with the hot dog style price, you either have to use (a) next level ingredients or (b) make a tasty cheap dog that you can sell to a lot of people. This place follows the (b) option and does a good job of it. There are very few places that for under $20 you can feed two people for lunch or dinner on Broadway in Newport. This is one of those few places. The wife had the two chili dog combo and I had the two Chourico dog combo. We split an order of chili cheese fries. The Chourico dog is a mild Portuguese Sausage style mixture poured onto a pair of hot dogs. The hot dogs taste like 100% beef franks, that are thin, with what tastes like a potato bun which I love. I really enjoyed the flavor of the hot dog, and for the price, this is pretty awesome. The wife enjoyed her chili dogs. All in all, I recommend hitting this place up if you are tired of paying a lot of lunch and looking for something that takes you back to when you were a kid. In the day of 100% organic garbage, its nice to see the old classics still alive and kicking. read more

Food quality is average. Staff behind the counter appeared absolutely miserable. Female staff member was rude. Pan handlers outside. Wouldn't be my first choice to grab a bite to eat in Newport. read more

No trip to Newport is complete without a visit to Ben's. The buns get a little steam and the chili has just the right combination of kick and viscosity. You could down 3 or 4 without thinking, but I try to restrain myself and keep it to 2. Word to the wise, when you approach the counter, know what you intend to order and quickly move to the right. If you dawdle, the staff and patrons waiting behind you in line will get annoyed. read more

Oh man, I love Ben's Chili Dogs! There are few places in Newport that I would consider good cheap eats, but Ben's is at the top of my list. The hot dogs are lightly grilled and the buns are soft, chewy and remind me of fresh Wonder Bread. You can get a variety of toppings on your dogs, like kraut, mustard, ketchup, chourico, chili or cheese. My favorite combination is chili and cheese. The chili sauce is like the meat sauce found on a typical RI "New York System" weiner. The cheese is also more of a sauce, which is easily spreadable rather than shredded cheese. It reminds me of a smoother, more watery aerosol can cheese. I know that sounds bad, but please don't misunderstand... it works really well with the chili! The restaurant is more like a hole-in-the-wall. There are about three tables inside and two tables outside. The spare walls are decorated with local kids' drawings and notes of how much they love Ben's Chili Dogs. It's very much a local's joint, but for those of you visiting and eating on a budget, be sure to give Ben's a visit! read more

Tasted great! But what a freaking mess. Wrapped it like a wet noodle to go. Next time I'm going to eat it inside. Yelp really wants me to ride along review and I've given Yelp a bad review now because they're pissing me off stalling me saying my review is too short. Is this long enough now Yelp?! read more