I've been to this place over a dozen times over the years. Sometimes just for drinks and other times for hot dogs and drinks. Brought many family members here when they are in town. My latest experience (a few months ago) will be my last. The service here just ruins the experience. We've had issues here with poor service many times but I've always let it slide. Workers are consistently not friendly and just seem disinterested in their customers and their jobs. Went in with my 2 sons for hot dogs and beers like I've done many times before. We fill out our hot dog orders and stand at the bar a good 10 minutes as the 2 people behind the bar completely ignore us. They were not super busy- just a few bar patrons and two couples sitting at a table drinking. No one came to take our hot dog tickets, or drink order. The one bartender (female) clocked out and bolted after 5-6 minutes. The other bartender (male) never came to our end of the bar like we were invisible. They both saw us, they both knew we had been standing there for quite a while, they just didn't care. I think neither of them wanted to cook hot dogs. We decided to just leave and go elsewhere. I didn't make the decision to leave lightly. I waited longer than I should have and even asked my youngest son what his thoughts were (he is as calm, patient, and level-headed as they come so I deferred to him). He said we should leave since they obviously didn't need our business. Why can't this place just have a dedicated person to cook and do odds and ends and not share the cooking duty with the bartender who often times has no interest in doing so? Such a bummer since this is a cool place with good vibes but they hire the worst employees. Here's a novel idea for the owner- offer just a little better pay to attract some better workers and I'll bet that would increase your business and more than offset the increased costs. But Nope! Owners just never get it and insist on cutting costs at the expense of losing customers due to bad experiences. Done with this place. read more

Very disappointed- after getting charged $35 for One beer and 2 hotdogs. I certainly didn't leave that kind of outrageous tip and reached out to Cardinal to correct and they have refused as of today. 8/21/25 I've been to this and several of their other locations and won't be back. Watch your credit card for them and fraudulent charges. read more

The HOT DOGS!!! And the cold beer! Place is fun and clean. Get in here! Bartender is rad and better than great service. read more

The Cardinal Bar - The bar! - Hot Dogs Near Me - Clayton, North Carolina

this place is a dumpster fire. management is incompetent and treats patrons like trash. food is bad and will lead to GI issues. save yourself time and money and visit one of the many other wonderful restaurant bars in Clayton read more

I recently had to investigate this place and I can tell you... they do not disappoint...They make these hot dogs with such love .. You can taste it read more

"We keep coming back to The Cardinal specifically for great drinks and the people. Alex is easily one of the friendliest bartenders we've ever met. He always has our favorite drinks on the bar as soon as he sees us walk in. We like the classic hot dogs on toasted buns .. add your choice of toppings and you'll be enjoying a delicious dog! It's a welcoming, laid-back environment that makes you want to stay. read more

Love this bar! Great drinks and hot dogs! Alex knows our drinks as we walk in and always friendly! Love it!!

This place is great! I came here as a back up, and it's now a spot I have to come back to! Great hot dogs, and great drinks. Along with the bartender being very welcoming. read more

The Cardinal Bar - Green tea shot and their renown hotdog. - Hot Dogs Near Me - Clayton, North Carolina

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Love this place! A little hidden though! It's across from Mannings and behind the Crawford Cookshop. I moved to Clayton in July 2020 (yes right in the middle of the pandemic!) and I have been looking for a place like this here and I found it. My friend and I decided to explore Downtown Clayton and do some day drinking. I searched Yelp for bars in Clayton and saw there was a Cardinal, but couldn't figure out exactly where it was since I hadn't seen it before. We started at the brewery and then decided to head to Main Street and just walk around and found it! This location is much bigger than the Downtown Raleigh location, but the hot dogs are just a good. I don't even really like hot dogs much, but I have found myself randomly craving these hot dogs. There's a room in the back with a pool table and other arcade games. You will need cash to use the pool table. There's a jukebox that you can use your phone to pay for and choose music. Lot's of great options. There's a cute patio as well. I haven't been at night, but the bartender was telling us about how they have live music and a great time at night. Can't wait to go back! read more

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Popular bar in downtown Clayton that offers hotdogs for $3.50 each for standard toppings, up-charge for some. The dogs come on a butter and toast bun which is tasty but a little greasy. Hot dog itself is of good quality. I tried the chili dog which is not spicy nor too saucy. Pickled orca on the side was good, also not as spicy as they look. Ok beer selection and full bar with some flavor infused vodkas. read more

The Cardinal Bar has opened their second location in Clayton. It's a dive bar just like their location in DTR. We stopped in to grab a round of drinks while exploring the area. There were only three draft beer options available, all were from Crank Arm. I went with a can option instead. This location is a lot larger both inside and out so that was nice. It also has a section with a few games. They serve hot dogs, I still need to try one. I can't wait for the warmer weather to enjoy the patio area. read more

The place was completely empty on Friday night Valentine's Day and still the female blond bartender was so rude to us we left immediately without ordering. read more

Nice Vide, nice mixing of people of various ages. Small batch of drinks , still a good venue. Great music for only one person. Congenital customers ! Even the young lady who celebrated her " survivor of cancer " ! God bless you! read more

I have been wanting to try this place for some time and I am glad I finally did. Nice atmosphere and the staff was great. They have single-handedly changed the hot dog game in Raleigh by simply changing the bun. The bun is buttered and then grilled and reminds me a lot of Texas toast. They only serve hot dogs and chips and it's well worth a trip to try one. read more

Been searching high and low since I relocated to the area 7 years ago for a good hotdog. My husband and I agree Best hotdogs we have had. Great bar as well. Don't have any pictures to post of the dogs because they were that damn good. read more

The security guy named Holton, does not know how to adequately be security. If you are a male or female, good luck! He has no idea how to control altercations, and you will feel unsafe. read more

It's the place to be for late night entertainment in Clayton. The bar tenders have been great from day 1. For locals that went to the flipside for years, you'll love the new place because they have done a serious renovation and made it seem 3 times the size. Beer is cold, dogs are hot! read more

The " district manager " Angel if that's even her real name gave me and the people I was with bad service. She served us the first time with no problem then when it came time to serve us again she asked to see my ID. I asked why because it didn't make any sense to me on why she asked to see ID if she has security at the door checking ID and she already served us before without checking ID. She got upset with me because I asked why. I did end up showing her my ID she still got mad at me ..She cursed at me & told me to leave. All because I asked why. Not sure if she's actually a district manager or not but that's really bad service. We tipped her good the first time. I always enjoyed going to the Cardinal but tonight ruined it, she ruined it. A district manager asking me if I wanted to fight her over asking why she wanna ID me when she just served me a drink before this? Very unprofessional. She must've been on some type of substance tonight. Cardinal needs a new higher up manager than her because this isn't the first time something like this happened so I've been told. read more

Everything about this bar is pretty good except one member of there staff. I'm not sure his name or else I would say it so hopefully the managers/ owners could reprimand him but all I can say to describe him is he's the shortest dude bartender that works there. I believe this is we're his attitude comes from because he clearly has a serious napoleon complex. When I first arrived I stood at the bar for probably 15 seconds before my female friends that came with us stood next to me. He awkwardly stared at them for a few moments before asking what they wanted and then he looked at me and said "sorry there prettier than you". Now I didn't really mind this at the time I just laughed it off and if this was the only thing that happened with this guy I really wouldn't have cared but EVERY time I ordered a drink there was some sort of incident. I had opened a tab and ordered my second drink. He brought me it and then turned and walked away so I started to walk away from the bar assuming he remembered my name. As I went to walk out the back I felt a piece of paper hit my back that he had thrown to get my attention like wtf. He then yells across the bar "hey you come here" to get my last name. You can tell this guy thinks he has some kind of authority. My friends who ordered drinks while I was out side came up to me and told me this guy has an ego problem before the whole incident with me happened. I'm rating this a one star because I want to get the manager's attention so hopefully they will chill this guy out and I'm sure he doesn't treat everyone like this other wise he would have already been fired. I don't know why he decided to be a jack a$$ but it really made a bar I've enjoyed going to in the past not so fun. read more