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Chili dog wars erupt between Carl’s Jr. & Wienerschnitzel
February 27th, 2009, 8:32 am · 47 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
Carl's Jr. Jumbo Chili Dog is selling in some SoCal restaurants. (2 for $3)
Thanks to a tip from Fast Food Maven reader, Eric, I’ve discovered that Carl’s Jr. has been selling chili dogs in a limited number of Southern California restaurants.
Eric told me he spotted the Jumbo Dogs at a Carl’s Jr. in Norco, Ca. Does this mean the famous chili dog is making a comeback? (Remember, Carl’s Jr. founder Carl Karcher got his start as a hot dog vendor.)
Carl’s Jr. spokeswoman Beth Mansfield confirmed some details about the so-called Return of the Carl’s Jr. Chili Dog:
“Two for $3 Jumbo Chili Dogs are currently being offered in some markets as an ongoing test. We’ve had a lot of positive customer feedback and will hopefully bring them back on a larger scale soon,” she said.
Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Brea, Yorba Linda, Fullerton and Placentia are the only ones in Orange County currently selling the dogs. (CLICK HERE FOR a LIST of Carl’s Jr. chili dog locations)
Mansfield declined to comment more about the chili dog’s comeback.
I suspect, Newport Beach-based Wienerschnitzel knows more.
The nation’s largest hot dog chain will launch a new jumbo dog on Sunday dubbed the Big Original Chili Dog. The chain says the new dog is 84% larger than a regular Wienerschnitzel chili dog.
Guess how much it cost? You got it: 2 for $3!
The Big Original is 84% larger than a normal Wienerschnitzel chili dog. The cost: 2 for$3. (Additional cost for cheese and onions.)
Coincidence? Of course not.
Wienerschnitzel said it had planned to launch the new dog this spring. But, officials moved up the product’s debut “to counter Carl’s Jr.’s chili dog launch,” the chain said.
“Sources suggest that the new Carl’s Jr. dog will be microwaved,” an aghast Wienerschnitzel marketing rep told me via email.
Now, that is some serious wiener dog smack talk.
I don’t like to let these kind of accusations go without further investigation. So, I called a few Carl’s Jr. restaurants and employees told me their dog is, indeed, microwaved!
So be it.
Let the chili dog wars begin.
Tell us: If you spot a Carl’s Jr. restaurant selling chili dogs in the next few weeks, please list it here under comments. If you try the chili dogs from both chains, write in and give us your feedback.
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I’m out in Ontario today, do you happen to know what locations out in the IE (Ontario, Corona, NorCo) areas have them, I might be able to give them a try today…
I like Carl Jr. Chili Dogs better, It actually has chili on it instead of a chili sauce
that Wienerschnitzel puts on there dogs
The Carl’s Jr in Anaheim Hills on E. Santa Ana Canyon and Weir Canyon has them. My husband and brother-in-law had them and said they were okay. Not bad but not fabulous.
Dan — all i know is that it was a Carl’s Jr. on Hamner Ave. in Norco…
Eric, care to be more specific?
I’m sure purists will shudder, but I don’t like onions on my chili dogs. The big winner of the war for me will be the one whose people can get the orders right and not put the onions on when asked - sometimes Weinerschnitzel seems to make them in their sleep and it’s tough to remove onions once on the chili (or relish dog, for that matter). But cheese - cheese would be good.
Dan, I believe it was this location……….1120 Hamner Ave, Norco, CA - (951) 280-9926…………….however, there is another Carl’s Jr. 1.7 miles to the north of this one still on Hamner Ave………there was a large banner visible from Hamner Ave. that said “2 chili dogs for $3.00″
Eww thats crap food!
Awesome! They are selling them near my neck of the woods. Now I have to try one tonight!
If the OCRegister will kindly provide me with FREE COUPONS, I would be more than happy to visit a few Carl’s and Wienerschnitzel’s and then report my feedback! How about it Register? Send me the MONEY!
the economy is going into the tankers.. these dogs will bring in business because people don’t want to spend $6 for an angus beef sandwich anymore
take a survey on who takes this survey to find out how much thier over wieght
Finally! A good marketing idea from Carl’s Jr. Some of their stuff has been absolutely awful.
Nasty! Why is Carl’s Jr. trying to be a 3-in-1 restaurant - Mexican joint, Burger joint and now a Hot Dog joint. There are certain fast food places you go to get good mexican, a good burger and a good hotdog…….and it’s not all at the same fast food restaurant. Next we will see Carl’s add pizza, fried chicken and an ice cream parlor. HA, they should just stick to selling burgers.
Carl’s Jr. isn’t even good. I haven’t ate there in 2 years since they like to do false advertisement on their food and not give you what the product is stated to look like. I mean the bacon they serve on their Western Bacon Cheeseburger is a so paper thin and a joke. Burger King definitely has way better tasting burgers and food for the same price at Carl’s.
hell no!!
i like bk but honestly the six dollar burger is way up there compared to the whopper
Nancy, this is so cool. I’m a little burnt out on Carls chili dogs though. One day in the 80’s there was a coupon for a free Carls chili dog in an unnamed newspaper. My brother and I went to every vending machine we could, paid a quarter and took stacks of newspapers. We had free chili dogs for a whole almost a whole year. I hope I don’t get in trouble for confessing this
Catlee are you kidding me? Burger King over Carls, no way. Talk about false advertising. I went to BK the other day and ordered the Western Steakhouse burger with bbq sauce and fried onions. Looked great on the menu. When I got it, it looked and tasted like a processed flat mess. Big processed patty that they tried to make look like a steak. Was also flat as a pancake, didn’t even look like the item in the menu. Looked like they squirted ingredients on the bun then sat on it. I will never eat at BK again. It was like $5 too.
Dear Catlee
for your information…. Carls Jr started of as a hotdog stand!!
The things I do… Here is my quick review.
http://eatinoc.com/oc-food-reviews/carls-jr-jumbo-chili-dogs/
Also to those that are saying yuck, get a life, I mean you are reading a FAST FOOD BLOG and you are complaining about fat and weight, if you are so concerned about it don’t read it.
Oh and Carl’s Jr > Burger King, any day of the week…
Tried the chili dogs tonight. They were ok, lacking a little in flavor though. I just wish there was a Tommy’s closer to Yorba Linda.
It was huge for $1.50! Tasted about like a weinerschnitzle though.
The hot dogs they had way back in the day seemed to be a little bit better.
The Carl’s manager tipped me off to another new item coming soon…. KENTUCKY BOURON BURGERS …MMMMM!!!!!
Wienerschnitzel hot dogs are not fit to feed a dog. Not quality meat.
Can’t beat Costcos ALL BEEF hot dog with a drink for only $1.50!
Had them at the Imperial and Rose Dr in Yorba Linda. I thought they tasted great……but at 1am that night….oh man the mother load of mud….needless to say I will pass in the future
Headline reads’”Chili dog wars erupt between…”. Yeh there will be an eruption alright. Right below your waistline.
Weinerschnitzel is disgusting…..barf
Nobody beats Pinks! And I’m in Chicago. Come out here if ya want a real dog
This may sound weird, but little old am-pm has the best chili dogs-they use Oscar Meyer 100% beef franks, and you can add your own chil and toppings, now on sale 2 for $1.99. Once you’ve eaten one, Weinerschnitzle will taste reallly, really bad. Car;’s Jr. ’s taste just like WeinerSchnitels’s-so just save some $$and go to am-pm.
My husband and kids will only eat am-pm or home made.
AM/PM has good dogs, so does 7/11. Cupid’s are great. WS is pretty good. We do a Casper’s Famous with mustard chili and cheese that’s the best in our little town in Oregon.
When i was a kid there was this place in Long Beach called pierpoint landing (not the new one) it had a few rides some seals to feed, a fishing barge. a fish market but it made these foot long chili dogs that was killer with two yellow chilis on top..who remembers the place? back in the late 50’s and 60’s..who knows a place to get a real chili dog?
@angry white dude; Right, because hot dogs have the best cuts of meat in them… I’m sure Wienerschnitzel takes the lowest of the lowest forms of meat, things that humans shouldn’t even be eating and puts those in the dogs, because that’s perfectly legal… *rolls eyes*
If you haven’t been to wienerschnitzel recently… perhaps you should reevaluate your negativity. I was brave enough to try their “sea dog” and was shocked at how good it was. And their chili cheese fries…… so friggin good! (And, for some of you negative nancys out there, I am far from overweight - nothing against you of course Nancy)
Hello All!,
Just tried the combo deal at Winerschnitzel at the one on Jeffery Rd in Irvine, CA. I think it was $5.99 for the new combo. They were pretty tasty, but they are the same old all-beef hot dog size that they normally serve (at least it looked like that to me) so I didn’t see anything difference was cheaper price, other than that, it tasted pretty good.
Wiener rocks. The best hangover and stoner food out there. Respect the Wiener. Honor the Wiener. Eat the Wiener.
I tried a couple about two weeks ago in Buena Park at the Carl’s at Beach Bl and Artesia and I really enjoyed them.
It’s the same chili I remember them having way back in the 70’s.
The hot dog itself I don’t beleive is quite as large as the old but if they stick with it, it beats what Weinerdude has.
I tried the Carl’s Jr chili dogs and threw it in the trash. It was microwaved, and the chili was gross. I don’t recomend anyone to waste their money on this junk.
Portillo’s in the best
Oh boy chil dogs this’ll be great.
Two chili dogs no onions please”
*opens bag* -onions-
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUU-
Costco should start selling Chili Dogs.
Dogs that are microwaved are nasty. I just wen to Tommy’s and got their chilli dog. Now that’s a tasty dog and they dropped the price by a $1 on their chilli cheese dog combo(maybe due to competition?). Plus these dogs come with cheese and if you want…. onions, pickles, and tomato. Also Tommy’s doesn’t charge tax, they make it when you order it, and all their combos come with Large drinks. Screw Carl’s dogs, when I get more bang for my buck at Tommy’s.
Carl’s chili dogs were nasty… the buns were hard and the nuked dog tasted like rubber… I didnt eat the second one… gross man
I believe this is now a chain wide promotion. They have huge posters promoting the deal in south county stores.
I tried the ‘new’ chili dog @Carls Jr. and was disappointed- didn’t taste any where near the same as what I remembered…The chili tasted like “Dennison’s” (canned)- and they don’t top it w/ a chili pepper like the original.
You knew this was coming with Carl’s chili cheese burger and chili cheese fries. Both of which are okay, but NOTHING compared to Der Wiener. I don’t know what Wiener does to its chili, but no fast food joint and no home recipes can match it.
Pinks is okay, they have the *snap*, but are slightly overrated.
Oh, and my Carl’s chili dog location info: Harbor & Romneya in Anaheim near the CKE headquarters/91 fwy.
Like they say take your bread to the baker not the hair dresser
wienerschnitzel is a hot dog place Carl’s was so wrong to try to get back to the old days its too late just stick with the burgers and leave the hot dog to the hot dog place wienerschnitzel after all said and don wienerschnitzel have been there for a long time and they never tried to sell pizza oh I aet thier new Angus beef it is a wow
wienerschnitzel is the best!!!!! Chili Cheese Dogs with onion. I tried those Carls dogs not that great. Wouldn’t spend the three bucks again.
The ,”Chile Burger I had at Carl’s jr. last year barely had any chile on it and requested more,I got a spoonful of cold chile (Azusa north of Amar). Reading of the microwave c-dogs now I will go to ,”The Der”.
I had two Jumbo Chili’s in Gilroy California ( northern ca )…
Carl’s Chili dogs are superior to Der W.
Der W. chili dogs have always been sub-par, they’re fake and not even chili…
I’ve liked Der W. when i was a child and even young adult, but they’re pathetic now compared to costco and the like…
Value / Price of Der W. is pathetic also…
I just left message with Carl’s business office saying they should revive the jumbo chili’s every where…
925-292-1025