Duff's is your typical Chicago fast-food joint, but the small touches are what set them apart. They offer free cheese and a couple of onion rings with any meal, they roll the tax into the advertised price, and they deliver.
Buyer beware: You get some non-traditional toppings on your food too. Green peppers on burgers, lettuce on hot dogs. I'm not saying it's bad thing, but it's different. We all know how snobbish some folks in this town can be about their "Chicago-style" hot dogs.
The only downside to Duff's is that they close earlier during the winter. Their summer hours are great. Open late for those midnight cravings.
This is a pretty typical Chicago hot dog/beef/burger place, but they do offer a few nice perks that seperate them from the many other dog stands in the neighborhood. Â First they are open late, especially on weekends, you get a free cup of dipping cheese, and a couple onion rings added in with every sandwich, also its nice that the tax is built into the price on the menu, and my favorite extra- they deliver. Â Been to a million Chicago dog joints, but never had one that delivered to my door - this is really gonna be great come football season, satisfy the lunch craving and never miss a play.
You can order online, and its a pretty nice ordering system, pick a chicken sandwich and then all the options will pop up, grilled or fried, pick your bun, all the toppings and your side, and amazingly they seem to actually pay attention and make everything exactly as ordered. Â Delivery is quick and the cup of dipping cheese is a nice freebie.
I am updating to a 2.5-3 because we've found, as time goes on, the quality of the food seems to have slid a little.  Perhaps it's because I get things to go/delivered but literally every burger looks like they stepped on it before they wrapped it.  Also, delivery seems like the kinks aren't worked out still -  many MANY times they have gotten our order wrong, forgotten part of our order or we got someone else's order.  First time I mentioned to them and they took care of it and it was fine (in fact, impeccable service  but the next few times it just kind of got old and I didn't even bother calling and going through the hassle.  Nor do I want to get the reputation of "that woman who's order is always incorrect").  I still think supporting a family owned business is important, but I think I'll limit my visits to when I can eat there.
Review Source:Placed a delivery order earlier today, and everything was as it's expected. Â That fast food, that would be great when you're drunk, some items are towards the pricier side and some fairly inexpensive. Â I thought that the hot dog meal was a bit towards the pricey side, but maybe there's something that I don't know. Â You have to love the $2 delivery fee and no minimum. Â Food was at the door within 30 minutes of ordering which was excellent, and the delivery driver was just as awesome.
I had to literally laugh out loud upon seeing what the Tamale was like. Â It's a frozen "thing" purchased in bulk, microwaved in the original wrapper, and handed to you. Â It was not good at all.
The burger was expected from such joint, thin patties, crispy, and greasy-ish but not overdone, and I certainly devoured the thing. Â The fries were also really good, and I had to love the FREE side nacho cheese - I know it's not the best cheese, but hey, it's free it's decent. Â Don't get the concept of the two onion rings in the bag, but they were good as well.
I will certainly order again, albeit I may try other options and definitely skip the tamale.
Duff's, you had us at free cheese!!!!
My sister and I happened to be in the area decided we need some lunch after not finding the store we were looking for. After missing several other places (eg, wrong side of street, etc) we saw the sign for Duff's Dogs that said Free Cheese and Real Mac N' Cheese. That's all it took and we were there. So we ordered a cheeseburger (or a hamburger with free cheese), a crispy chicken sandwich, and cheddar balls. The fact that fries came with all sandwiches was nice but add two free onion rings...sweet!!! Then there is a dispenser with melted cheese for your fries (or anything else for that matter)...that is free too! Both sandwiches were nice sizes and you can customize them any way and there is no charges for extra stuff, the surprise was the bun. A bun sturdy enough and good enough for a burger loaded with toppings and not falling apart or becoming a slimy mess, which is great for a fast food stand. A nice amount of fries came with the sandwiches and they were actually seasoned correctly, not overly salty or completely lacking in salt. The sandwiches and fries were so plentiful, we couldn't finish the cheddar balls and half the burger.
All in all a nice little place with friendly service. I hope to come back soon to try one of the million shake flavors and the mac n' cheese.
Got the hot Italian sausage tonight w/ sweet potato fries (out of curly fries at 6:45 PM on a Wednesday?? Â Sad.) Â The sausage itself remains one of the highlights of a standard dog-stand menu (other exceptions being the available pretzel roll and sweet potato fries). Â Good texture and flavor beyond the heat, with a satisfying bite, on a very fine roll. Â Sweet potato fries were far more successful than the last time I tried them, and that was a pleasant surprise. Â The down side? Â I asked for sweet and hot peppers, and my sandwich had exactly three strips of sweet peppers. Â This is not the first time this has happened, either. Â Toppings have been skimpy in the past (bacon burger with a miniscule amount of bacon on one previous visit, for example). Â These issues continue to relegate this place to an afterthought, second choice stop for me. Â Which is too bad-we need a place like this in the neighborhood, and I really want them to succeed. Â Just kick it up some, and lose the far too casual pace on the line. Â I cannot go three stars as there remains far too much inconsistency in the kitchen, still, and this place has been open for a good while now.
Review Source:I've only gone through the drive-thru, but so far all has been good. Â We've tried the hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches (grilled and crispy), fries, and shakes. Â I haven't really been disappointed with anything. Â When hungry, it's been tasty and filling. Â I like that they throw in 1-2 onion rings with meal. Â And just as important... the service has been great. Â They're always very friendly and polite.
Review Source:Everyone has a different standard for their fast food, so when I say I enjoyed Duff's burger, fries and shake I realize that YMMV. Â Still, I was impressed by how much customization was available for what is essentially a fast food place. Â The GrubHub page let me choose from a couple of dozen different alterations to my burger, including getting a pretzel bun instead of a plain hamburger bun. Â Right there, they won me over! Â And the long list of shake flavors was pretty cool though I tend to go with chocolate about 98% of the time. Â
I did make an exception for the pumpkin shake in light of the time of year, and it was good, though not a patch on the pumpkin shakes from Culver's. Â But the shake itself was delivered cold and still thick, which is a nice change from most delivered ice cream. Â (Yeah, I know. Â I know.) Â The burger was tasty. Â I opted for pickles, grilled onions, bacon, cheese and mustard with sport peppers on the side. Â They nailed it. Â Bacon was crisp, onions were properly grilled and not greasy, there was just enough cheese, the pickles were properly sour and there wasn't so much mustard that it dripped all over while I was eating. Â The curly fries... meh, they were okay, but I'm a hard sell with most fries. Â I like them skinny, crisp on the outside and floury on the inside, and liberally salted. Â Neither the curly fries or the regular ones made much of an impression, and the cheese sauce that came along with the order didn't improve things. Â It was gelatinous.
If this rating was for food alone, I'd have probably given them three to three-and-a-half stars. Â But the ability to get exactly what I wanted on my burger, to opt for something other than chocolate, vanilla or strawberry shakes, and the fact that it took about half an hour for the food to arrive impressed me enough that they got bumped up to four stars. Â We'll see if they keep them.
I give the burgers and dogs three stars (its hard to mess those up). I did not get any raw food or strange combos of stuff I have never had on a hot dog before.
Where Duff's differs is their ice cream and shakes. The only other ice cream shop any where in the neighborhood is baskin robbins or dq. Duffs original ice cream and shake combos will bring me back for more.
Food only gets them 3 stars, I give them an extra for their customer service!
First, lets talk food... love that they give ya free cheese (although I didn't get any) with your fries and 2 onion rings... but the dogs, they were... not the best. Â The hot dog itself was fine, but the toppings were just too much! Â Mustard, relish, onions, tomatoes (even though I don't eat them), peppers and celery salt is plenty, but lettuce, cucumber and pickle slices, not so much. Â And it was kind of gross that I got the celery salt on top of the pickle slices and nothing else really... so just kind of yuck, couldn't eat them by themselves because they were all celery salted up.
Next, Customer Service... wow! Â Popped through the drive thru in the middle of the day, they were slow, but answered every question I had, gave me small talk while I waited for my food and generally were great.
I will likely go there again, but either skip the dogs or get them and just remember to get them without the celery salt and pickles.
I give up!! Â My husband and I have been rooting for this family business since they opened, however they are consistently TERRIBLE. Â Let me preface by saying that I love a good hot dog joint with good quality staples, this place completely misses the mark. Â It started with the powdered ice-cream and the lettuce on "Chicago style hot dogs", and just went downhill from there, but we kept trying. Â Today was the last straw. Â I ordered delivery and it took OVER AN HOUR! Â I live less than 3-blocks away. Â The food I got was so bad I called to let the manager know that the staff was sending out terrible food. Â I was extremely pleasant on the phone, not looking for freebies, it was really just an honest head's up. Â The manager got defensive and made excuses....who does that?? Â
1. Grilled cheese sandwich - they apparently don't have money to spare
on using real bread so they use an inside out hamburger bun, gross. My "grilled cheese" had 3 pieces of cheese, all cold and none melted.
2. Hot dog - super thin, almost yellow slices of cucumber, a ton of lettuce and quite possibly the cheapest hot dog meat in Chicago
3. I live about 3 blocks away and my food delivery took over an hour.
Sorry guys, maybe you should streamline your menu, stop serving 33 milkshake flavors (none of which contain real fruit - it's all powder), stop serving cheap, frozen french fries and onion rings, start serving fresh, fresh, fresh food and brush up on your customer service skills.
We were so excited to see a hot dog joint open up in this area, especially a family owned business.....this place is just a mess. Â I will not be back again. Â Hopefully they can get their stuff together.
This place is a great place to stop and grab lunch. Â I had their BBQ beef special the other day and it was outstanding. Â They have all of the basics, which are all good too: Â pizza puff, cheese sticks, etc. Â For the people complaining that lettuce doesn't belong on a hot dog, guess what? Â YOU CAN ORDER IT WITHOUT THE LETTUCE. Â DERRRRR! Â Anyway, I digress. Â The hot dogs aren't Superdawg or Gene and Judes caliber, but what is? Â If you want that, go to Superdawg or Gene and Judes. Â Duff's is a great neighborhood place with very good food. Â I will definitely frequent it.
Review Source:I went here on a sunday afternoon. This is just a review ont he Hot Dogs. They have a bunch of other items on the menu though.
Ok. I hate to be so harsh since this place is new but It is in hopes they get their act together and take some constructive criticism.
Atmosphere- Tables to eat outside and a few inside that seemed uncomfortable. Â Not a huge deal just observation.
Hot Dog- They use Chicago Red Hots hot dogs. Â Bun was not steamed..or if it was I did not notice. They put Mustard, Relish, onion, lettuce, cucumber, sliced pickle, green pepper, tomato, sport pepper, celery salt and probaly anything else they have lol. Some may like this but I did not. The hot dog itself tasted fine but nothing special.
Fries- Meh, again nothing speical.
Onion Rings- again, nothing speical. typical frozen.
Free Cheese- They do offer Free cheese sauce which was great because I found myself drenching my fries in them to cover up the lack of flavor but soon found that they somehow figured out a way to make the cheese sauce flavorless !
Service- staff was nice but moved very...very...very slow. I went with a few people and ordered 4 dogs and fries and it took what seemed to be 20 minutes with no real line. After reading other reviews this seems to be a regular occurance.
Bottom line- If I am in the area and want a hot dog I would stop in but I will not travel a distance to go here. Maybe they are trying too hard or I am being too harsh becuase I am a hot dog purist. Also, $4 for an average NON-Vienna dog just does not cut it considering superior joints like Gene and Judes and Jimmys charges $2 and comes with 1000% better fries.
Everything we ordered was good. The hot dog with everything (including the lettuce) was great. The chili cheese dog was ok...they really need to improve their chili.. The combo was tasty. The complimentary 2 onion rings that comes when you order a meal were very tasty. The fries are good. I absolutely like the idea that the prices posted include taxes, and also the free cheese and free refills are a nice touch. Also, they have 33 flavors of ice cream. I can't comment on the ice-cream cause I haven't tried any yet. The guy who took care of us was nice. I believe Duff's Dogs has great potential to succeed.
Review Source:Speed has improved some based on old reviews. Went there on Sat at noon. Â
Free cheese rules, but probably built into the price, which was a tad high, but not outrageous. Â Sides are actually pretty cheap though, but I only got a dog.
My only complaint is that lettuce and green peppers are listed under "everything" but should be under extras.
I live in the area and was very happy to see the old KFC being occupied and even more excited it was a hotdog stand!
The food itself has great potential minus the weird stuff like lettuce on a hot dog. Their major flaw is their logistics. They are new and at the moment lack rhythm and timing. The result of this is cold food and hot fries or vice versus. I have been back twice since my initial trip and they still hadn't fixed the issues.
I wish them the best and they have great potential, I just hope they can get the rhythm down soon because I would like to see them prosper and be open for many many years.
As far as the other person being harassed  by Nicole. I hope she realizing the point of yelp. It serves the customers with a forum to recommend and patronize establishments that deserve our money. It also serves the restaurants as a tool to become better. Owners should read their reviews and thank guys like mr cheese here for making them better.
Business 101: please your customers, accept their feedback with a smile, and improve your business...cause If you don't I'm sure we'll see another vacant corner in Jefferson park.
Good luck and I will be sure to revisit my rating as I see the improvements take place!
Go duff dogs!
This place is great! So clean & I love open kitchen so you can see kitchen is very very clean. Really cool & outgoing staff. I was surprise when I read all the reviews of slow service. I was in & out like 5 Â mins. The food was really good. The order of fries are huge. We had hot link & chicken wrap all serve hot.
Give this place a chance the neighborhood deserve a great family run neighborhood joint ;)
I've been driving by this place since it opened and noticed the big crowd they always have, so I decided to stop in and give it a try today. I ordered a hot dog w/fries, a supreme tamale, and hot wings. The dog was OK. I think that they are a little too creative with the toppings. Sure, I could order it the way I want, but when I order a dog with everything in Chicago, I expect it to be a certain way. This is not it. Cheap sliced hamburger pickles instead of spears and green pepper? Are you serious? I'd expect something like that in Los Angeles, not Chicago. At some point, you need to realize where you are and adjust your product accordingly. It has a poppyseed bun and it tasted like a Vienna, so it had some good points.
The fries were good. They were thin, slightly on the overcooked side (in a good way), and tasty. Better than average. A big bonus are the two free onion rings you get with each order and all the free cheese you want. Excellent.
The tamale is a typical Chicago "fake" one ala Tom Tom. I like them. They are all the same, nothing to talk about.
The hot wings were disappointing. A big part of hot wings, to me, are the bones. It's just not as much fun to eat without the bones. The hot wings were the meat with the bone taken out. When I order hot wings I expect wings, not nuggets. These were more like nuggets. It's not the same and I would not have ordered had I known. Other than that, they were crispy (thank God) and juicy. They would probably be pretty darnn good if they would leave the bones attached. I love crispy hot wings. I absolutely can't stand the soggy, limp-wristed, floppy chicken crap they sell as wings at places like Dominos. So, I appreciate the fact that they cook them well.
All in all, this is a good place. The service was excellent, the staff were great. It's wonderful to see articulate grown ups working behind the counter instead of pubescent children texting behind the register.
I'll be back. My only hope is that the owner can maybe adjust fire a bit on some of the eccentricities. Sure, you can add your own style. But, unless it's really blowing people away, set it to the side a little and emphasize what's known to work. Take a trip to some of the popular fast food places and see what makes them so good.
I think this place will do fine. It's always very crowded. It's a great location and the owner really knows how to put the place together to make people happy.
Okay, I'll be totally honest: I'm being slightly generous with  my star rating but only because I truly have faith these guys will get their act together. Â
I walked in thinking this would be an average grease joint but in reading the menu and looking around I realized it's not for 2 reasons: 1) Their menu looks VERY promising- free cheese for fries, two free onion rings with everything, prices are straight forward with taxes included, free refills, friendly staff. Â 2) This is a family establishment that is being run by a (significantly young) bunch...I'm assuming they are siblings? Â All in their late 20's and early 30's from what I saw. Â
So here are the downfalls which I'm pretty sure will be corrected sooner than later. (Especially if they are reading these reviews!) Their service is REALLY slow. Â I think they are aware of this and are apologetic, but it is annoying, I'll admit. Â They haven't gotten their rhythm as far as far as effiently preparing food to have ready for the masses. Â The thing that really kills it is that since they are so slow to put the entire orders together, some (or most...or all) of our order came out warm instead of hot.
I'm all about supporting the underdogs, especially those brave enough to open up a business like this in an economy like ours. Â I will for SURE be going back, but I'll give them a month or two while they get their act together. Â (For free cheese I may not wait TOO long though!)
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