Classic Red Hots

Consistent and delicious. The new ownership has brought much needed stability to this classic hot dog joint. They have all the normal gut busting staples as well as some surprising Mediterranean dishes that are really fabulous. I recommend the classic hot dog special a well as the kefta kebabs.

This is my 18^th visit to the classic red hot restaurant.
I would call it more of a Middle Eastern hotdog
The falafel and gyros are out of this world
Enjoy.

Just found «Red Hots» on Olive in Chesterfield last week, by accident! It’s actually a Lebanese-​run, Mediterranean/​Greek/​Middle-​Eastern cuisine (Gyros, Shwarma, Hummus, etc.) hole-​in-​the-​wall that is also a hot dog joint. Very odd, no ambiance (negative ambiance, actually), and tiny (mostly carry-​out, I think) but very good food and quite inexpensive! All food seems to be made right there, by family owners. They grilled my hot dog to order!

Wanted to write a review earlier but I had to go to the doc to get my cholesterol checked after eating one french fry or maybe it was a piece of fried salt lick, not entirely sure.
I live down the street from this place and finally decided to give it a shot. I’ll start by saying I will give another shot down the road since many of the menu items intrigued me.
I ordered the cheesy Italian Beef with Hot Peppers — it was tasty but not exactly special. The bread was soft and fresh but the beef had no real true flavor it was over powered by the peepers.
I also ordered a chicken gyro — had a few of these in my life and I’ve come to expect the same song and dance with lightly seasoned grilled chicken. This version was far different, not to say it was bad but definitely different. It was more of a curry style chicken that you would expect from a long simmer. It did have a nice flavor.
My biggest mistake though was the fries, not only for my waistline but more for my health. I’m pretty sure that they are likely out of seasoning for the rest of the day since they gave it all to me. Its a bummer because the fries were actually good too.

This placed used to be quit good and had a nice authentic Chicago Italian beef. After an apparent change in ownership it has really gone down hill. The quality of the food is bad and there is nothing «authentic» about the Italian beef. Unfortunately, with all the food choices right by I can’t imagine they’ll be around very long.

I would love to be able to tell you about the food, but we never got that far. The young man at the counter tried to the best of his ability to take our order. It seemed that he did not speak much English — which was in no way our problem. He nicely asked us to wait a moment while he got someone from the back. We waited long enough for him to go to whoever was in the back no less than three times to ask her to help and she did not come out. He was very apologetic, but we chose not to wait any longer.

This was my first visit, even though I live less than a mile away. Although the ambiance is lacking, the food defiantly makes up for it.
Coming from a Lebanese family, middle eastern food is always best from your grandmothers kitchen. This food was amazing. The fattoush salad had the exact amount of lemon and sumac. The baba ganoush was perfect as was the zatar bread.
The prices are amazing. I can not wait to try more of their dishes. I definitely recommend this restaurant for authentic Middle Eastern cuisine.

So my wife and I are visiting from out of town and were looking for some kabob plates. Some folks mentioned Classic Red Hots. We took their word for it and drove over there for lunch. We got the mixed kabob plate AND IT WAS AMAZING! We have been eating there everyday for 3 days straight!!! Such nice people.

This place was awesome. Super nice staff and really good eats. We sampled a little of everything. Chicago style hotdog, Itl beef, gyro, New York style hotdog, fried Twinkie. It was all good.

Once i found this restaurant become addict to it, everything is good great food and service, honestly best burger i ate in USA so far, owner very nice work with his wife really good home made food and plus not pricy very reasonable.

Thanks, Brian M., for this great UYE.
I’ve never eaten in this place — always gotten take-​out.
BIG DEAL — the fries are beautiful small cut (close to steak fries, but not quite), certainly a big improvement from the crinkle-​cut frozen fries I avoided last time.
I got the classic Italian cheese beef. They asked what kind of peppers I wanted — sweet or hot. I went for sweet. Great green peppers.
What a great sandwich. Great cushy bread. Cheese melted. Nice grilled green pepper strips.
I took ¹⁄₃ of my fries home and ¹⁄₃ of my sandwich, which served well as a light dinner.

Gyros are really tasty, but the chili dog was so so. Probably will return, just won’t order chili again.

Good place for an informal meal. By informal, I mean it more closely resembles a Chicago hot dog place than anything else I’ve seen in STL. No shoes — no shirt — no service… anything more is probably optional.
The best thing I ate was the baba ganouj. Beautiful probably best describes it. Big garlicy flavor with the smoked eggplant taste that is common to roasted fresh eggplants. Add in some tahini for that sesame flavor and some olive oil and it is a perfect dish. The only downside is that it doesn’t come with pita bread. I may be a heretic but I believe that this is a dip or a spread and it should have come with the pita. Add that in and it is about $ 5 which seems a bit high for a place like this but it really is good.
The next best was the baklava assortment. This is not Mediterranean style, it is middle eastern style. Not as sweet and a different ratio of nuts to pastry than you find in a Greek variant. Also really good and made in house.
Moving down the scale of yumminess we get to the falafel. At least I think it gets the next spot. Between the wife and kid 2 there was just one bite for me and it was small.
The final entry is the gyros. They get their gyro cones from Devonco in Chicago and they are not my favorite. I much prefer Kronos or Olympia but those are rare finds in these parts.

Best Chicago food in STL. Just wish they would use fresh fries not frozen then it would be 100%. However I will still be back very good food.

Best darn baba ghanouj! Soooo delish! The kibbeh was divine! Hole in the wall, but insanely delish! They have some other treats in the refridgerated cases. I’ve had their tabbouleh, & that was very very yummy.

I’ve been looking a good gyros place for a long time since I had moved from Chicago (Chicago has tonns of great gyros places) but not in Greater St Louis until the day I have visited Classic Red Hots. I almost lost hopes. But my dream came true.
Well, when you first walk in the place the guy at the counter, he is the owner will greet with a big smile and take your order. Well I didnt even look at the menu, i just got what i ve been looking for, GYROS sandwich. And that sandwich was so big that i couldnt finish it, had to take it home. lots of meat in warm and soft pita bread. well there was mostly meat in it which is totally fine with me. It will come with fries.
The prices are very inexpensive for so much meat. (Im a lotta meat eater)
This is gonna my regular place from now on. Special thanks for the owner for caring for his customers, his business. He cares for his customers like if they are his guests at home. Be back here very soon.

Wow wow wow !!! I can’t believe this restaurant has been here for 2 years and I never knew. The food here was AHHHMAZING. The portions are huge and soooo good. I got the gyro sandwich and it is the best gyro I’ve had in STL. My dad got the mushroom and Swiss burger and it was awesome. Plus they’re food is halal which is a good plus if you’re looking for that. My sister got the chili cheese dog and said she really liked it. Even the people who sat next to us were talking and I heard them say it was the best chili cheese dog they’ve eaten, and they kept getting up and ordering more. I will definitely be back here very often !! And price was really good, we fed 7 people everyone got sandwiches and fries and the bill was only 45 for everyone !!! Crazy good, if you’re thinking about trying this place DO IT, you won’t regret it.

Worked down the strip mall from this place for a couple of months. Eating here was the highlight of my day. I’d go with the Lamb Gyro, ginormous and tasty, you are guaranteed to make a mess. My favorite was the «Southwestern Burger» great sauce on top. The couple that worked there were very nice and very effecient! Great hummus and falafel. Check it out!

Forgive me if I have to cut this review short but the explosive diarrhea I’m suffering from the «Falafel Special» (feel-​awful?) is still killing my morning. Unfortunately, it started at 5 am while I was still sleeping.
It’s rather hard to mess up a falafel but somehow they did it. Perhaps it was that the sandwich sat out for about ten minutes before they remembered (after my having to ask) to add the fries, which had been sitting in a bin for who-​knows how long. All of this cost me $ 9.14 — including a too syrupy soda.
I chatted with a man and his wife who expressed their disappointment at the Chicago dogs. I have to wonder how their morning went?
UPDATE 10/​22/​2012: Two years later, I received an apology and invitation for a free meal here. That leads me to believe it may be under new management or ownership. I wrote back and asked if this was so but haven’t heard back as of yet.
To be fair and not hang new ownership to past problems, look to the newest reviews for a more timely view into this place.

You wouldn’t think that it would be too difficult to screw up the cooking of a hot dog. Incredibly, many places do in the STL area, but Classic Red Hots is not one of them.
I am happy to have found a place that offers the «true» Chi dogs with the same consistency and taste of my former stomping grounds. Not easy to find, as it is buried in the back in a strip mall, an associate from Chicago turned me toward CRH. A simple hole-​in-​the-​wall with a small counter and 5 wedged in tables, CRH offers dogs (Vienna Beef), Italian beef, and deli-​style sandwiches.
The traditional Chi dog (a special with two, fries, drink for @$ 8) is cooked perfectly with a nice combination of the usual toppings of relish, mustard, pickle, etc., Relish was quite good.
The chili dog was decent, but quite a mess. The chili had a little punch to it, but was too runny. It was more of a dog/​bun dropped into a few ounces of chili. There is a reason they provide a knife and fork as there is no way to pick up the sloppy mixture. The fries were unimpressive and overcooked.
You can obtain discount coupons from their website, which makes it reasonably priced.
Is it up to the places like Portillo’s in Chicago? No, but this is the STL and CRH has probably the best dogs in the area.