Carlos’ Hot Dogs

Best $ 8 meal, hands down. For $ 8 you get a gigantic Polish sausage (slathered in a delicious sauce) plus chips, a soda and desert. Please check this please out!

I worked in downtown St. Louis for 4 years, and would usually make the trek to Carlos’ stand 1−2x a month. So so good. I really enjoyed the chicken breast when he had it, but he discontinued it unfortunately. He said it wasn’t cost-​effective. But anyway, one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever had. We even talked him into playing a game for our indoor soccer team once! (He was a goalie in Portugal years ago.)

There’s nothing like a having a nice grilled hot dog on a warm summer day. I found this gem while walking to Starbucks and decided to give it a try. Let’s just say that I am more than happy that I did. Carlos is a total sweetheart and offers some great lunch deals.
I’ll definitely be back before I leave the wonderful city of St. Louis and on return visits to St. Louis.

My partner and I were travelling to St. Louis and were craving for a hot dogs. After Unilocaling, we decided to walk a couple of blocks in downtown to give this stand a try.
To my surprise, the polish sausage is way bigger than expected! It’s like putting 2 regular sized hot dogs together into one. I don’t even know where he went to get the bun to go with it. We’re from California, and this would be considered more than plenty!
Carlos was very friendly and personable. He was smiling & chatting with us the whole time to get the food prepared for us. The polish sausage is grilled over real fire, with cuts into the polish to thoroughly cook it throughout. He has a special blended sauce that he sprays onto the sausage which marinates & glazes it while it’s under the fire. For the condiments, he loads you with tons of it: ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, and BBQ Sauce! I thought adding BBQ sauce to a to a hot dog was definitely a new twist.
For the price of around $ 7 you get: a large hot dog, a can of soda (your choice), a bag of chips, and a choice of sweets (imagine Hostess). Was the price worth it? Eat the entire darn thing and you will surely find out ;)
If you totally want to experience a nice comfortable meal without all the frills of dining in a restaurant, I definitely recommend trying out the hot dogs here.

Friendly and fast… worth a trip. Will be back.

The best polish sausage I’ve ever had. I wish he would post whether he’s going to be there or not, though, on a web site. I walk all the way there, and sometimes I’m disappointed. :(

Carlos is St. Louis’ (Louis’s? whatever) only street vendor Downtown (at least that I’m aware of), so I’m happy to support him and his endeavor.
There’s nothing fancy going on here — Polish sausages, brats, and hot dogs, all grilled over fire (yay!) and you can get them loaded with the usual toppings. And for another $ 1, you get a can of soda and a bag of chips (mostly normal offerings, but I did see a couple bags of kettle potato chips). But what lacks in fancy makes up for taste and having some «city» in the City.
As noted by Howie, he’s a really nice guy and he’s out there during the weekdays for lunch. Frankly (no pun intended) I can’t imagine how much business he would do if he hung out on Washington Avenue at 2:00 AM.

Ahh Carlos, nicest, friendliest dude.
I’m not the biggest fan of hot dogs (except baseball dogs), but Carlos cooks them over a fire, not boiling them. Huge plus!
Polish sausage, chips & soda for $ 5, what a deal. Brats and jumo dogs are good as well.
STL needs more street vendor food!

Carlos sets up his cart on a small corner at 6^th and Olive most business days (weather permitting) to serve up a fast lunch downtown. By 10 AM you can smell the smoke of grilled hot dogs, brats, and polish sausage wafting through the streets, easily distracting you from more expensive lunch offerings. While they’re sizzling, Carlos bastes the kosher sausages with a special olive oil concoction including rosemary and garlic for maximum flavor. He’s got plenty of condiments to dress your dog if you’d like, but you won’t need it.
Walk up to his hot dog stand next chance you get, and for only 5 bucks you can trade your non-​tasty money for a juicy jumbo hot dog or bratwurst, bag of chips, and a soda, and you’ll leave with a satisfying lunch faster than you can place an order elsewhere.