NEWINGTON One of the state's renowned destinations for hot dogs will be closing its doors this Friday after 15 years in the Newington community.
As of 2 p.m. on Feb. 28 patrons will no longer be able to stop by and grab a bite to eat at Chef’s Dog House, which has been located at 337 Willard Ave. since its inception in 2010.
“I spent all my life in the restaurant business, and I appreciate that the customers are basically, our family and it's sad to see them go and it's sad to leave them,” said Chef’s Dog House owner Paldin Oushana. “It's not the happiest situation, but I guess they say all good things have to come to an end.”
Oushana said the constant rise of food costs and rent led him to make this difficult decision.
“Our lease was up, and the landlord wanted more money,” Oushana said. “If I decided to renew the lease, I would have to go up on prices and I refuse to go up because it never comes down; even if the price of the eggs come down you never come down.”
Besides hot dogs the restaurant also offers burgers, soups, breakfast specials and more.
“We tried to be as original as we could and come up with different ideas. The question has never been why it's always been why not? Why not mix this and that let's see how it works like one day we decided to make morning dogs, which were bacon wrapped hot dogs with sausage gravy and egg on top,” Oushana said.
Oushana took over Chef’s Dog House in 2015 following a hiatus from the restaurant industry to take care of his two children after the passing of his wife.
“I actually brought my kids to work with me,” Oushana said. “We used to call Saturday's family day because my son, my daughter and myself were working the restaurant together. My son was doing the dishes and helping me with cooking and my daughter was taking orders and taking care of the customers and we tried to keep it a family environment.”
Oushana said the business loved being a be a part of the community and donated any time they could to different events and organizations.
“We were doing very well until Covid hit,” Oushana said. “We still stayed in business and served the community, but Covid took most of our reserves out of us to be able to over last this economy, and it really got to a point where it’s not worth it.”
While Oushana has only solely run Chef’s Dog House for the past 10 years, he has spent the past four decades in the restaurant industry. At 62, he said it might be time for him to relax a little bit.
“The original plan was to do this for 10 years so it's time to move on until the economy picks up and then maybe we'll see what we got,” Oushana said.
Feb 26, 2025
Ciara Hooks
Staff Writer
Ciara Hooks is a reporter with the Record-Journal. She has been with Hearst Connecticut Media Group since 2024. When not working, she can be found trying out the many great restaurants in the state, shopping, listening to music and spending time with family.