Hotdogray is the American hot dog stand inside AI DARTS. Owner Ray started it as a street cart in Taipei's Zhongshan District back in 2017 and has run it ever since. Now it lives at AI DARTS. This post is where Hotdogray came from, why it stays American-style, and the signature pot of chili built on more than a dozen spices.
It started as a 2017 street cart in Zhongshan
Hotdogray began in 2017 as a small cart in Zhongshan District, Taipei. Ray knew a lot of foreigners living in Taiwan back then, plenty of them Americans who really missed a proper hot dog. He and a friend talked it over and decided to run a cart together doing American food, and it just kept going.
From a roadside cart to a spot inside AI DARTS, the food hasn't changed: same recipe, same pot of chili.
Why it stays American-style
Because Hotdogray's customers were American and foreign from day one. What they wanted was the taste from home: a big sausage, a toasted bun, and enough sauce. The crisp Taiwanese-style sausage with ketchup you see at roadside stands is a different thing. From the bun to the sausage to the toppings, Hotdogray goes American, so Americans in Taiwan get the bite that tastes right.
The signature chili: a dozen-plus spices
Hotdogray's signature is the chili: a proper American meat chili. This pot is made the expensive way, with no shortcuts: pure pork, slow-cooked with more than a dozen Mexican and American spices.
Americans and Mexicans who know their food recognise it right away. Plenty of American customers buy the chili by the bag to take home, because chili this authentic is hard to find anywhere else in Taiwan. To try it, order a chili dog at AI DARTS, or add chili fries. See the full menu here.
Now at AI DARTS: eat between legs
Hotdogray later joined up with AI DARTS in Taipei's East District. For customers it means more options: the dartboards are 24-hour self-service, so when you're worn out you call over a hot dog and chili fries, eat properly mid-session, then keep throwing. AI DARTS is Taiwan's first self-service darts bar. How that works is here.
When you can get it
The boards run 24 hours, but the Hotdogray kitchen works a schedule. Food is served roughly every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday plus every other Saturday, from about 8pm to midnight. Come in those windows for a hot dog. On rainy days or special occasions it may not open. The sign on the door or the LINE announcement is final.
Can you take chili home by the bag?
Yes. A lot of regulars come specifically to take chili home by the bag: for their own hot dogs, over fries, mixed into rice, whatever. Ask staff about sizes and prices on site, or ask first on LINE.
In one line: a pot of American chili that's been going since 2017, now eaten between darts legs at AI DARTS. Taipei's East District, boards open 24 hours.