Between the Buns

Kennewick, United States

4.4

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 509-987-1091
Website:
betweenthebunshotdogs.com
Address:
3902 W Clearwater Ave Ste 120, Kennewick, WA, 99336
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Drive-Thru
No
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Kennewick) 12:09 AM Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

We specialize in gourmet hot dogs and sausages! We are Tri-​Cities’ original hot dog and sausage restaurant. You can try one of our signature dogs or build your own. Our menu includes a Chicago-​Style dog, a Coney-​Style dog, and much, much more! We serve quarter-​pound hot dogs and local Rider’s German Sausages, and we have over 30 toppings to choose from, including Cream Cheese, Bacon, Pineapple, Tomatoes, Olives, and of course the standard Mustard, Relish, and Onions. Also try our Loaded Nachos or Fries, piled high with Chili, Cheese, and all your favorites!

History

Established in 2008.

We started out as a hot dog cart in downtown Kennewick. We serve the late-​nite crowd in downtown Kennewick with our hot dog cart and we also take it to special events, such as Classy Chassy, Boat Races, and Grapefest. While working the hot dog cart we received lots of inquiries about where people could find us for lunch so we decided to expand. First we tried to expand by finding a daytime location for the hot dog cart but the ability to set up was too inconsistent due to changing weather conditions throughout the seasons, so we decided to open a brick-​and-​mortar location. By doing so we have been able to expand our menu to include new types of dogs and many more toppings. Come have lunch with us today and help support the area’s only hot dog and sausage specialty restaurant!

Meet the Business Owner

Melissa S.

Business Owner

My name is Melissa Smith and I am the owner of Between the Buns! I graduated from WSU-​TC in 2007 and my primary career for many years was as a licensed optician. In 2008 I needed to find a second job and a friend of mine suggested starting a hot dog stand. We opened the hot dog stand (formerly Tri-​Cities Desert Dogs) in 2008 and started working it in downtown Kennewick on Friday and Saturday late-​nites. In 2009 I met Tom Smith and his two beautiful daughters. Since then we have married, bought a fixer-​upper, opened the restaurant location, and had a beautiful baby boy! Yes, we must be crazy! Thankfully we have wonderfully supportive friends and family who have all helped us through these couple of crazy-​busy years. We very much look forward to serving you and to succeeding as restauranteurs.

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20 reviews of Between the Buns

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Place rating: 2
Richland, WA
We’ve been wanting to stop here for a long time, finally we took the time to stop… we were disappointed the first 2 minutes we walked in! I kept urging my partner to leave, he insisted we give it a try, soooo here we go! First off, its very difficult to read their handcrafted and colorful menu while standing at the end of a very long order line. then there’s those apologetic patrons having to get around those standing in line to toss everything but cups, forks, and baskets into the trash or to grab serve r self condiments or eating utensils? Guess it’s ok to toss away the plates, and knives tho? It’s noisy, impersonal, and the dogs weren’t anything special… we were disappointed
Place rating: 5
Pasco, WA
First time. Great service. Must have Tricity Special. It’s the bomb! Tater tots w/​fry sauce were perfect. Great place.
Place rating: 5
Kennewick, WA
Here’s my first review. Love this place I can’t get enough of it. My favorite is the chicken BLT and the pizza dog. Always a great experience when I’m there I literally cannot get enough of this place.
Place rating: 5
West Richland, WA
Between the Buns is a little gem of hot dog goodness. I brought a group of 17 to eat at Between the Buns on A Tuesday at 5:30PM. Between the Buns normally closes at 3 on that day. They open specialty for us that night providing us with friendly sevice and wonderful food. I highly recommend Between the Buns for great food and a fun time.
Place rating: 4
Grays Harbor, WA
They had a myriad of hot dogs. One of their hot dogs was a Coney Island, The sauce included crushed beans. This is NOT a typical Coney Island sauce, which the cashier admitted. I ordered the Southern Slaw Dog, which had cole slaw and bar-​b-​que sauce. Ok, I lived in the South for many years, a «Slaw Dog» does NOT have bar-​b-​que sauce, it has chili sauce. And the «Slaw» used in the south isn’t the «similar to KFC cole slaw,» it’s a different cole slaw, more vinegary. Well, if it would have had the chili sauce, I wouldn’t have ordered it as I don’t like beans, But even though it wasn’t like the slaw dogs I saw in the South, it was very good! My friend that was with me had the Chicago dog and my friend (who KNOWS Chicago dogs) said it was VERY authentic, to include the poppy seed bun, a sprinkling of celery seed salt, and NEON GREEN relish. I had NEVER seen relish be NEON GREEN before. My friend said neon green relish is a «Chicago» thing.
The hot dogs themselves were high quality weiners. I’m wondering if they got the weiners from the well known warehouse that has great hot dogs.
Good French fries! But those are «extra» if you want them.
Can’t comment on prices, I didn’t pay. My friend did.
No place to park an RV. I came here with a friend.
The only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because the coney island sauce, I KNOW, is not a coney island sauce. And the slaw dog isn’t the same as what they do in the South.
Place rating: 5
Kennewick, WA
I cannot say enough good things about this place. The food– crazy good! It’s inventive and new, the menu is fun and fresh! My husband is on a mission to try each one and has yet to find one he didn’t like. I’m more on the picky side but the cheesy hot dog was insanely delicious. If you are looking to indulge and like hot dogs even a little you gotta try this place. The staff is wonderful too, so patient, kind, and really fun! I love this place!
Place rating: 1
Pasco, WA
Friendly Staff, lackluster product. I went here solely based on the reviews and I really wish I would have just gone to Costco. I really wish I would have read deeper into these reviews. There are two things about this place that need reviewing. First, the customer service is really good, in fact if you read the other reviews that is what people say is good about the place. Which is really the only good thing. I really wish I would have saved my $ 6 and went somewhere else. I could have had a much better lunch for A LOT less. My food, which was the Island Dog claims to be smokey, fresh, juicy and delicious all of which it was not. It was at best bland and flavorless. None of the so called toppings were at all fresh, the pineapple was canned the Teriyaki sauce was on there but had no flavor, and the bacon… so, so disappointed. I am pretty sure I wont be going back, or recommending this place. I am sorry but these dogs just don’t cut the mustard!
Place rating: 5
Pasco, WA
I have been to this place a couple times and I am always impressed with their customer service! All the employees are happy and cheerful! Food comes out quick and my order is alway done right. Food is great and ther are so many options to choose from!
Place rating: 3
Granite Falls, WA
Kennewick was our last stop on our month long road trip before we made it home to the Methow Valley on Saturday and since we were only a little hungry we figured a hot dog would do the trick.
The staff was super friendly and helpfull, it was almost like the whole Southern hospitality again… sweet !!!
I got the polish sausage corn dog. The sausage was decent but the corn bread while fried to perfection was really really really sweet… really sweet, way to sweet.
My mom got the rockies dog, with grilled onions, peppers and saurkraut, plus some tater tots. She said it was decent, above average. I hate tater tots, never even liked them as a kid but these were better then most, they seemed to be home made. I would say if you like tater tots then you definately want to try these.
The staff was really nice and they have an amazing selection of dogs but that super sweet corn bread coating on mine really turned me off. The place was packed so maybe it was just the corn dog.
Place rating: 4
Tacoma, WA
Great wiener place in the Tricities. They have a set menu or you can create your own. Although busy, they keep tabs on their customers and when they thought we were waiting too long (which we did not feel we were) profusely apologized and offered discount card for future use. Did I mention the sausages were deelish and their coleslaw was scrumptious.
Place rating: 5
Kennewick, WA
Can’t get enough of this place! Love every flavor I have tried so far and will be going back for more :)
Place rating: 5
Hillsboro, OR
You absolutely need to be craving a hot dog if you come here. While there are a TON of different topping options for hot dogs, their other options are pretty limited. (Loaded nachos /​loaded tater tots are about it in terms of alternatives.)
I ordered the pizza dog with a side of mac and cheese to put on top. My fiancé ordered the nachos.
My pizza dog was DELICIOUS. I loved it. This place does hot dogs right — they are getting high quality sausages, and they don’t skimp on the ingredients. I would definitely come back to try some of their other options.
The chips in the nachos were standard chips and a little salty for me, but the toppings made up for it.
To be honest, the place is kind of a dive. You are within sight of the kitchen, and the tables and chairs reminded me of a dining hall. The majority of their decorations seemed to be kitschy hot-​dog related items. It’s definitely unique. They have a printed menu at the register, but their big board of menu options was hand written on printer paper. There were also t-​shirts advertised for purchase hanging on the walls.
Everyone seemed really friendly. We placed our order and were given one of those numbered signs. When our food was ready, it was run out to us. Halfway through our meal someone came to check in on us that we were happy with our food, and we bussed our own table.
The restaurant did have pretty loud 90’s music playing in the background — if it were up to me, it would have been turned down a notch, but it kind of went with their casual, dive-​y feel.
Overall, they’re specializing in a single thing, and they do an awesome job at that specialization. I was really debating between 4 and 5 stars for this one, but 5 won out just due to their hot dog creativity and how good my meal was.
Place rating: 5
Kennewick, WA
Hey for a hot dog place we were very impressed. Anyone can make a hot dog but their toppings make these out of this world! I had my doubts when coming here as I’m not a hot dog fan but I was pleasantly surprised. Staff is great and the food is made to order and tastes super. The kids loved the Mac daddy hot dogs and wow try the home made macaroni and cheese. It’s amazing!
Place rating: 5
Fort Rucker, AL
Yum!!! Great staff. Love the humor. Soooo good :) we got the bacon Mac and cheese dog. Decided to split it bc it was just a quick snack stop. Great place for a quick bite. Looking forward to coming back again soon.
Place rating: 5
Sapulpa, OK
I am a MAN that LOVES hotdogs of all types! Chicago dog is the BOMB! I ALSO LOVE the hot link as a corndog!
#corndogwithgiddyup
Place rating: 3
Santa Ana, CA
Amazing customer service, ok food.
I tried the tricity special, the bun was very soggy and tasted like I was eating grease, it lacked flavor. I’m a big foodie, I love trying new things but this place, never coming back. Great service though.
Place rating: 5
Kennewick, WA
Really friendly staff. Answered the 100’s of questions we had!
We got the Macdaddy Dawg and the Downtown Dawg. Both super delicious.
We will definitely be back. Thank you!
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
We visit the tri-​cities every few months, having lived here before. This place will definitely be on our list of favorites.
It’s pretty easy to drive by on Clearwater Ave due to the small sign and odd u-​shaped strip mall.
The guy helping us decide to order was phenomenal and very very accommodating and helpful.
We ended up making two dogs for our 8 and 6 year olds (peanut butter on one…) and we got the counterfeit Chicago and tri-​city one with BBQ /​cream cheese/​etc. both excellent!
Customer service was tremendous and the food great. I think fair price and worth every penny spent.
Place rating: 5
Port Monmouth, NJ
This place is exactly perfect. Large bright dooming area fast friendly service and kick ass selection. Creative well executed choices and many different sausages make for an interesting visit or over several visits. The specialty dogs come on a big bun which is needed to hold the ample amount of toppings. I made my way through 2 of them and man. It was a challenge. I’ll admit I left lots of bun behind but needed to sleep in my rental for an hour before going back to my customer site.
The Coney is terrific and holds up to any I’ve had anywhere in the US even my home state of NJ. The Tri City is a bacon sautéed onion tipped spicy sausage with sweet BBQ sauce and cream cheese this was KILLER!
Bottles drinks refilled by one of the any friendly workers. I think my guy was the boss but he was humble kind and personable just like the counter lady.
Mucho success guys I loved this place!
FoodDude, I’m nominating this place for Triple D!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
The person who gave this restaurant a 1 star review is either delusional, lives at the Four Seasons hotel, or most likely has a personal grudge against either this restaurant or hot dogs in general (childhood trauma?).
Not only did they «not mess up» a hot dog, which is hard to do, but they exceeded my expectations. I’ve had the Chicago dog at Sonic among other fast food type places across the country so that’s what I ordered yesterday to gauge against what I know. It was delicious! The hot dog itself was very tasty which is unusual because I get sick of hot dogs for being too salty/​greasy quickly. It was large and juicy. The buns were obvious STEAMED (not warmed up in a microwave) so it really annoys me that someone would even say that like they know what they’re talking about.
The toppings were definitely fresh. Some like pickled toppings obvious are PICKLED so they come from a can. Genius. I ordered a side of nacho cheese sauce to go with my fries but didn’t need it because they have that amazing «fry sauce» which I am always trying to make on my own in restaurants by mixing ketchup and mayo. How freakin convenient!
I like how they have punch cards for free dogs or a free tshirt if you try all the different flavors. I will definitely try to achieve that while I’m in town for the next 3 months. It was a great place to get a cheap, filling and tasty lunch!
Everyone was extremely nice and I like the map they have on the wall where you put a pin where you’re visiting from.