Last updated on May 16th, 2016 at 04:45 pm
Texas Pete Chili Sauce fans may have reason to celebrate. More than one year ago, The Shelby Report published a story online announcing the discontinuation of the popular TW Garner Food Co. hot dog chili sauce. To date, that article has received more than 180—mostly negative—responses. Now, Boone Brands, a company located in Sanford, North Carolina, that co-packed Texas Pete Hot Dog Chili Sauce for TW Garner, is introducing what it says is a comparable chili sauce.
Based on the company’s heritage and experience with canned
sauces, 
Boone Brands has introduced Texas Tailgate Hot Dog Chili Sauce. Texas Tailgate is available in an 8-oz. can and will begin appearing on store shelves in early June. According to the company, those consumers who enjoyed Texas Pete Hot Dog Chili Sauce will find Texas Tailgate offers a similar taste and value. Tom Densmore, VP of sales and marketing for Boone Brands, told The Shelby Report, “When blind tested, viewed and tasted by an independent panel, no one could tell the difference. It is not the same recipe, for legal and ethical reasons, but comparable.”
The original Texas Pete Hot Dog Chili Sauce product contained no meat. At the time of this report, Boone Brands had not released whether its Texas Tailgate chili would be vegetarian.
Patterson’s Hot Dog Chili was first produced in the 1940s and was one of the first canned hot dog chili products sold through supermarkets, says the company.
So, what’s the problem with Pattersons hot dog chili? Have been to just about every store in Piedmont and no luck…how can the best product just disappear?
so is the chilli close to texas pete or not i bought 3 cans of this if its not good i want an apoloigy and a full refund.
We reported what Boone Brands told us about the chili. Hopefully you will be pleased with the product. If not, I’m sure Boone would like to know that.
Agree i literaly will not feed it to my dog we threw the whole can out
I just bought the Texas Tailgate and had one can of Texas Pete left…did a side by side comparison. I was very happy with the test. The consistency is the same, texture is exact, and the can is identical. There was a slight difference in color and flavor. I liked the flavor BETTER in the new Texas Tailgate, and the color is better. Texas Pete was kind of fudge brown, and the new one is more regular brown Chili color. It was a ever so slightly more “chili” flavor with the new one too. Hope this helps. Well worth the 69 cents at Food Lion. I now have 10 in the pantry. Thanks to the folks that made this new version !!!!
Why can I not find this chili sauce in and around the Enterprise or Dothan area? Could someone please direct me to a grocery store that carries this chili.
Thank you for your time!
Have you tried calling/emailing Boone Brands? There is a “contact us” page on the website. Go to boonebrands.com.
I love the Texas Tailgate Chili on my sausage dogs and it tastes as good if not better than Texas Pete. Please don’t change anything about it.
I have tried this chili and am beyond disappointed. I merely bought the chili on the hopes it was similar as the can looks similar. I tried and was pleased with the appearance, color and even smell. I heated the chili and tasted..YUCK! No where close to Texas Pete! I’ve eaten TP since it first came on the market and still have a few cans I’ve saved like a person does wine, I did a taste comparison and had friends and family try who loved TP. I didn’t tell anyone the difference and they all agree, not close. It even had pieces of something one person referred to as like eating a fingernail in it. It looks the same, but don’t be fooled.
That sounds awesome. I eat my fingernails all the time.
I LOVE PATTERSON’S CHILI, but I can’t find it now. I purchased it at my local Food Lion, but now it is not there. Please tell me you will continue making “your” chili — Pattterson’s Chili!
I tried the Tailgate chili in hopes it would be the same as Texas Pete, it is almost the exact same, but there is a slight difference in taste that I can’t figure out. Tailgate is missing something, if I could just figure it out and adjust it then problem solved and I would have my clone of Texas Pete!
i was so disheartened when Texas Pete discontinued their chili sauce because my family has eaten it since I was a kid! Its all I ever bought. I saw the new Texas Tailgate in Food Lion the other day and tried it on our burgers. It is SO MUCH like the Texas Pete recipe its unbelievable!! Yes, there is a slight difference in taste that I cant explain, but it is VERY good, just the same. I have found a chili sauce I am happy with once more, because believe me, when Texas Pete went off the market, I bought and tried every single chili sauce out there, and it was all a waste of my money!
So THANK YOU Texas Tailgate for making such a good chili sauce. We love it!!
We were the same…so bummed Texas Pete disappeared & the past year we have tried EVERY other hot dog chili on the market & didn’t like any. We were so excited when we found Texas Tailgate. We tried it last night & loved it.
I have been looking for Texas Pete hot dog chili sauce. I found it in the Harris Teeter store in Wilmington NC it was stocked this week. I was asking the manager about the sauce he said we had a new can chili in this week. That was it. went home made my homemade chili with added a can of Texas Tailgate Chili Sauce to it. Now I have GREAT CHILI AGAIN.
THANK YOU
We are thrilled that we found a replacement for Texas Pete Hotdog Chili sauce. We prefer the NO fat vegetable based (no meat) hot dog chili like Texas Pete. We were very disheartened when we found out it had been discontinued. We have tried every brand on the market including all our local generic label brands & nothing tasted like Texas Pete..When we saw the Texas Tailgate in the store, we thought it looked very similar to the Texas Pete label and wondered if it was being made again under a different name. We had it last night on our hot dogs & we were very pleased with the taste, texture, & nutrition similarities of the Texas Tailgate as compared to Texas Pete. My husband commented we needed to find it again & stock up to hoard it in case it is discontinued.
I call BS!
There is no way the label, colors, logos, textures, and almost flavors, that Boone and Garner weren’t in cahoots.
But I still have over 30 cans of the Real stuff. One will to the grave with me.
If they didn’t get the recipe from Garner, they came close enough for me! This has the texture and flavor that I enjoyed for so many years with Texas Pete Chili. Don’t know who was the Garner genius that suggested let’s discontinue this Southern Tradition to focus on various hot sauces, but brain dead is closer to the IQ.
Thanks Boone Brands!
It was the CO who made the decision. I have 10 cans out of 12 I got 2 years ago, just saw the new stuff on the shelf and will be trying it tomorrow night.
I was disappointed with the news of TP, but stumbled across this in the store and just decided to try Texas tailgate because it looked like the old TPete cans, highly impressed its good and I may even like it better, if u like TP you will like this.
Tried it, not even close to Texas Pete brand! Bland, flavorless, gloppy, and smells bad (tastes worse)). My meatball sauce recipe is officially retired. 3 generations of a family recipe ends just like that.
I got it y’all….per can, add 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder and one splash of TP hot sauce and I dare you to tell me you can taste a difference!!!! I experimented for months and it turns out it was so simple.
Way to go, Dave! You just made some friends for life.
Hell..if ya don’t like either because of not on shelf or not making it anymore…make your own….all ya need is hamburger, sausage,chili powder,onions, ketchup and lil barbeque sauce… always depending on things in a can….be creative and live a little and quit whining about the small things in Life