Few foods feel more American than the hot dog, a mainstay at ballparks, street carts and Fourth of July barbecues.
But to simply call hot dogs “American” is to miss a whole lot of nuance, and potentially offend local connoisseurs across the country. How to prepare and eat a hot dog is a matter of regional pride.
Which is the best? The answer is probably the one you grew up with.
Here are just some of the forms a hot dog can take across the U.S.:
Throughout
New York City, you can still find carts selling boiled hot dogs (Sabrett’s and Nathan’s are two of the big names.) These boiled hot dogs are affectionately known as “dirty water dogs,” though the dirty water is actually a spiced brine that keeps the wieners hot in stainless steel tanks.
A classic NYC dog is usually served with sauerkraut, spicy brown mustard and Onion Sauce, which features sliced onions in a spiced, tomato-based sauce.
“There’s something about a simple, extra snappy, extra salty dog nestled in a fluffy bun that brings me a ton of joy," says Isabel Tzeng, a ceramicist in New York City and a fan of the classic New York dog.
She makes an annual pilgrimage to the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog location on the Coney Island boardwalk. Nathan's holds its well-known annual hot dog eating championship there each July 4.
Over in Chicago, software engineer and city native Zach Cmiel likes his dogs with the full Chicago-style toppings: “mustard, neon relish, onion, tomato, pickle, sport pepper (a type of pickled pepper) and celery salt.”
Chicago-style hot dogs are grilled over an open flame. The steamed buns almost always have poppy seeds. No ketchup is allowed.
Cmiel cites Gene and Jude’s, Guthrie’s Tavern and The Wiener’s Circle as his lifelong go-to places. At The Wiener’s Circle, the dogs are grilled until blackened and split. While you’re ordering, you can expect to be yelled at by the staff, and you are allowed to respond in kind.
Cincinnati is another hot dog capital. You’ll find theirs topped with chili (finely textured, all meat, no beans), mustard and onions, and then a mountain of shredded cheese. The perfect Cincinnati dog is topped so heavily with cheese you can’t see what else is beneath it.
Detroit-style Coney dogs feature a beanless beef chili or meat sauce, and again mustard and onions. Not too far away, in Flint, Michigan, there's a Coney dog with a dry crumbly meat sauce, as opposed to the soupier meat sauce served up in Detroit. The Coney-style chili was brought to Michigan by Greek and Macedonian immigrants in the early 20th century, and has developed a fierce following there.
In Kansas, you might find yourself in a hot dog argument (and who are we kidding? You might find yourself in a hot dog argument in any of the 50 states). One camp says their Reuben-style franks should be the official Kansas-style hot dogs, while others lean into the state’s barbecue heritage and think the perfect dog is topped with burned ends, Kansas City-style barbecue sauce and something crunchy like frizzled onions.
The Sonoran hot dog, popular in Arizona, got its origins in Mexico and features a bacon-wrapped wiener, hot pinto beans, grilled and raw onions, diced tomatoes, mustard, jalapeno salsa, and mayo or crema. It is served on a soft, sweet, canoe-like Mexican roll called a bolillo.
Elsewhere, West Virginians love their “slaw dogs,” especially when ordered “all the way” with a meaty, beanless chili, coleslaw and chopped onions.
“Any type of chili is a bonus and I’ll take slaw if that’s available,” says Boo Phillips of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, though he acknowledges that “half of it will end up on my lap.” He makes a point of eating hot dogs whenever he travels, but is a big fan of Bill’s Hot Dog Stand closer to home, in Washington, North Carolina, established in 1928. And he’s very anti-ketchup.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has a mini but quite specific hot dog culture. At Hot Dog Ranch (94 years and counting), veteran cook Jordan Adams says the bestselling all-beef “everything” dog is served with a secret-recipe Coney sauce (that beanless meat chili) that’s mixed up every few days by one hand-picked employee before the shop opens.
It’s also got yellow mustard and chopped onions. The franks are about 4 inches long.
Upstate New York boasts a robust hot dog culture. At Nick Tahou’s Hots, a Rochester hot dog mecca since 1918, the Garbage Plate is a mountain of food including baked beans, home fries, hot dogs, mustard and a heavily spiced thick meat ragu. It is most classically consumed with buttered bread and macaroni and cheese. And I’m guessing maybe an antacid after.
In Tonawanda, a suburb of Buffalo, Ted’s Hot Dogs kind of mashes the dogs against the grill grates until they are squished, charred and crusty. Not as juicy as other methods, but a treat for those who like grilled food unmistakably grilled. They’re served with a house-made hot sauce.
Baltimore has frizzled hot dogs, which are split and fried in oil. Washington, D.C., has large, crunchy, spicy half-smokes.
There is one beloved mainstay across the country.
“My favorite hot dog EVER is the humble Costco hot dog," says Tzeng, who says she has eaten them at Costcos around the world. "This is the hot dog of the people, the great equalizer.”
Costco's hot dog and drink special costs $1.50, and has since the 1980s.
However you dress yours, the hot dog remains one of the great democratic foods — cheap, fast, infinitely adaptable, and capable of inspiring the kind of loyalty usually reserved for sports teams and family recipes. Argue about toppings all you want. That’s kind of the point.
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Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.
