Hot Dog Thread

[Nighthawk 0]

I had a couple things to say about hot dogs. People do tend to think a lot about hot dogs. I've seen like, multiple shows about it on TLC.

 

 

Now the best hot dogs I ever had were from a place in LA called Cupid's, but they were really expensive. Close second is Nathan's, and I've been to the original one in Coney Island. I like their dogs with the chili peppers on it. The Dodger dogs at Dodger stadium are good too. I don't even like baseball, but whenever I wound up at a game, I had the hot dogs to look forward to.

 

The street vendor dogs in NY are pretty good in a Jetson's food type of way. They're like two biters. I feel like a skinny Asian when I eat those. In that vein, at Krystal (and possibly White Castle, I haven't been to WC in years), they have tiny little chili dogs called Pups, and those are great if you're in the mood for that.

 

There's a chain here called Kasper's while is pretty good, and also a rip off one called Casper's, which is pretty good in it's own right, but not quite as much so. My favorite at Kasper's is the nacho cheese dog.

 

If it's not chili or cheese or peppers or something like that, my standard topping is mustard and onions. I'm one of those guys who gets disgusted by the idea of ketchup on a hot dog. I also do not like relish. I can handle saurkraut, but it's not my favorite.

 

Also, I love corn dogs. The best kind are the hand dipped kind you get at the carnival. I once found the batter to make those at home, and it was great, and I actually never found it again. I even asked at the store, and they said no, they didn't have it anymore and didn't know who would. I also dig the cheese dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick (like a corn dog, but there's just cheese in them). A guy I know works at Hot Dog on a Stick and makes $13 an hour. He's also the kind of guy who enjoys wearing the ridiculous outfit they have to wear.

 

Store bought hot dogs, I usually go for kosher, preferably Hebrew National, but Ball Parks and Oscar Meyer are ok. I don't like Armour hot dogs, I think they taste terrible. They lied to me through song. I hate when people do that.

 

And that's what I think about hot dogs.

[Matt Young 0]

Portillo's FTW.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Cupid's is across the street from my school. It's terrible. You might be talking about a different place, though, as there are a lot of Cupid's Hot Dogs in LA.

 

There's always Pink's. The one where there are two chili dogs in one bun is a bargain. Unfortunately, the line just to order at this place is longer than the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. There's just no reason to stand around that long.

 

 

[treble 0]

I didn't think Nathan's was anything special. Most hot dogs taste pretty much the same to me, though.

 

There is a place, though, down the street that sells steamed hot dogs for 69 cents a piece, that's good for a snack. It's a chain, Billy K's, but I'm not sure how big it is, I've only ever seen one more of them. You get a ton of fries with their combos, but their drinks are tiny.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Pink's has the best hot dogs. If anyone here is ever in Portland, OR, I highly recommend this one place called SuperDog in the South Park Blocks in downtown. It's down the street from my school, so I stop in there fairly often, and they make a damn good hot dog, if a bit pricey.

 

Best chili-topped burger or hot dog in the fast food world though, also goes to another L.A. based chain- Tommy's. There's an imitation of it called Tommie's, which is pretty bad, but Tommy's makes seriously great chili dogs and burgers. Most of them will even put an egg on your burger as well, which makes it extra awesome. But that's off topic.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

I don't usually eat hot dogs. The only time I'll eat em is at a baseball game. I have to put ketchup on them. Yes I said it, I eat hot dogs with ketchup.

[godthedog 0]

never had a nathan's, but i love me some gray's papaya.

 

in home cooking, ballpark all-beef are my favorite. i used to buy 5-pound bags of them at sam's club.

[Darthtiki 0]

Cupid's is across the street from my school. It's terrible. You might be talking about a different place, though, as there are a lot of Cupid's Hot Dogs in LA.

 

There's always Pink's. The one where there are two chili dogs in one bun is a bargain. Unfortunately, the line just to order at this place is longer than the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. There's just no reason to stand around that long.

 

It depends on when you go, most times I'm in and out in 15 minutes (parking the car to leaving). In the summer's it is awful though no matter what, like when I took my girlfriend who was visiting last week.

[NoCalMike 0]

Parker's Hot Dogs is good, they have a ton of different styles.

 

Personally my fave way to do up a hot dog is:

 

Mustard

Chopped Onions

pickle slice down one of the sides

 

Saurkreut/Relish are acceptable when I am in that particular mood.

[CanadianChris 0]

I'm doing research for my trip to NYC next month. Assuming you had to choose one or the other -- Nathan's or Gray's Papaya?

[NYU 0]

I never thought Grey's Papaya was all that special. Go with Nathan's and make sure to get a side of cheese fries. Nathan's might be the best fast-food place for fries. If you're going to eat unhealthy, you might as well go for the whole thing.

[Nighthawk 0]

I just laughed pretty hard cause I was watching a special on morbidly obese people, and this one guy slimmed all the way down to normal, but then gained almost all of it back, and he said almost exactly the same thing you just said. "Once I lost all that weight, I wanted to celebrate, so I went down to Nathan's for a hot dog. One hot dog. It's my favorite food. But then you can't have a Nathan's hot dog without french fries... and you can't have french fries without melted cheese... and it just spiraled out of control."

[Darthtiki 0]

Parker's is ok, but I'll give Pink's the advantage. I do want to try a real Nathan's (not the home version) and a Papaya King in addition to a Superdawg or a Chicago dog from Byron's in Chi-town. Matt where's the Portillo's around here?

 

Also, I do love me some Dodgerdogs (grilled of course)

[Nighthawk 0]

Re: hot dog places in LA.

The infamous Law Dogs, where you get free legal advice with every purchase on Wednesdays. I've seen it on lots of those TLC shows I mentioned. I passed there every day on my way to school, and ate there lots of times (good, but I wasn't blown away), but never got the free legal advice. I regret this now, cause I can't help but wonder what form it was in and how good the advice was. Was the owner a disbarred lawyer? Did you have to read law books to get hired there? Or was it just somebody talking out of their ass? I just don't know. I'm in LA every couple years or so, I've really gotta do that sometime.

[Guest •]

The SoCal Portillo's is at "Buena Park Downtown." For the win, indeed. I love their shakes. They ain't bullshittin' when they say "large shake." Thing's a tank.

 

My favorite hot dogs are from a place called Peep's in Arlington Heights. It's a true hot dog stand. Vienna Beef neon signs, some generic 80s poster that just says "CHOCOLATE SHAKES" on it with a picture of a shake, the front page of the Tribune after the Bears won the Super Bowl, all that jazz. Nothing about the place has ever seemed to change, while everything around it at that intersection has. That makes it special for me, a scared-of-change type. The hot dogs are great, too, as are the Polishes and Italian beef. The only problem with Portillo's is that there's too much atmosphere. It's too dark and loud and restaurant-y, which is ideal on some occasions, but me, I like the dated no-frills feel of a true Chicago hot dog stand.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Re: hot dog places in LA.

The infamous Law Dogs, where you get free legal advice with every purchase on Wednesdays. I've seen it on lots of those TLC shows I mentioned. I passed there every day on my way to school, and ate there lots of times (good, but I wasn't blown away), but never got the free legal advice. I regret this now, cause I can't help but wonder what form it was in and how good the advice was. Was the owner a disbarred lawyer? Did you have to read law books to get hired there? Or was it just somebody talking out of their ass? I just don't know. I'm in LA every couple years or so, I've really gotta do that sometime.

 

It's the same for me...I always passed by this place, but never even stopped there. That was long before I decided to go and try every obscure restaurant and mom 'n pop store in LA. Law Dogs is long gone, now. The business that took over the building is even gone. It's empty, now.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Maybe their legal advice wasn't so good after all.

[King Kamala 0]

I've had a lot of good hot dogs but I can't say I've ever had a truly great one. Probably because Portland (Maine) is probably the farthest you can get from a hot dog mecca. Outside of the couple hot dog carts here in the summer, we don't have a single hot dog place. We used to have a couple Chicago Dogs but they all closed down before I went there so I wouldn't know if they were any good or not. Stupid health conscious Mainers!

 

 

I have a hard time eating any hot dogs that aren't all beef. Beef are the best kind by far, without a shadow of a doubt. The worst is turkey hot dogs, my dad used to get them whenever he got hot dogs for us as kids. They're just terrible. Awful.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Fort Wayne has the whip-ass Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, which is actually a kinda cafe, really. Older than hell looking on the inside. Yellow ceiling tiles, chintzy shit all over the walls. Fuckin' awesome chili dogs.

 

I am not offended by ketchup on a hot dog. I just like to keep whatever I put on one low-profile. Fuck those hot dogs with so much crap on them that they gush everywhere when you take a bite.

[Vern Gagne 0]

My hot dogs are usually commando. Save the occasional ketchup or chilli appearance.

[Brett Favre 0]

Nathan's is probably my favorite. And it annoys me when people get annoyed at people who put ketchup on their hot dog. It's my freaking hot dog, who gives a shit what's on it?

[King Kamala 0]

People who like ketchup on hot dogs are Philistines. Philistines I tell ya!

 

 

But honestly I've learned not to care so much if people want to slather their hot dog with ketchup. Different strokes for different folks. Go ahead and ruin your hot dogs.

 

 

One thing I've been meaning to try that I saw on The Food Network. They were showing one of their dozens on hot dogs and they showed a recipe for Venezualan Hot Dogs which are hot dogs with cabbage, onions, mayonaise, mustard, ketchup, and crushed potato chips on top. Something about that seems oddly appetizing though I'd probably go light on the ketchup and mayo (Mayo on a hot dog doesn't sound right)

[Nighthawk 0]

It's not so much that I'm annoyed with ketchup as it is that I'm disgusted. I mean, I don't really care, but you know...

 

Actually there is one instance in which ketchup is less gross. When you grill them on the BBQ. I remember I once ate six of those with ketchup. Ketchup is good with charcoal.

[King Kamala 0]

The only time I like ketchup is a little on a chili dog.

 

 

Man, I haven't had a chili dog in 2 or 3 years, I got to have one before the summer ends.

[Brett Favre 0]

One thing I've been meaning to try that I saw on The Food Network. They were showing one of their dozens on hot dogs and they showed a recipe for Venezualan Hot Dogs which are hot dogs with cabbage, onions, mayonaise, mustard, ketchup, and crushed potato chips on top. Something about that seems oddly appetizing though I'd probably go light on the ketchup and mayo (Mayo on a hot dog doesn't sound right)

 

I've eaten those before.

 

They also have big ass hamburgers with most of that stuff on them in Venezuela.

 

[Guest Vitamin X]

The tiny crunchy potato sticks (you can't really call them fries or chips) seem to be a pretty big Latin thing for hot dogs and burgers. They always put that stuff on my food when I was in Miami. I'd get it with just mayo, mustard, and those little sticks, plus occasionally some sport peppers. Not too bad.

 

Hot dogs I'm getting nowadays are mainly from that hot dog place I mentioned, I get a big Boca veg. sausage "Portland style"- mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and melted swiss cheese on top. So good.

[Nighthawk 0]

Those potato sticks taste like cum.

[Guest MRK]

Since Nathan's has franchises all over the place, you don't have to go to Coney Island to enjoy a Nathan's hot dog. Papaya King and Gray's Papaya are ok.

 

As for store bought prepackaged, I only buy Nathan's. Hebrew National is good too. Sabrett's is ok. They are the only ones that taste like "beef." All the other brands are garbage. Oscar Meyer, Ballpark, Armour, John Morrell, etc., claim their hot dogs are made from beef but they look like white meat, like pork. If beef is not colored white, why the fuck are their hot dogs white.

[Guest •]

Vienna Beef, guys. It's the one true way, I'm tellin' you.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The hot dog I had from Target was surprisingly good.