Then there’s the char-grilled “char-dog”, which is terrific at Weiner’s Circle, where they only serve hot dogs cooked that way. There’s the classic Chicago dog “dragged through the garden” that is a steamed all-beef frankfurter on a poppy-seed roll with sliced tomato, raw chopped white onions, yellow mustard, bright green sweet relish, pickled sport peppers, celery salt, and a pickle spear (but never ketchup), reportedly invented at Fluky’s in 1929 (sadly, the only Fluky’s left is at a Wal-Mart in Niles, IL). We won’t go there because there are so many different types of hot dogs in Chicago (likewise, for pizza).

Then there are the arguments within Chicago about who has the best hot dogs. Which city has the best hot dogs: New York or Chicago? People will argue this forever, but based on my experience Chicago wins hands down for best hot dogs in the country. Superdawg, Chicago – photo by The Jab, 2003 (For more hot dog history visit the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council’s web site, where I sourced this info). Also in 1893 the oldest mention of the term “hot dog” on record occurred in a Knoxville newspaper. In 1893 hot dogs became popular at baseball parks and sold like hot cakes (or rather like hot dogs) at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (sold by a pair of Jewish immigrants from Vienna who later founded Vienna Beef, Chicago’s most popular hot dog manufacturer). It is a fact that hot dogs were first sold in New York City, either by a German immigrant from a cart in the Bowery in the 1860s or by Charles Feltman, a German butcher who opened the first Coney Island hot dog stand in 1871 (his employee, Nathan Handwerker, started Nathan’s in 1916). In any case the American hot dog on a roll is what we are concerned with here, which was reportedly already a German custom to eat sausage on a roll.

Yet another claim is that a butcher in Coburg, Germany, invented the hot dog sausage in the 1600s and brought it to Frankfurt. However, the city of Frankfurt, Germany, claims it invented the frankfurter or “dachsund sausage” in 1497. Sausage dates back to the 9th century BC (mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey), while the type of sausage used for hot dogs is similar to Weinerwurst or Vienna Sausage, which originated in Austria. from European immigrants, but its European origins are disputed. One of my favorite historic hot dog restaurants, and tops in the country for original vintage decor, George’s Coney Island in Worcester, Mass, was one of my first blog posts a few years back. Since it’s National Hot Dog Day I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorite hot doggeries around the country.

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