Hot Dogs Across the U.S.A.

I got curious as to how hot dogs vary between the states. See, originally I’m from New York City, and I used to eat tons of hot dogs from the street vendors, so I know it gets to be a habit. Anyway, I let my fingers do a little walking, and here is a rundown on hot dogs per state.

Arizona—Hot dogs there at known as Sonora-style or Estilo Sonora. There are hot dogs that have been wrapped in mesquite-smoked bacon and grilled or cooked on a griddle. They're topped with beans, grilled and fresh onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, cream sauce, mustard, and jalapeno salsa or sauce. This is all served on bread with a side of fresh-roasted chili.

California – The word on the coast is hot dog restaurants and chains and a lot of fantasy. In LA, Pink’s Hot Dogs does a promotion for their celebrity customers and has a large variety of chili dogs. There’s Hot-Dog-On-A-Stick, similar to corn dogs, and if you’re really hungry, there’s Wienerschnitzel, which advertises that it’s “The World’s Largest Hot Dog Chain.” For a real taste treat, street vendors offer the “Downtown Dog” or “Danger Dog,” which is a Mexican-style hot dog wrapped in bacon with grilled onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, mustard, ketchup, and salsa. You can get the Original Oki Dog; this one’s two hot dogs wrapped up in a flour tortilla covered with chili and pastrami.

Connecticut—You can find hot dogs on soft buns loaded with sauerkraut, onions, and pickled chili.

Georgia – We’ve got the “scrambled dog.” It’s a chopped-up hot dog covered with chili beans, onions, and pickles, and oyster crackers are served as a side.

Illinois—Here you come face to face with a real taste treat: the Chicago-style hot dog, which is a steamed all-beef hot dog in its natural casing, and it comes topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sliced or wedged fresh tomatoes, a dill pickle spear, sweet pickle relish, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt plopped on a steamed poppy seed bun.

Kansas and Missouri – The Kansas-style hot dog is a pork sausage in a sesame seed bun, which is then topped with brown mustard, sauerkraut, and melted Swiss cheese.

Maine—offers a hot dog in its natural casing, which is red in color, and these dogs are referred to as red snappers.

Massachusetts—In Boston most of the hot dogs are not grilled but come steamed. (pictured above) The most common toppings are ketchup, mustard, relish, piccalilli, and chopped onions.

Michigan – serves up a chili dog known as a Coney dog, which includes a beef and pork hot dog in a natural casing on a steamed bun and topped with a beanless all-meat chili, diced yellow onion, and yellow mustard.

New Jersey – They’ve got potato dog and it includes diced, stewed potatoes, which are combined with brown mustard and served on a spicy hot dog. There is the traditional Newark-style dog; this one’s made by cutting a round “pizza bread” in half or quarters and cutting a pocket into it. The inside is spread with mustard, and a deep-fried hot dog is added and topped with fried onions and peppers and topped off with crisp-fried potato chunks

New York – serves up all-beef hot dogs with mustard, sauerkraut, and sweet onions in a tomato based sauce. Upstate New York offers the white hot or “porker” served with spicy brown mustard.

North Carolina—hot dogs served up with chili, slaw, and onions, and at times mustard can replace the slaw.

Ohio—famous for its Cincinnati chili—serves hot dogs topped with chili and cheese.

Rhode Island has hot wieners on steamed buns topped with meat sauce, which is seasoned with cumin, paprika, chili powder, and allspice, and the sauce is then covered with finely chopped onions, celery salt, and yellow mustard.

Washington—Believe it or not, Seattle serves their hot dogs with cream cheese and grilled onions on a toasted bun.

West Virginia – serves up hot dogs with yellow mustard, chopped onions, chili, and coleslaw.

I don’t know about you, but this trip through the states made me hungry, and because I don’t get hot dogs regularly, I’m going to try to make these state by state.