By: Andy Kryza

Credit: Andy Kryza/Thrillist

The hot dog has gotten a bad rap recently. Which is all the more reason to seek out the best hot dogs our nation has to offer. There are some who say that hot dogs are a simple man’s food. Those people are called traitors, and they need to be tried as the turncoats they are, because the hot dog is a true symbol of American ingenuity (much like the other 49 foods on our list of the most American foods out there): hand-held, inexpensive, and basically stolen from another country and relabeled as American. And while not all hot dogs are created equal, there are some out there, hidden among the stadiums and food carts of the world, that are fit for a king.

Tracking down the 21 best hot dogs in the country was not an easy task. But we traveled far and wide, consulted our in-house experts, and made endless wiener jokes in the pursuit of the nation’s greatest tubed meat. We’re sure to have missed some, too, so let us know where we should be eating in the comments. Hold the ketchup.

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Credit: Jeff Waraniak/Thrillist

Lafayette Coney Island

Detroit, MI

Look, we could split hairs like everybody else and say that the best coney is from Lafayette and American, the two pioneering Detroit hot dog joints that operate next door to one another. But that’s a cop-out. And we could go with any number of great, lesser-known coney spots in what this writer believes to be the second-best hot dog city in America (sorry, Flint Town for life!) – Duly’s, Leo’s, Joe’s, you name ‘em – but that would be denying the truth: Lafayette makes the best coneys in Detroit. Maybe it’s the Spanish onions on top of that sloppy chili. Or maybe it’s just everything about them, right down to the snap.

Simones’ Hot Dog Stand

Lewiston, ME

Why are Maine’s “red snapper” dogs bright red? Is it because, after so many lobster rolls, Mainers are confused by bunned foods of any other color? Is there a weird fetish about satanic nether regions? Honestly, we don’t care why they dye the natural-casing wieners bright red. All we care about is how good they taste, especially when steamed up by Simones’ (you can get them grilled too… don’t) and served with a little splat of chili and cheese. Like a lobster roll, they’re served on a split-top bun. Unlike a lobster roll, they’ll cost you $4.

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Credit: Flickr/Rowena

Puka Dog

Koloa, HI

Pukas are not just those shells your bro Chad insisted on wearing throughout his college career; they’re also Hawaii’s contribution to hot dog culture. In an act of reverse engineering, a hunk of sweet bread is impaled on a hot stick, effectively toasting it from the inside while leaving the outside fluffy. It also leaves a hot dog-shaped hole in the bun. Luckily, it’s a hot dog place. In goes the Polish dog, on goes the fruit relish, and up goes your cholesterol. It’s magnificent!

Weenie Beenie

Arlington, VA

Look, we’re not saying you shouldn’t go to Ben’s Chili Bowl for a half smoke, the DC area’s big, fat, smoky take on the hot dog. Go. Get crammed in. It’s worth it. But we are saying that you should also be hitting up Weenie Beanie, which claims to have invented the damn thing at its original (and now only) location, and still makes perhaps the best, sans the hype. It’s a simple, old-school walk-up window that opens at 6am daily… the perfect time to top a half smoke with a runny egg.

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Credit: Flickr/Alyson Hurt

El Güero Canelo

Tucson, AZ

Yeah, everybody and their mother calls out Daniel Contreras’ hot dog stand for being possibly the best Sonoran dog in the country. But guess what? Mom’s sometimes right. The bacon-wrapped frankfurter is topped with chopped tomatoes, pinto beans, a pinch of onions, a line of basic yellow mustard, jalapeño sauce, and a squiggle of mayo. It’s basically a hot dog burrito, but with a Mexican bolillo roll instead of a tortilla. Every dog here is the same. No substitutions. No problem.

Walter’s Hot Dogs

Mamaroneck, NY

Oh, sure, it’s on the National Registry of Historic Places. So are 90,000 other places, and most of them don’t have hot dogs. So what makes Walter’s – housed in a Chinese-looking roadside pagoda since 1928 – so special? Butter. That’s right. Walter’s pork, beef, and veal dogs are grilled and crisped in delicious butter before being split, hit with butter sauce, then grilled again… in butter. Go easy on the toppings here. A little mustard will do the trick.

Credit: Flickr/stu_spivack

Angelo’s Coney Island

Flint, MI

Flint-style coneys differ drastically from their Detroit brethren. First, instead of the wet, gloopy Motor City chili, Flint’s got a dry, all-meat chili made from random offal and ground-up hot dogs (mustard and raw onions remain essential). Second, a true Flint Town coney is 100% local, thanks to the city’s Koegel Meat Company, a factory that makes, for my money, the best goddamned hot dogs in the country. And nobody knows how to treat a Kogel vienna quite like Angelo’s, which makes its own sauce and grills the dogs to a snappy perfection 24/7. Flint has undergone a ton of changes over the past 70 years. The one constant is Downtown’s Angelo’s, where coneys and gravy fries are sometimes all the light you need.

Top Dog

Berkeley, CA

There’s a little bit of everything on this Berkeley institution’s menu, from Louisiana-style hot links to brats, linguiça, and an excellent smoked chicken sausage with apple. But the franks – grilled just enough to keep the snap in tact – are the draw here, loaded onto a grilled sesame bun. The kosher all-beef frank is a thing of simple beauty, but our hearts are set on the German-style version, which throws a little pork and garlic into the mix for a little extra oomph.

Credit: Flickr/rayb777

Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace

Columbus, OH

The Vienna Beef dog and the poppyseed bun at this Columbus place might make you think it’s aping Chicago – and, indeed, it does in fact have a Chicago dog on offer – but Dirty Franks is like a national tour of styles, from coneys to Sonorans to Southern slaw dogs. But when this place gets frisky, it really goes off. The Cowgirl Carmen is like a cross between a Detroit dog and a Frito pie, while the Sarva’s comes covered in tot-chos, which are exactly what they sound like. There’s also the Glenn Beck, cleverly described as “a plain, old wiener.” Unlike its namesake, it’s also pretty great.

Hot Dog Heaven

Fort Lauderdale, FL

While trendier Floridian places are bastardizing the great American institution of the hot dog by trying to make it healthy with fish and tofu and other crap, Hot Dog Heaven’s been offering a taste of Chicago that has made it a classic. Nothing too fancy here. Just delicious Vienna Beef on a steamed poppyseed bun, dragged through the garden or hit with cheese, kraut, chili, or slaw. And lest the place’s dingy appearance and simplicity make you think it’s just a standard hot dog spot, take note: none other than Vienna Beef named it the first National Historic Vienna Hot Dog Stand in the country. Oh, and the burgers are good too. But get the hot dog.

Credit: Flickr/Brouhaha (Jonathan)

Rutt’s Hut

Clifton, NJ

The legendary rippers at this American classic look like they could have been the victim of a terrible crime. Tossed in the fryer, the meat inside the casing plumps up with such a vigor that the skins actually break, leaving the dogs looking half dead. But what they lose in snap they gain in crispy, frayed casing and tender meat, augmented by a mustard-based relish. They haven’t changed since 1928. This is a very good thing, since there are no dogs quite like these legends.

Happy Dog

Cleveland, OH

Simply offering up a buttload of weird toppings does not a great hot dog make. And make no mistake, Happy Dog has weird toppings in spades, from peanut butter to SpaghettiOs, Andy Capp’s Hot Fries, Froot Loops, and more. But the fact is, even without the weird factor, Happy Dog – which is also a bar! – just makes a damn fine dog. And while delicious offerings like the Seattle style with everything-bagel cream cheese or a bánh mì-inspired sausage are great, a simple dog with caramelized onions is just fine, too. You can take the Froot Loops to go.

Credit: Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM

The Varsity

Atlanta, GA

Ever since 1928, The Varsity’s been an Atlanta icon, and one of its most popular spots. So thank God the drive-in can hold 800 people (with parking for 600 cars). For real. And each and every person will be faced with the same question: what’ll ya have? Easy. A chili dog, which’ll run you less than $2.50 and will become one of your all-time favorite examples of simple pleasures. Get two, a side of thick-cut onion rings, and the Frosted Orange drink. Then kick back in your car and try not to get any on the seat.

Olneyville New York System

Providence & Cranston, RI

Hot wieners. Go ahead. Get it out of your system. Okay. Ready. Good. Because hot wieners – STOP! – are also called New York System dogs. But they’re indigenous to Rhode Island (the intent was to get them confused with New York’s famous meat tubes). Even weirder, their signature toppings are like a cross between Chicago’s and Detroit’s, with celery salt, thick meat sauce, mustard, and onions topping a thin, snappy dog. There are many like it, but the original at the classic Olneyville remains the best. Or hottest. Wiener.

Credit: Jason Moore/Thrillist

Luscher’s

Dallas, TX

Of course one of Dallas’ most beloved chefs makes hot dogs. And of course they’re absolutely incredible. We’re talking all-local meats, scratch-made dogs, homemade poppyseed buns, the whole shebang. The offerings – which also include house brats, Italian sausages, and Polish monsters – range from sport-peppered takes on red hots and depression dogs, to a very Texan chili-cheese dog with added corn chips. Even better, in direct opposition to Chicago tradition, this place won’t throw you out for asking for ketchup. These are dogs you’ll wish you could eat any time of day. And thanks to an egg-topped, breakfast sausage-based breakfast dog, you can.

The Vanguard

Milwaukee, WI

In a city that takes its sausages as seriously as Milwaukee, it takes a lot to get on a list of the 50 essential eats in the city. And while the Vanguard does great things with brats, its hot dogs steal the show by representing cities of tubed-meat lore, including a Pittsburgh dog dressed up like a Primanti sandwich and a cream cheese-covered Seattle dog. But you’re in Milwaukee, so opt for the city’s namesake dog, which comes with cheese curds, cheddar cheese, and Cheez Whiz for good measure.

Credit: Flickr/stu_spivack

Asiadog

New York City, NY

For the most part, New York hot dogs fall into three categories: dirty, free-with-a-drink, and vessel-for-piling-a-ton-of-stuff-on-top-of. And since the latter tends to offer up the best variation (sorry, entire city of New York, but it’s true), you better make sure that stuff is spot on. At Asiadog – its booths and its brick-and-mortar – said toppings include Japanese curry with homemade kimchi apples, BBQ pork belly, or a straight-up hot dog-version of bánh mì, complete with pate, cucumbers, pickled carrots & daikon, cilantro, and jalapeño.

Gene & Jude’s

River Grove, IL

Oddly enough, the very best Chicago hot dog you can get doesn’t technically reside in Chicago, as Gene & Jude’s relocated to nearby River Grove in 1950 after four years in the Windy City. You’ll find the rendition here blessedly simple for those who find the full-on salad atop many Chi dogs to be a bit much: just mustard, relish, some onion, and a few sport peppers atop a perfect, natural-casing Vienna Beef dog. Oh, there will also be a mound of delicious fries atop said dog. But there will be NO ketchup. Even for your fries. Seriously. You don’t need it.

Credit: Keane Amdahl/Thrillist

Uncle Franky’s

Minneapolis, MN

Uncle Franky knows that sometimes you need to return from a meal covered in as much dairy and meat juice as possible, and to accomplish that goal he basically smashed a coney dog and a Philly cheesesteak together in a flurry of ground chuck, Vienna Beef, and enough Whiz to make Khalifa jealous. Ever the gregarious and kind entrepreneur, Franky also offers the option to get your dog grilled or deep-fried, though the default option, steamed, is the best bet here.

Dat Dog

New Orleans, LA

First off, there are 17 dogs on the menu, ranging from classic wieners to turducken dogs and alligator sausage. The toppings are just as varied: everything from andouille sauce to crawfish étouffée and guac. While this entire set-up would be blasphemy in hot dog towns (looking at you, Chicago), go ahead and load everything you want onto that sourdough bun. Or just pick a sausage and ask for chef’s choice when you get overwhelmed. Either way, get the cheddar bacon ranch fries and then ponder why you never realized duck sausage, wasabi, and sour cream went so damn well together.

Credit: Flickr/snowpea&bokchoi

Franks ‘N’ Dawgs

Chicago, IL

You must love a city that spans all class structures of tubed meats: Chicago’s good for sating basic hot dog needs with a minimalist depression dog, and the demands of high-society hot dog hunters alike. Frank ‘N’ Dawgs meets the requirements of being a "gourmet” dog joint without jumping the shark. Your breakfast-for-lunch option is the brunch dog, made with Slagel Farm pork loin breakfast sausage that’s ground in-house and comes with smoked bacon, a fried egg, and a drizzling of maple mayo. You’d also be wise to add the Krazy Kimchi and Muscles from Brussels to your to-eat list, and you’ll even get to pick a different disgraced celebrity mugshot as your order placard each time (hold out for professional wiener-shower Brett Favre).

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