Dogs

Customers can mosey right up to the deli case and take their pick of sausage: pork, beef, and chicken are all up for grabs, to be grilled and tucked inside buns ...

Hot dogs are part of the culinary culture in a meat-loving city like Chicago. Chicago-style hot dogs are some of the most storied dogs around. A fixture in the local hot dog scene, Biker Jim slings exotic sausages from food carts, a concession stand at Rockies Stadium, and his own brick-and-mortar restaurant, Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs, the home base for any number of gourmet hot dogs with one-of-a-kind toppings. However, with some of the most creative hot dogs in the country, this is exactly what New Orleans' Dat Dog does. With locations in Warwick and Allston, the vibrant restaurant offers inventive takes on traditional American comfort foods like hot dogs, burgers, and fried chicken. For the ultimate New Orleans experience, get the Snappy Dog, an alligator sausage that blends a bit of the bayou with flavors from the Southwest. Each snappy hot dog comes layered with cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, chipotle mayonnaise, and barbecue sauce in a traditional, slightly sweet hot dog bun. A quarter-pound all-beef hot dog is the go-to, but customers can also swap in a spicy Louisiana hot link or a veggie dog. What makes hot dogs here so unique and omnipresent has a lot to do with the simplicity of it all. The ritual lives on at hot dog temples like Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island. However, Detroit is a city that values tradition and innovation — the latter of which you can taste at Vinsetta Garage. The bread, a thick Mexican bolillo bun akin to New England-style lobster rolls, is buttered and griddled with a unique technique that adds richness to a crispy bacon-wrapped hot dog. Among the many regional hot dog variations, one style that stands out is the Sonoran hot dog. The casual, colorful eatery is the vision of Nick Pihakis, who partnered with Pete Graphos, the founder of historic Sneaky Pete's Hot Dogs in Birmingham, Alabama. Together, they created an Atlanta original that combines old-school and contemporary. Along with burgers, ice cream, and barbecue, hot dogs are iconic American comfort food that shines in the summer months.