Americans will eat approximately 150 million hot dogs on July 4th. Not over the weekend. On the day itself. That is a number that requires a moment of genuine reflection — and possibly a glass of water — before anyone starts talking about the history.
The hot dog’s origin is genuinely contested, which is fitting for a food this American. Both Frankfurt, Germany and Vienna, Austria claim to have invented it, which is why we call them both frankfurters and wieners depending on the day. The most specific claim comes from 1487, when Frankfurt credits itself with creating the Frankfurter — five years before Columbus sailed, which means the hot dog technically predates European knowledge of the Americas.
A German butcher named Johann Georghehner is said to have developed the dachshund sausage in Coburg in the 1600s and traveled to Frankfurt to promote it. Vienna points to the term Wiener as self-evident proof. The origin story has never been resolved, and at this point both cities have been arguing about it for four centuries, which is arguably the most European thing about a food that became definitively American.
The hot dog arrived in the United States the way most things did — through immigrant hands. A German immigrant began selling dachshund sausages from a pushcart on the streets of New York in the 1860s, served on a milk roll with sauerkraut. In 1871, Charles Feltman opened a hot dog stand on Coney Island and sold 3,684 of them his first year in business. In 1893, sausages became a baseball game staple when St. Louis Browns owner Chris Von de Ahe — a German immigrant and bartender — started selling them at games. The same year, the Chicago World’s Fair drew enormous crowds who consumed sausages by the thousands from street vendors because they were cheap, portable, and required no utensils. The hot dog was finding its format.
The name itself appeared in print for the first time in 1892 in a New Jersey newspaper — “The ‘hot dog’ was quickly inserted in a gash in a roll” — which is both the first usage and possibly the least appetizing description of any food in American journalism. In 1916, a Polish-Jewish immigrant named Nathan Handwerker took the $300 he had saved working at Feltman’s stand and opened his own competing shop on Coney Island at a lower price point. Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs is still there. Feltman’s is not.
The connection to the Fourth of July was sealed in 1939, when President Franklin Roosevelt served hot dogs to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at a Hyde Park picnic — the first British monarchs ever to visit the United States. Roosevelt reportedly told the king to push the hot dog into his mouth and keep chewing. George VI, by most accounts, complied. A sitting American president feeding hot dogs to the British royal family on American soil is as July 4th as anything gets.
The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest formalized the holiday connection in the 1970s and has been running on Coney Island every July 4th since. Joey Chestnut holds the all-time record at 76 hot dogs in ten minutes, which is a number that also requires a moment of reflection. The contest draws tens of thousands of spectators and millions of television viewers, making competitive eating one of the few sports where the Fourth of July is the championship. July is also National Hot Dog Month, in case the 150 million eaten on the 4th alone felt insufficient.
As for where the hot dog belongs on the flavor spectrum: the Chicago dog is the most codified regional style — an all-beef frank on a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, relish, tomato, pickle, onion, sport peppers, and celery salt. No ketchup. Chicago is extremely serious about the ketchup. The New York dog is simpler — mustard and sauerkraut or onions, minimal architecture. The Texas dog does what Texas does: adds chili, cheese, and jalapeños and calls it done. All three have their advocates and none of them are wrong.
WHERE TO FIND A GREAT HOT DOG IN DALLAS RIGHT NOW
Angry Dog at 2726 Commerce Street in Deep Ellum has been the Dallas hot dog institution since 1991. The room is a proper dive bar — dark, loud, the walls covered in local music memorabilia — and the hot dogs are the real thing. The Angry Dog comes with chili, cheese, and jalapeños. The Chicago Dog is dressed correctly. The Texas Chili Cheese Dog is the one that earns repeat visits. Order a cold beer alongside anything on the menu. Open daily from 11am. Phone is (214) 741-4406.
Kuby’s Sausage House at 6601 Snider Plaza has been a Dallas institution since 1961. It is a German market and restaurant that has been making its own sausages — Polish, weisswurst, knackwurst, bratwurst — for over sixty years, and if you want to understand what a hot dog was before it became an American pop culture object, this is the place to start. Served with mustard and sauerkraut, alongside spaetzle and schnitzel if you want the full picture. Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm.
Hunky’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers at both the Oak Lawn and Bishop Arts locations has an underrated hot dog — the Hay Dawg, a grilled frank on a brioche bun with fried onions, chili, cheddar, and relish, best with a side of fried pickles and the house banana pudding. It does not get the attention of the burgers. It deserves more.
Portillo’s, the Chicago chain with DFW locations in Addison, The Colony, and Fort Worth, makes the Chicago Dog the way Chicago makes it: all-beef frank, poppy seed bun, yellow mustard, relish, tomato, onion, pickle, sport peppers, celery salt. No ketchup. If you want to understand what Chicago is so defensive about, this is the most accessible version of the argument in North Texas.
At Globe Life Field in Arlington — where the Texas Rangers play — the hot dog lineup goes well beyond the standard ballpark frank. A brisket dog, an enchilada dog, a pizza dog, and the traditional all-beef frank are all on the menu. Cold beer, 40,000 seats, and a hot dog in hand is one of the better July 4th weekend scenarios available in North Texas regardless of whether there’s a game on.
One more: Cowtown Dogs is a Fort Worth-based food truck that sampled thirty brands of hot dogs nationwide before settling on its 100% beef frank seasoned with a proprietary spice blend. The hot links — beef and pork, hickory-smoked — are the other option worth knowing. Monday through Friday 10:30am to 5pm. Check Instagram for current location.
One hundred and fifty million hot dogs today. Get yours early.
