# Fast food hot dogs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011 "2008-03-04T06:59:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/1 "2008-03-04T06:59:20Z")
Why don’t the major fast food restaurants serve hot dogs? Are they less profitable than burgers? Nathan’s has no problem doing it, why not the others? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/2 "2008-03-04T07:18:18Z")
Because then they would need large, cheap pork supply lines, I imagine. Chicken and low quality beef are probably easier to lay hands on. Plus, hot dogs are something of a niche foodstuff in the US. In Germany, you can get high quality sausages on buns at the little stands in the train station. And I mean, these are the kind of sausages that your mom would save for impressing the in-laws, served on fine china with pasta. Right there, on the number 4 platform, stuffed into a bun that has been carefully toasted on the inside. Different cultural bent. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/3 "2008-03-04T08:06:39Z")
“Sonic” serves them. I don’t know if they’re in your area, but I’ve been to Sonics in both Pennsylvania and Texas. ETA: I don’t know if you’d consider Sonic “major,” or you mean just the big three (McDonalds, BK, and Wendy’s). Judging by the amount of ads they’re running, though, it seems to be growing. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/4 "2008-03-04T09:52:22Z")
I seem to remember Burger King had hot dogs when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/5 "2008-03-04T10:17:07Z")
Hardee’s used to serve hot dogs; I’m not sure if they still do or not, what with their sudden fascination for oversized hamburgers. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/6 "2008-03-04T10:51:46Z")
McDonalds did them here in the UK for a while, but they didn’t seem to catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/7 "2008-03-04T12:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Because then they would need large, cheap pork supply lines, I imagine. Chicken and low quality beef are probably easier to lay hands on. [/QUOTE] Nathan’s hot dogs are [all beef.](http://www.nathansfamous.com/nathans/inside/htmls/menu_main.php) ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/8 "2008-03-04T12:35:12Z")
Speaking of hot dogs. The best I ever had was in Chicago at a place called _Hot Diggety Dog_ just around the corner from my hotel. Jebus but they were delish, especially the chili dogs ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/9 "2008-03-04T12:35:29Z")
A&W, Dairy Queen Braziers, and Skyline Chili serve them. I believe Hardee’s no longer serves hot dogs; I know they phased them out while I worked there in the early 1990s, so unless they were brought back in the interim, they’re gone now. At the time, Hardee’s had its menu spread across way too many concepts-- in addition to the standard hamburger/fish fillet/salads+breakfast menu to compete with McDonald’s, we had hot dogs, roast beef sandwiches, fried chicken, sub sandwiches, and pizza pockets, along with weird concept burgers that took a lot of prep table space and time to prepare. Hot dogs got cut along with much of the other extraneous stuff when the restaurant chain began to spiral down. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/10 "2008-03-04T13:21:53Z")
Five Guys sells hot dogs, although they’re not quite the styrofoam-flavored uber-automated fast-food format. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/11 "2008-03-04T13:29:04Z")
The answer has showed hot dogs are sold at fast food places. You can’t cook everything for everyone and sustain good service and food quality. You do have to limit the menus at food places or you’d have slow food service and bad food once it got busier than a snails pace. You also have to maintain a stock of food for everything they offer, which is a problem for freshness, waste and tied up capital. The place will carry what sells good and fits the type of food in demand, which is close to the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/12 "2008-03-04T15:27:10Z")
I think the answer is that it’s easier to cook a hot dog at home than a hamburger. Add to that their availability at convenience stores, street vendors, etc, and the result is less demand at restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/13 "2008-03-04T15:33:21Z")
I’d suggest a simpler reason chains like Hardee’s and Burger King dropped hot dogs: they just didn’t sell enough to make it worth the trouble. The Hardee’s I worked for in '74 had hot dogs, but my gut feeling is we didn’t sell twenty of 'em in a day. I guess folks who lusted after fast-food weenies just automatically went to Pup-N-Cup - er, Dog-N-Shake. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/14 "2008-03-04T15:47:11Z")
[Obviously the OP doesn’t live in California or Texas.](http://www.wienerschnitzel.com/locations.php) ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/15 "2008-03-04T15:56:21Z")
\>\>Teensy hijack\<\< There’s a place in Rochdale, Lancs. that sells Cumberland sausage on a half baguette every market day. Onions, mustard etc readily available. This is possibly Rochdales only redeeming feature Bury, also Lancs. Sells hot black pudding and mustard again on market days. Bury is slighter better than 'Dale ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/16 "2008-03-04T16:09:47Z")
Hardee’s still sold hot dogs last time I went there looking for one. Okay, two. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/17 "2008-03-04T16:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] You can’t cook everything for everyone and sustain good service and food quality. You do have to limit the menus at food places or you’d have slow food service and bad food once it got busier than a snails pace. You also have to maintain a stock of food for everything they offer, which is a problem for freshness, waste and tied up capital. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if this is necessarily true. All the [Yum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yum%21_Brands%2C_Inc.) restaurants infamously started merging into each other in the late 90s. The result was fast food locations with full menus for multiple chains. [KFC/Taco Bell](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.764752,-122.477732&spn=0.006683,0.01045&z=17&layer=c&cbll=37.763618,-122.478216&cbp=1,285.8164208701736,,0,-2.226017358562162) is the most common, and that particular location used to have a Pizza Hut as well. I’ve always wondered myself how they managed to keep all the various menu items straight, but they’re figuring it out somehow. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/18 "2008-03-04T16:24:42Z")
Somebody above beat me to Wienerschnitzell which are all over Texas. I have never been to one-the concept is gross to me. I actually ate part of a Sonic hotdog, I had a coupon. It was nauseating to me, but my dog liked it. 🙂 It’s true in Germany you can get excellent sausages on good bread all over, but my wife claims the chain Wienerwald is quite bad. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/19 "2008-03-04T16:27:45Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Hardee’s still sold hot dogs last time I went there looking for one. Okay, two. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t be _too_ surprised if they came back on the menu at some point (or if individual franchises kept them). Of all the food lines carried by Hardee’s, hot dogs were the least space-, labor-, or time-intensive. (Biscuits and chicken were the most laborious, and the original version of the roast beef took hours to cook.) It really involved nothing more than having a couple of packages of hot dogs and buns on hand, a minute’s labor prepping a dozen dogs in the morning, and 30 seconds or so in the microwave whenever an order came through. I can’t wait until someone starts a thread about roast beef sandwiches; 15 years later, and I still rant about how Hardee’s f’ed those up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011/20 "2008-03-04T16:28:35Z")
**Wienerschnitzel** is in Utah, too. They always bothered my advisor (A Real German Professor, from Germany, who looked and acted like what you think a German Professor ought to), who complained that you couldn’t actually get “Weiner Schnitzel” at one (Basically Breaded Veal Cutlets: [Wiener schnitzel - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_schnitzel) )-- all the served was Americanized sausages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-food-hot-dogs/440011.md?page=2)