# Lesser Known Local Foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 15, 2026, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704 "2026-01-15T05:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/241 "2026-01-29T18:05:04Z")
I think it is just the Polish Boy. But when I buy a Polish Boy from a vendor cart in Cleveland it is just a Polish sausage on a bun with Stadium mustard. The “Famous” Polish Boy also has french fries in the sandwich and barbeque sauce and coleslaw. Disgusting. I wouldn’t even look at one let alone try it. My favorite drive in near Oberlin, Ohio has sauerkraut and chili dogs and both combined which is called a Hillbilly Dog. That’s not bad. As they said in Pulp Fiction, “No, that seems excessive. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/242 "2026-01-29T18:18:36Z")
If regional hot dogs count as a “local food”, the Seattle Dog is a thing. It’s pretty good too. > **[Seattle-style hot dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle-style_hot_dog)** > > A Seattle-style hot dog, locally referred to as a Seattle Dog or a Bagel Dog, is a hot dog served in a bun slathered with cream cheese. In Seattle, the dogs are sold from food carts, especially outside stadiums on game day and as a late-night meal outside the city's music venues. > The Seattle-style hot dog was invented in 1989 in the Pioneer Square neighborhood by Hadley Long, a vegetarian food vendor from Ohio, who operated a bagel cart on the sidewalk between the Central Saloon and J&M Cafe and... For the most part it’s just adding cream cheese to a hot dog, though typically the bun is toasted rather than steamed, which is also a bit distinctive. Other than that you can add plenty of other toppings, but the cream cheese is the defining touch. I like banana peppers as well on mine. (Pickled jalapenos are a pretty classic topping, but I can’t handle anything that spicy anymore, banana peppers are as spicy as I can get without risking my health.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/243 "2026-01-29T23:58:43Z")
Another hot dog from the Northwest: [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVHQ491-Hj_9iKc12MeENmuTwkV9_zB1CJ2F_CqErmdg&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVHQ491-Hj_9iKc12MeENmuTwkV9_zB1CJ2F_CqErmdg&s=10) Vancouver, BC’s Japadogs are topped with dried nori, Japanese mayo, and teriyaki sauce and sometimes dried bonito flakes. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/244 "2026-01-30T02:10:53Z")
wait, a vegetarian invented this hot dog sandwich? Did he use meat hot dogs? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/245 "2026-01-30T02:22:19Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Vancouver, BC’s Japadogs are topped with dried nori, Japanese mayo, and teriyaki sauce and sometimes dried bonito flakes. I’ve never had that but that sounds delicious. Those sound like the kind of toppings you’d have on takoyaki (which I absolutely love). > [@fedman1](#): > > wait, a vegetarian invented this hot dog sandwich? Did he use meat hot dogs? Yes. He was a guy from Ohio trying to sell bagels in Pioneer Square (where I worked for years by the way) in Seattle, and included only vegetarian toppings from his cart, but people wanted meat. So he said fine, and took a traditional cream cheese bagel and put a hotdog on it. And folks loved it, apparently. So when that became a hit, he transitioned to getting bagel-like buns and making hotdogs with them. That caught on and evolved into what is now a Seattle dog. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/246 "2026-01-30T02:26:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > Vancouver, BC’s Japadogs are topped with dried nori, Japanese mayo, and teriyaki sauce and sometimes dried bonito flakes. > > I’ve never had that but that sounds delicious. Those sound like the kind of toppings you’d have on takoyaki (which I absolutely love). The carts are all over Vancouver (always my first meal there). Apparently, there is also a cart on Santa Monica Pier. I looked for it a few years ago but it wasn’t there that day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704.md?page=12)