No to ketchup, what about cheese?

Normally when I have a hot dog in Chicago, I have it plain or with melted cheese on top. Am I violating any hot dog conduct rules doing so?

Hot dog snobs deserve to be laughed at by everybody.

Hell no.

Shredded cheese and hot dogs are made for each other.

Screw liquid/melted/nacho. Shredded all the way.

I wouldn’t, only because I don’t like cheese, but I feel like it’s a pretty common way to eat a hot dog. Or do you mean is it violation specifically of Chicagoland’s fascist agenda? In that case, I’d watch my step.

As far as I’m concerned, the only hot dog rule of conduct is “put whatever you want on it.”

Cheese and hot dogs are a winning team.

Damn straight! I personally go with hot fudge and casu marzu for that delightful combination of sweet, savory and maggoty :D.

The Hot Dog Shoppe in East Liverpool, Ohio offers fantastic all-beef hot dogs. I always get mine with their signature melted-cheese sauce and a generous line of ketchup. Yummah!

Not a “cheese on” fan. I don’t want cheese on my hot dog or my hamburger.

I’ll have cheese on a burger, but cheese only belongs on a hot dog if it’s on top of chili.

It’s not a “Chicago dog,” but it’s not illegal.

No cheese on my dog thanks…unless you add chili and onions.

I’ve lived here pretty much my whole life, and cheese on a hot dog has never been an issue. That’s exactly how I used to eat it as a kid. No shredded cheese, though, but slices.
Most hot dog and hamburger stands don’t even have shredded cheese. We have chili cheese dogs, too (and about the only thing hot dog stand chili is good for. Well, it’s actually good in a chili tamale/tamale boat, but that’s a pretty regional thing, too.)

And 99% of places don’t care about the ketchup thing, and for the ones that do, it’s a bit of schtick and branding. (I’m not a ketchup guy, though, and most Chicagoans aren’t when it comes to hot dogs. Ketchup people take this shit too seriously. Nobody actually cares what you put on a hot dog. Cover it in shit and chocolate syrup if you want.)

Personally, I’m a mustard, relish and onions guy, but then I’m not from Chicago. If I were, I’d have to abide by the official Chicago Wieners and Condiments Act of 1996, or something like that.

Mustard, relish, and onions is absolutely acceptable, and that’s the standard topping for a number of revered Chicago hot dog stands (including Gene and Jude’s and Jimmy’s, both places known for not having ketchup on their premises.) That’s also the way I eat my dogs here in Chicago, although I usually add sport peppers (a type of pickled hot pepper–kind of like those little green Tabasco peppers, but bigger than that) to the mix.

Remember Frank N’Stuff which stuffed the cheese (or probably Cheeze) inside the hot dogs for you?

I’m OK with *most toppings on hot dogs. My only gripe is that unless it’s just a hot dog with only mustard or ketchup on it, the toppings can easily start overflowing the bun. If I were making my own hot dogs, I’d use a bun big enough to hold whatever toppings I was going to add. (In my case, probably mustard, onions, and chili).

*Except cole slaw. I don’t care much for cole slaw as a topping on sandwiches, but at least in these parts, it’s common hot dogs and BBQ sandwiches. No thanks.

You can pretty much get them to melt cheese over ANY food item you order in Chicago.

(I like chili-cheese franks, too, but they don’t seem to have a geographical center.)

Push tush!

There are RULES that need to be followed, my boy! What would our lives be without strict RULES with which we all must comply? Mere ANARCHY!

Don’t put ketchup on your hot dog. It is against the rules.

For me, it’s never registered as a way to eat a hot dog at all, let alone a common way. Of course I am a New England bun, yellow mustard kind of hotdogger.

I really like the cheese that comes on a Cincinnati-style coney. The massively huge… unreasonable amount of cheese…