Just my opinion, but I think one reason is because of the differences in tastes. What I mean is that hamburgers, by and large, come with a limited selection of toppings (mustard/mayonnaise, pickle, onion, bacon, cheese). But hot dogs are more regional in their toppings, such as the Chicago dog. I think it would be harder to have a national hot dog chain because people in different parts of the country like so many different things on their hot dogs.
I am going to have to disagree with this one too, hamburgers have a huge variety of toppings that also vary from region to region and restaurant to restaurant, and I would guess even more variety than hot dogs. Some places think that lettuce is inappropriate on their chili cheeseburgers, others make things like a pizza burger (marinara sauce, mozerrella cheese, maybe pepporoni as toppings), others decide that sides are silly and incorporate things like fries and cheese sticks. Just to give a big chain example (Red Robin) toppings not on your list that I found by glancing through their menu include:
Fried Egg
Candied bacon
Blue , cheddar , provolone , pepper-jack cheeses
Fried Parmesan cheese
Grilled mushrooms
Grilled onions
Pineapple
Avacado
Fried onions
Fried Jalapenos
Potato Sticks
Chili
Pickle relish
Guacamole
Salsa
A-1 pepper sauce
BBQ sauce
Jalapeno Curry Ketchup
Chipotle Aoli
Portillo’s, a popular chain restaurant (60 locations) in this area (but expanding to California, Arizona, Florida and other areas) is known primarily for their Italian beef, but started out as a hot dog stand. They still serve a damned good dog.
Costco has burgers at their prepared fast food section, but the number served has to be a small percentage of their hot dog sales. This of course is because of the pricing – a 4 oz. dog on a bun and a refillable soft drink costs $1.50. They used to be Hebrew national dogs, but are now their house brand. Still a very nice sandwich – and a great deal.
Ketchup, barbecue sauce, aioli, “special sauce,” spicy mayonnaise, spicy relish, Dijon mustard, jalapenos, red onions, caramelized onions, fried onion rings, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, maple bacon, lettuce, cole slaw, guacamole, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, muenster cheese, and pepperjack cheese are other hamburger toppings I have seen at national chains. That’s not even counting gourmet burger places. I think burger toppings are way more diverse than those for hot dogs.
I worked at a competitor to Swanky’s - Rawley’s, in Fairfield. We got our hot dogs from Roessler’s and they were “all meat” per the owner (ie, a combination of pork and beef) which we deep fried and finished on the grill (the same tiny one where we also cooked burgers). People in SE CT all have their favorite local spots for hot dogs and intense loyalty their preferred place. There would be a line out the door at Rawley’s every lunch day, with most folks getting dogs, dressed with the usual condiments, plus crumbled bacon, cheese and Hormel chili from a can. I could balance a dozen dogs on my arm when dressing individual orders.
i’ve been to Pink’s a few times but the steamed/boiled dogs were not as good (I admit to being spoiled - the crunchy skin of a deep-fried dog is unbeatable) although the variety of toppings and the mechanics of the kitchen/counter service was impressive.
In NJ, where I grew up, the best hot dogs are “Italian,” also deep-fried but served on a wedge of good Italian bread, with deep-fried potatoes and sauteed onions and peppers.
I think that the variety of regional options limits the spread across the country - people like what they’re used to, and wherever you go, a hamburger is pretty much the same, but what people expect from a hot dog can vary considerably
There’s this, too. I can’t really tell a difference in quality from a hotdog I buy at, say, Wienersnitzel and one I get at a gas station. But even the crappiest hamburger from a fast food restaurant is light years ahead of a gas station or 7-Eleven burger.
Never been to Pinks. Mainly because I can’t see going out of my way for a hot dog. The Martha Stewart does sound delish, though.
Tail o’ the Pup was closer to me, but it closed when they were expanding either the Beverly Center or Cedars. They said it would re-open but I doubt it will.
The stand I miss most is The Kosher Burrito. Used to be my stand-by when I was on jury duty downtown.
FWIW - Martha Stewart was a regular at Rawley’s, as she lived the next town over in Westport.
I have found that AM/PM turns out a fairly standard burger with a wide array of topping available. Better than any number of fast food places I’ve eaten. Not great by any stretch, but better than most non-restaurant retail burgers.
Plenty of talk about why hotdogs are now not as popular, but little about the original question, “Why didn’t hot dogs catch on like hamburgers?” I believe it’s because when hot dogs first came out, there was a significant population of first and second generation Americans from Germany, and Italy, France, etc. who looked at those plastic tubes of surgical-appliance-pink meat mush, and said “That’s not a sausage!!” and turned away in disgust.
And, since they didn’t take off, due largely to disgust, they’ve never caught up, even though many Americans have little or no experience with really good sausage.
That’s my theory, and worth every penny you paid for it.
Not even worth that. Hot dogs were frankfurters were authentic German cuisine introduce by German immigrants to the US. Admittedly the bun came later. Frankfurter.
When I was a kid (early seventies) we would drive from Bristol, TN (which actually had a couple of excellent hot dog establishments) to visit relatives in Central NC. If I didn’t specifically say no slaw I always got it (and often I got it when I did).
I would say that pizza is significantly more popular than hot dogs (though still behind burgers) and pizza toppings are similar to hot dog toppings in terms of regional varieties, so I don’t think it’s that.
I liked the comparison to a grilled cheese upthread. Hot dogs are more home food (ie: kid food) than restaurant food.
I think the restaurant industry is missing the boat on wiener potential.
A tube fits better into a human mouth than a disk, unless you are Grommet. A meat tube is better than a meat patty in countless ways. Admit it, don’t you enjoy the mouth-feel of a meat tube in your mouth?
I struggled many years with things falling out of my burgers and other ill-shaped food conveyors, like tacos and pizza. I’ve spoiled too many shirts with their greasy droppings.
Cultured human beings should not have to fight their food to keep it on a proper mouth-to-anus trajectory without cloth-staining fallout—that’s the domain of wild animals in a feeding frenzy, or college kids with pot munchies.
That’s why I roll up much of my food into tubes these days. It’s convenient and it’s mess-free. Tacos? Carnitas? Fajitas? Falafel? Pizza? PB&J? Chicken noodle soup?… Roll it up!
Hot dogs do have a bad rap, probably due to the persistent non-fictional rumor that they grind rat anuses into the product. Rats don’t have cloven hooves, so maybe that’s kosher…but, it ain’t kosher.
There are plenty of sausage types have much more sophisticated reputations, like beer brats. Make a better hot dog and they will buy.
I understand restaurants not wanting to pay for and offer something pre-processed to their customers. So why not buy a sausage-making machine and grind your own proprietary blends of tubed meat? Surely McDonald’s can afford a big sausage machine at their main processing plant. They could grind out all kinds of tubed food with that machine. They’d sell like hotcakes…er, tubecakes!
And, here’s an added bonus to having tube-shaped food: Let’s say you’re on a diet and your spouse is on your case about adhering to it.* Yap, yap, yap*, you’re tired of hearing it. You’re in the living room pigging out on a big burger and you hear your front door latch opening. That’s right, your spouse came home early! Where you gonna hide that disk-shaped burger? You’re busted. But, if you were eating a tubed shaped burger-dog, there’s an obvious orifice into which you could hide the evidence. Hey, drug smugglers do it, you can too.
Here’s a billion dollar product/catch-phrase idea I’m giving to McDonald’s for free: Grind your McCows into all-beef tubes and call it the McWienie Burger; You Deserve a Tube-steak Today!
(Edited)
You need to use New England style hot dog buns and grill them. When you do it right, the bun is much better than the hot dog it contains.
Nah, that just means you have a shitty hot dog if the bun is better than the hot dog it contains. I’ve had the New England hot dog buns in New England, buttered, toasted and all. They are good, but I can’t help but find them really weird. I prefer them used on a lobster roll, to be honest.
A good hot dog, like any good sausage, should be delicious enough to eat on its own, just dipped in a bit of mustard. That said, sometimes miracles do happen. A Skyline dog, on its own, is a pretty shitty hot dog, IMHO. Skyline chili, on its own, is, well, not really meant to be eaten on its own, so far as I can tell. But a Skyline dog with Skyline chili and cheese – way greater than the sum of its parts. A better dog would be wasted, on it. Perfect as is.
Yes, Mr Zox appears not to have actually visited Germany, where frankfurter-type sausages are pretty standard fare (at least around Frankfurt;)). Of course, there are many other kinds available as well.
Nuremberg bratwurst are da boss.
Actually hot dogs started way ahead and hamburgers are the one that had to catch up. In the first few decades of the 20th Century, the hot dog was the favored sandwich, dominant at the ballpark (the source of the word hot dog), the boardwalk, the carnival/fair, and the corner pushcart. Nathan’s was established in 1916. Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island in Detroit were both established in 1917.
Some people have theorized that the “mystery-meat-in-a-tube” aspect of the hot dog has held it back, but back in the day, it was the hamburger that had the dodgy rep. It was associated with greasy spoons and diner cooks who would take steaks past their sell-by date and grind them up for burgers.
It was fast food that put hamburgers over the top. White Castle started in the 1920s, and while it never became a nationwide chain, it was the prototype burger fast food chain. It stressed the freshness of its ingredients and the cleanliness of its restaurants, with its open kitchens. White was consciously added to the name to evoke purity and cleanliness.
White Castle also gave us some key fast-food concepts: the takeaway bag, and packaging for individual hamburgers.
Fast-food chains really started to take off in the 50s and 60s, and the rise was based on the growth of American car culture and suburbinazation. IMHO, one reason that a hot dog fast food chain never really took off is the difficulty of selling them in a drive-through.