A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago dog, or Chicago red hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a

poppy seed Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...

bun, originating from the city of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The hot dog is topped with yellow

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

, chopped

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, bright green sweet pickle

relish A relish (a pickle-based condiment) is a cooking, cooked and pickling, pickled culinary dish made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs, typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a p ...

, a

dill pickle A pickled cucumber – commonly known as a pickle in the United States, Canada and Australia and a gherkin ( ) in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand – is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been Pickling, pickled in ...

spear,

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers (a variety of ''

Capsicum annuum ''Capsicum annuum'' is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America. The plant produces Berry, berries of many color ...

''), and a dash of

celery salt Celery salt is a seasoned salt used to flavour food. The primary ingredient is Salt#Edible salt, table salt and the flavouring agent is ground seeds from celery or its relative, lovage. It is also sometimes produced using dried celery or seed oleo ...

. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered, or less often grilled over

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

(in which case they are referred to as "char-dogs"). The canonical recipe does not include

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...

, and there is a widely shared, strong opinion among many Chicagoans and aficionados that ketchup is unacceptable. A number of Chicago hot dog vendors do not offer ketchup as a condiment.

History

The hot dog arrived in Chicago through

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Pork sausages have been known in Frankfurt since the 13th century. Sometime in the 19th century a butcher in Vienna added beef to the sausage mixture. He called this a "wiener-frankfurter". Eventually reaching Chicago, franks served in buns became popular at fairs and baseball games. Reportedly the pork-free and kosher-style all beef frank was originated by Fluky's in 1929. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

they were sold for a nickel out of carts along

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east–west street in Chicago, Illinois, that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ...

. Two Austrian Hungarian immigrants sold their Vienna Beef franks at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. Vienna Beef became a major producer of hot dogs and by the early 2000s was one of the major suppliers for hot dog carts. The celery salt is a result of the existence of many north side celery farms, even Lakeview being a celery farming area up until the 1920s.

Variations

The "dragged through the garden" style is heavily promoted by Vienna Beef and Red Hot Chicago, the two most prominent Chicago hot dog manufacturers, but exceptions are common, with vendors adding

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

, omitting poppyseeds or celery salt, or using plain relish or a skinless hot dog. Several popular hot dog stands serve a simpler version known as the "Depression Dog": a steamed natural-casing dog with only mustard, onions, plain relish and sport peppers, wrapped up with hand-cut

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

, while the historic Superdawg

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or Drive-in theater, movie theater) where one can driving, drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by ...

s notably substitute a pickled tomato for fresh. Many vendors offer a Chicago-style dog with cheese sauce, known as a cheese-dog. Boz Hot Dogs locations offer a unique nacho cheese sauce with pieces of

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

peppers. Some vendors, such as Byron's Hot Dogs, add lettuce and cucumber to their Chicago-style dog. Though vendors in Chicago and elsewhere label their product as a Chicago Hot Dog, the official definition is of a kosher dog (such as Vienna), a steamed poppy seed bun, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle Chicago-style relish, a

spear,

slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers (a variety of ''

''), and a dash of

Preparation

Chicago-style hot dogs are cooked in hot water or steamed before adding the toppings. A less common style is cooked on a charcoal grill and referred to as a "char-dog". Char-dogs are easily identifiable because very often the ends of the dog are sliced in crisscross fashion before cooking, producing a distinctive cervelat-style "curled-x" shape as the dog cooks. Some hot dog stands, such as The Wieners Circle, only serve char-dogs. The typical beef hot dog weighs , and the most traditional type features a natural casing, providing a distinctive "snap" when bitten. The buns are a high-

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain Cereal, cereal grains. The term ''gluten'' usually refers to the elastic network of a wheat grain's proteins, gliadin and glutenin primarily, that forms readily with the addition of water ...

variety made to hold up to steam warming, typically the S. Rosen's Mary Ann brand from Alpha Baking Company. Chicago-style hot dog Johnniebeefs

The traditional "neon-green" relish is prepared by simply adding blue

food coloring Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...

to sweet pickle relish until the natural yellow hue turns a deep green.

Restaurants

The

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

has more hot dog restaurants than

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

, and

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

restaurants combined. A "hot dog stand" in Chicago may serve many other items, including the

Maxwell Street Polish A Maxwell Street Polish consists of a grilled or fried length of kielbasa, Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and Mustard (condiment), yellow mustard and optional pickled whole, green List of Capsicum cultivars#Capsicum annuum, sport pepp ...

, gyros, pork chop and

Italian beef An Italian beef is a sandwich of American origin, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served with a thin gravy on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild ...

sandwiches,

corn dog A corn dog (also spelled corndog and also known by #Name variations, several other names) is a hot dog on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal Batter (cooking), batter and Deep frying, deep fried. It originated in the Unite ...

tamales A tamale, in Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tam ...

, pizza puffs and

Italian ice Italian ice is a semi- frozen sweetened treat composed of finely granulated ice and fruit concentrates, juices, or purées, or other natural or artificial food flavorings.U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationCFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 2 ...

. The restaurants often have unique names or architectural features.

Popular and historic vendors

* Fluky's * Gene & Jude's * Hot Doug's (closed) * Portillo's * Superdawg * Redhot Ranch * The Wieners Circle * Woody's Chicago Style

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago-Style Hot Dog Cuisine of Chicago Hot dogs Celery