LIFESTYLE

Seattle Dog beats Chicago, New York styles for best hot dog in America

Jul 1, 2026, 6:57 AM | Updated: 3:01 pm

seattle dog hot dog america...

Closeup of a Seattle-style hotdog. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)

(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)

With Fourth of July barbecues on tap, Seattle has been ranked the top city for hot dogs in America.

Seattle’s hot dog, also known as a Seattle Dog, has earned the title of America’s best regional hot dog in a New York Times Wirecutter taste-testing video.

A Seattle Dog is loaded with cream cheese, grilled onions, and sometimes jalapeños, beating out seven other regional styles from around the country. Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, helped the Wirecutter team make this decision.

“What the cream cheese does very well is navigate well into the sweetness of the onion, the mustard and the jalapeño,” Andrés said in the video. “Almost becomes a diplomat the brings everything together.”

The Seattle Dog topped a New York-style hot dog (served on a potato roll with onion sauce, sauerkraut, spicey brown mustard), a Chicago-style hot dog (served on a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, Chicago-style relish, diced onions, tomatoes, pickle spears, sport peppers, celery salt) and Detroit’s, which comes with a potato roll, yellow mustard, diced onions, and coney sauce.

Other regional hot dogs considered were Cincinnati’s (which comes with yellow mustard, skyline chili, diced onions, and shredded cheddar cheese), West Virginia’s (served with yellow mustard, diced onions, chili sauce, and coleslaw), Kansas City’s (made up of sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing, and caraway seeds), and Arizona’s (which is a bacon-wrapped hot dog with mayo, yellow mustard, beans, caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, and jalapeño sauce).

In three rounds of voting in an elimination-style bracket, only one participant voted against the Seattle Dog.

Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.

sign up for the 425 Magazine newsletter

Lifestyle

425 Magazine...

425

What the Eastside Has Planned for Welcoming Week

Originally published on 425. The city of Bellevue is joining communities across the Eastside in celebrating diversity through free and low-cost events over the course of the week.

3 hours ago

Sound Sound...

South Sound

Local Humane Society Needing Foster Homes, Donations; More Than 500 Cats Under Its Care

Originally published on South Sound. The influx is coming weeks after the shelter took in 61 cats that were rescued from a boat off Owen Beach and 20 from a vehicle in the city.

7 hours ago

425 Magazine...

425

Report: Homebuyers Are Gaining More Choices as Sales and Prices Ease

Originally published on 425. What new Northwest Multiple Listing Service found.

9 hours ago

425 Magazine...

425

The Washington State Fair is Now Open

Originally published on 425. New this year is the free K9 Kings Flying Dog Show, where rescue and shelter dogs leap, soar, and perform aerial tricks.

9 hours ago

Assorted remote controls are displayed in Phoenix, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)Cred...

Associated Press

Ode to the remote control, that tiny box that lets you channel your desires without ever getting up

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) — If the TV remote hadn’t been invented, channel surfers and couch potatoes would have to argue about something else. Come to think of it, those surfers and potatoes might not even exist. It may be difficult for anyone under 40 to understand, but there was a time when changing a channel […]

9 hours ago

425 Magazine...

425

Feel Good Friday: Women to Watch, a New Community Center, and a Battle of the Bands Win

Originally published on 425. Read our latest cover story, learn about a new Kirkland project, and more in this week’s Feel Good Friday.

12 hours ago

Seattle Dog beats Chicago, New York styles for best hot dog in America