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

People gather at a Halloween costume swap at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 16, 20...

Associated Press

Halloween costumes have a spooky environmental impact. Swaps are a way to reduce waste and recycle

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Braddock Sandoval perused tables with wigs, a Darth Vader mask, a black tutu and other items and garments on an unusually sizzling day in Los Angeles. He found a Hawaiian flower necklace and a shark costume and tried them on. The chemistry professor at Occidental College heard about a campus swap […]

1 hour ago

Halloween...

Paul Holden

Zombie walks, Museum of Fright, ‘Thriller’ and more kick off two weekends of Halloween fun around Seattle!

Halloween might be next weekend, but with all the fall fun going on, you’ll want to break out the costumes and start celebrating early!

3 hours ago

AIRBNB checkout rules new policy...

Lexi Herda, KIRO 7 News

Airbnb’s new rules limit checkout chores for guests

Rental company Airbnb announced a new global policy that bans hosts from requiring guests to perform time-consuming checkout tasks.

15 hours ago

Baltimore Orioles fan Rick Taylor looks through his collection of tickets from almost every basebal...

Associated Press

For decades, he’s hunted tickets from Cal Ripken’s ‘Iron Man’ streak. Just 8 elude him

It’s one of baseball’s most iconic records: For 2,632 straight games over 17 seasons, Cal Ripken Jr. never missed a day in the Baltimore Orioles’ lineup. For the past 28 years, lifelong Orioles fan Rick Taylor has been amassing a collection to match it, trying to gather a ticket from each game of Ripken’s “Iron […]

18 hours ago

Starbucks (5)...

Julia Dallas

Starbucks releases spooky Halloween items ahead of holiday menu launch

Starbucks has already announced its winter menu, but it just launched a spooky surprise.

19 hours ago

Pike Place Día de Muertos...

Manda Factor

Pike Place Market hosts first Día de Muertos celebration Friday

Join the inaugural Día de Muertos celebration at Pike Place, honoring loved ones with vibrant entertainment and community spirit.

20 hours ago

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