It always feels like summer at Otto’s Sausage Kitchen in Woodstock, where from 11–5 every day, you’ll find the smell of freshly cooked sausages wafting from the grill. This meat market and deli, open since 1922, boasts nearly a century of expertise. The snappy old-fashioned wiener is what you’ll want to order if you’re craving a classic hot dog, though the super-juicy beer sausage—a beer-simmered pork link—is another hit. Dress them yourself with a variety of mustards, ketchup, sauerkraut, onions, and relish, and plop yourself at one of the outdoor picnic tables, or head to Woodstock Park to eat on the grass.

4138 SE Woodstock Blvd

18109 SE McLoughlin Blvd

Nick’s Famous Coney Island has been serving up gritty diner food since 1935. Its namesake Coney Island hot dog is more meat plate than the traditional bun and wiener. This heavy-handed chili dog comes as a single, double, or triple wiener topped with saucy beef, onions, and melted cheese. It's something to eat if you’re craving a hot dog where the bun is barely visible, buried under a pile of beef. Pros: the beefy chili, onions, and cheese are bursting with flavor. Cons: more chili beef than hot dog, and you may get the meat sweats. —Nick Campigli

 3746 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Chicagoans, rejoice: there’s a cart officially dedicated to Windy City street food. Hot dogs make up half the menu, and you can choose between a classic Chicago dog, every detail accurate from the Vienna Beef dog to the neon relish to the celery salt, or a greasy, grilled onion–topped Maxwell Street Polish dog. Italian beef, pizza puffs, and crinkle-cut fries are also on offer. 

3905 SE 82nd Ave

This decade-old cart serves up delectably juicy quarter-pound beer-braised all-beef hot dogs—plus the option to sub in a vegan Field Roast sausage—dressed in a variety of classic comfort food combos. We suggest the Bacon Cheddar dog, with a layer of crispy cheese mildly reminiscent of Nickelodeon splatter, drizzled with mustard and accompanied by onion, tomato, and pickle, for your required daily servings of veggies. Don’t forget to order one of the excellent tot bowls—one of our top four in the city—on the side. (Yes, you can get bacon on your tots, too.) 

5029 SE Division st

4611 SE Hawthorne Blvd 

What’s better than a friendly neighborhood dive bar? A friendly neighborhood dive bar that specializes in hot dogs, featuring a Washington-sourced all beef hot dog (or swap it out for a vegan Field Roast dog) and fluffy buns that are a little sturdier than the standard old-school fare. We opt for the banh mi dog, which comes topped with spicy mayo, crunchy-tangy pickled and shredded daikon and carrots, and slices of cucumber and jalapeño. 

1203 NE Alberta St

This Foster-Powell bar’s tagline is “really nice cocktails, kinda nice hot dogs,” but we’d say that’s selling the dogs a little short. It’s evident in the sausages themselves: all-beef Sabrett dogs, the favorite of New York City hot dog carts. From there, choose from several tried-and-true combos, from the Coney to the Chicago to the Sonoran dog, or go with something extravagant like the gooey orange nacho cheese–topped Stadium dog. If 5 and Dime were open for lunch, I’d be a daytime regular. 

6535 SE Foster rd

To American eyes, Swedish food combos tend to lean wacky and more-is-better; let’s not forget that they invented banana curry pizza. So the classic Swedish dog served at Broder fits neatly into that ethos. Start with a standard long, skinny dog, top it with mayo-laden shrimp salad, add a crispy potato pancake because potatoes always make everything better, garnish with fresh dill, and wrap it all in a lavash flatbread. It drips with the melding of the potato, hot dog, and melted mayo grease, with slices of pickled beets and cucumbers on the side to cleanse all that fattiness between bites.

2508 SE Clinton St, 3765 N Mississippi Ave

While the Bibimbox is the most popular dish at this storied food cart, the sleeper hit is the KJG dog, which I will proudly declare as my favorite dog in town. Owner Han Ly Hwang takes a classic Portland-made Zenner's all-beef hot dog and reinvents every other aspect: kimchi mayo, spicy pickled daikon, and pickled mango, all between fluffy, crisp banh mi bread from Binh Minh Sandwiches. It's snappy, tangy, fiery, and nostalgic all at once.

4606 SE Division St