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Where to find hot dogs in Greater Boston that go beyond mustard and relish
With toppings like jalapeños and cream cheese, kimchi, or even Pop Rocks, Boston area chefs are putting whimsical spins on the beloved hot dog.
Bostonians love their hot dogs. On the grill in the backyard. At baseball games from shouting hawkers. During a day at the Boston Common via a sausage cart. Probably on a toasted split-top bun.
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council in 2023, Boston was among the top 10 markets of most hot dogs sold by the pound — all ten cities unsurprisingly have a major league baseball team, where over a million hot dogs are devoured. We’re also a top 10 consumer of sausages, similarly by the pound.
When a craving hits for a hot dog, as one is likely to happen when hearing phrases like “Opening Day” or “Fourth of July,” Boston has plenty of quick staples (think Sullivan’s, the Sausage Guy cart, Simco’s) to grab a dog, even if the city isn’t the same scene as hot dog heavyweights like Chicago and New York.
And while the usual toppings of mustard, chopped onions, and relish from your favorite concession stand are just as delicious, your favorite ballpark meal is taking on more creative identities in Boston, thanks to some equally ingenious minds in Greater Boston kitchens.
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Trina’s Starlite Lounge has been in the hot dog business since they opened in 2009, crafting a new “dog of the day” every day for their menu of griddled hot dogs, corn dogs, and tofu dogs. Beau Sturm, co-owner, said they started the dog of the day program because there really weren’t other comparable menus at the time — hot dogs that were fun (topped with french fries or even spaghetti), and with a “culinary slant.”
It was also the case when Haley.Henry, a wine bar in Downtown Crossing from Haley Fortier, opened in 2016 and quickly began their Weiner Wednesday weekly special.
Ever thought your favorite soup could become topping inspiration for a hot dog? Fortier didn’t think a hot dog topped with broccoli and cheddar could work, until the rest of her management team proved her wrong.
“It was actually one of the most popular series of the hot dogs we did,” Fortier said. “We’ve had Pop Rocks on our hot dogs before, and you might just assume that it’s going to be terribly disgusting, but it’s actually really good.”
Weiner Wednesdays have become so popular that some guests make and wear their own t-shirts to celebrate the outing.
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Why serve hot dogs at a natural wine bar also known for its tinned fish and charcuterie boards? For starters, hot dogs pair well with bubbles, Fortier notes, and they’re also easy to cook in smaller kitchens.
But considering the unaffordable cost of dining out right now, hot dogs are true comfort food. Even when they’re tweezer-y, and maybe even a few dollars more expensive than they used to be, they still remain approachable.
Sturm said he’s noticed a boom in creativity when it comes to hot dogs in the last few years. In 2023, the Wall Street Journal declared the hot dog the “it” order at restaurants, with chefs preparing them in more whimsical and extravagant ways.
“We have seen that over the years, people have gotten a lot more creative with how they top their hot dogs,” NHDSC president Eric Mittenthal told WSJ.
Super Bien’s Melissa Stefanini laughs when she calls hot dogs a “cool blank canvas.”
“The hot dog can go from simple to crazy. It’s funny to think of combining tweezer food with a hot dog because everyone thinks a hot dog is so-not special,” Stefanini said. “I’m laughing because I never thought I would talk like this about a hot dog.”
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She started serving “Nada Dogs,” a hot dog wrapped in empanada dough at Buenas, six years ago. When she opened Super Bien, a restaurant-grocer that focuses on wine and empanadas, in 2022 she also added hot dogs in buns to her menu. You can get it plain, of course, but expect some funky additions, like a guava and cheese hot dog or a Big Mac-inspired dog.
And though there are heaps of other dogs to talk about, we can’t forget to mention the still small, but growing number of corn dogs to be found in Greater Boston — specifically the Korean corn dog.
Kimchipapi Kitchen in Allston started out as a poke bowl restaurant in 2018, but Joon Son, who loves hot dogs, always wanted to bring his favorite food into the mix. In 2020, Korean corn dogs (which can be filled with hot dog, cheese, or both) were added to the menu after Son realized Boston was missing the popular, Instagrammable street food that had taken off several years ago in New York and Los Angeles. Son loves the original corn dog, but the corn dog with a dusting of Hot Cheetos and another covered in french fry chunks are perfect for TikTok.
Since then, there are more places to find the Korean corn dog in Boston, Somerville, and Burlington.
“The feedback and response was great, and it helped catapult our business. A lot of videos went viral,” Son said. “It’s also just a fun thing to eat, and delicious.”
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And because he had the ingredients to do so, this year he added specialty hot dogs to the menu, which utilize many of the same items he uses in the poke bowls, like spicy mayo as a condiment and kimchi or seaweed flakes as a topping.
Older restaurants and exciting newcomers are making menu space for their own hot dog interpretations. There are of course vegetarian dogs at Saus, Dear Annie’s occasional seafood dog special, a wagyu hot dog special in a fluffy, fried dough from Rubato and Mei Mei Dumplings, and even hot dogs with caviar as a garnish at The Quiet Few.
In other words, it’s a glorious time to be a hot dog fan.
Just in time for National Hot Dog Day, here’s a list of where to find the most fun hot dogs in and around Greater Boston:
Where to find the most creative hot dogs in Greater Boston
Trina’s Starlite Lounge
It may not be a hot dog stand, but options are plenty for hot dog fanatics. Get their “dog of the day” to see just how imaginative one kitchen can get when it comes to hot dogs (for example, I recently ate a “jalapeño popper” hot dog covered in Chimichurri sauce and pickled red onions), or get their Starlite Style dog, topped with fries, special sauce, cheese, and coleslaw. Or get a plain hot dog or corn dog. ($6-$10)
3 Beacon St., Somerville
Haley.Henry
Wiener Wednesday is an event at this Downtown Crossing wine bar. They even sell t-shirts, and each month come up with a theme to plan hot dog creations around. This month’s theme is all about Jennifer Coolidge — who makes us want a hot dog real bad — with a White Lotus season one-inspired pineapple and ham dog, and at the end of the month, a dog covered in diced apples and cinnamon as a nod to American Pie. ($12-$15)
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45 Province St., Boston (Downtown)
Buenas & Super Bien
Owner Melissa Stefanini does hot dogs differently at her two restaurants. Get a hot dog wrapped in empanada dough at her Bow Market spot (Buenas), or find a bigger selection of funky hot dogs in buns at Super Bien. Stefanini said the guava and cheese dog pairs excellently with a glass of their South American wines. ($4.40-$8.75)
525 Western Ave., Boston (Brighton)
Kimchipapi Kitchen
You’ve probably seen this Allston restaurant’s Korean corn dogs on TikTok, with customers showing off stretchy cheese pulls before devouring the savory-sweet street food. But Joon Son, the owner and a hot dog devotee, added more dogs to his menu this year worth checking out. Expect condiments like spicy mayo or Okonomi sauce and topping options like seaweed flakes and masago. ($4.99-$9.99)
81 Harvard Ave., Boston (Allston)
Merai
This “high dive” from the Mahaniyom team has only been open for a few weeks, and already their hot dog is an early favorite among diners. With pork sausage, mayo, and caramelized basil onion, the flavors of this dog are inspired by krapow, a basil stir-fry dish in Thailand. ($18)
14 Harvard St., Brookline
Lê Madeline
The popular Pho Linh in Quincy was recently transformed into a modern Vietnamese restaurant — though you can still find Pho Linh favorites for lunch. But on its late-night weekend menu, surrounded by Vietnamese iterations of smash burgers and chicken wings, is a wagyu hot dog stacked high with toppings like cucumbers, pickles, egg yolk, fried shallots, anchovy sauce, and chives. ($15)
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409 Hancock St., Quincy
Troquet on South
Remember the speed dog? The hot dog topped with chili sauce, onion, sweet relish, and mustard may no longer be sold at its original hot dog cart, but it got a new home in 2020 at this Leather District French bistro known for its wine selection. ($12.75)
107 South St., Boston (Leather District)
Perros Paisas
When he moved to Boston, Andres Jaramillo missed the popular late-night street food he grew up around in Medellin, Colombia. So in 2018 he opened up his own truck in East Boston, which later became a restaurant in 2021, serving Colombian hot dogs with an array of toppings to consider: melted cheese, cabbage, pineapple sauce, quail eggs, and bacon, to name a few. ($10.99 for a classic hot dog, all the way to $62.99 for a three-foot-long Colombian-style hot dog)
350 Bennington St., East Boston
Pour Yard
In the case that you can’t decide what kind of hot dog to try, there’s at least one place in Greater Boston where that’s no problem. This Quincy restaurant-bar has a hot dog flight: choose between two to four hot dogs, which include a Chicago-style dog, a hot dog reminiscent of buffalo chicken wings, and one hot dog slathered in BBQ sauce and shredded cheese. ($6 per dog)
210 Washington St., Quincy
Love Dog Hot Dog Buffet
Another hard-to-find street food is the Brazilian hot dog, which can come piled high with toppings that include mayo, ketchup, mustard, peas, corn, parmesan, potato sticks, and even mashed potatoes. At this Everett hot dog stand, get as imaginative as you like with those toppings and more, either on a typical hot dog bun or pressed bread. ($9-$19)
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1865 Revere Beach Pkwy, Everett
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