The 25 best hot dogs in NYC

You might be surprised to find the humble hot dog on the menu at this fancy-pants bar, but don’t be afraid to go for it—the spendy cocktails, candlelight and lush seating just make it that much better. At this cocktail bar in The Fifth Avenue Hotel, they serve their hot dog “au poivre” with crispy potatoes and pickled onions, making it a touch more refined than your standard frankfurter. We happen to love it as an elevated bar snack—it’s more of a meal than a dip or fries, so you can order that next drink without worrying about dinner. 

Tourists and tube-steak zealots make the trek to this Brooklyn landmark for a taste of hot-dog history. Established in 1916, the former 5¢ stand still does a roaring trade. The bun is flimsy, but in the end, it’s just a vehicle for the chain-spawning wiener, which has a tight casing that gives way to a juicy interior.

On the block where the Pacino film of the same name was filmed, Dog Day Afternoon is serving up Chicago-style hot dogs to hungry Brooklynites. Their Chicago dog is made with Vienna beef and served with fresh tomatoes, vinegar-y Sport peppers and a Kosher pickle—none of which you’ll find on a regular NYC dog.

Famous for their gigantic portions, kosher deli Pastrami Queen knows that sometimes one hot dog just isn’t enough. Their “two franks” special serves up, well, two franks, with a side of potato salad or coleslaw. We like ours topped with sweet onions, mustard and sauerkraut—in a deli that’s been around since 1956, tradition just tastes good. 

The stoner-friendly offerings at Crif Dogs include the perennially top-selling “Spicy Redneck,” featuring a bacon-wrapped dog, chili, coleslaw and pickled jalapeños. The crunch of deep-fried bacon gives way to a soft interior, and the mild chili sauce soaks into the bun, giving each bite an extra hit of meaty flavor.

Eat and drink your hot dog at this Williamsburg rooftop bar. Their hot dog, which is served on a potato bun and topped with harissa aioli and red cabbage slaw, is an update on the classic; it’s the hot dog cocktail where they really go for broke. The Hot Doggin’ It is a real thing, and it features smoky mezcal, tomato water and mustard seed agave to recreate the frankfurter flavors. They serve it all up in a traditional foil pouch that reads HOT DOG—along with the extremely unusual addition of a straw. 

This nouveau Jewish deli is best known for bringing Montreal-style smoked meat to the city, but it also makes its mark on a New York classic with its from-scratch hot dog. The griddled all-beef frank is served with maple mustard for a sweet-and-spicy kick. 

Phillip Kirschen-Clark (formerly of Vandaag) is one of the boldfaced-name toques to make his mark on this cocktail den’s haute-dog menu. His Scandinavian-inflected creation is built around an all-beef wiener that’s been pickled in apple cider vinegar. The tangy frank is balanced by coriander-scented sauerkraut, mustard greens and piccalilli (an English-style relish).

Nathan’s Famous may have the brand-name recognition but Feltman's has the historical bona fides: German immigrant Charles Feltman invented the hot dog in Coney Island back in 1867, nearly 50 years before its Surf Avenue rival. Get the snappy tubers loaded with sauerkraut, mustard and onions; chili and cheddar cheese; sausage gravy and even vodka sauce and grated Parmesan.

This mini chain serves up Korean corn dogs, which are rolled in rice flour, fried, dusted with sugar and then served with your choice of sweet or savory toppings. Surrounded by crispy sweet potato, covered with crumbled ramen noodles or stuffed with gooey mozzarella, they’re all served on a stick for both ease of snacking and total Instagrammability. 

At this Colombian cocina, dig into one of the towering hot dogs smothered until invisible beneath crushed potato chips, crispy bacon, fresh carrot-cabbage slaw, crumbled costeño cheese, pineapple sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, salsa rosada and the crowning jewel: a skewered, hard-boiled quail egg. Wash it all down with a drink even more over the top, the crushed-ice and condensed milk cholado bobbing with fresh tropical fruits and showered in grated coconut.

The iconic eats at this legendary Lower East Side deli counter have always been of the no-frills sort, from the hulking piles of peppery pastrami to the Swiss-and-sauerkraut reuben. The hot dog is no exception: The all-beef frankfurter is seasoned deeply with garlic, salt and paprika beneath its firm, lightly charred natural casing. A traditional topper of zesty golden mustard and tangy kraut adds some bright acidity inside a soft, humble split bun.

Jacob Dickson is selling meats sourced from small local farms at his first retail shop in the Chelsea Market. The house-made beef and pork hot dog, smoked over hickory and applewood, is available in a “jumbo” size, which is split and cooked under the steakhouse broiler. In addition to beef, pork, lamb and poultry, visitors can purchase house-made charcuterie, fresh hot dogs and cured meats.

Jonah Miller’s tapas tavern features a happy hour “Basque Dog,” a house-made chistorra sausage smothered with aioli and piquillo mustard and tucked between a soft Martin’s potato roll.

In a former meat fridge next to Schaller & Weber’s Yorkville flagship, which has been supplying uptowners with German meats and charcuterie since 1937, lies this 10-seat sausage offshoot, helmed by third-generation wurst maker Jeremy Schaller. The streetside counter serves cheddar brats, chicken brats, wieners, knackwursts, bratwursts, Beyond bratwursts and just about everything else you can stick inside a bun. 

The unblinking, 6-foot-tall pig statue will always beckon us to Rudy’s Bar & Grill. But it’s the free hot dogs that keep us coming back for more. A historic dive since 1933—seriously, it got one of the first liquor licenses in the city after Prohibition—this bar has been home to free dogs with a thin trail of mustard since the beginning. And we genuinely hope it stays that way. 

This all-American beef frank operation pays homage to traditional iterations of the nation’s classic dish. A snappy, six-inch American wagyu dog is crowned with sweet onion marmalade, tart sauerkraut and a spicy swirl of yellow mustard.

The unfussy specimens at this venerable tavern still hold their own against the city's artisanal upstarts. Get the chili dog: A grilled and scored all-beef Sabrett is deposited on a butter-toasted bun along with spicy homemade beef-and-red-kidney-bean chili, diced onions and shredded cheddar, as well as a side of fries.

This Colombian joint turns out Latin American–style hot dogs with toppings like diced pineapple, egg and even blackberry. Our favorite is the zesty Mexicano, loaded with salsa verde, melted cheese, crushed potato chips and squiggles of ketchup, mustard and spicy mayo.

This mini-chain has long ruled the area’s tropical-drink-and-hot-dog market, with crispy-skinned all-beef Sabretts for a price that can't be beat.

This Bushwick dive is home to disco balls, Funkytown and salsa tunes, and an array of Venezuelan street eats served well into the AM hours. Here, the buns are packed with bacon, a squirt of cilantro-y guasacaca sauce and a dusting of potato chips. Even plant-based eaters can snap into it, thanks to a handful of vegetarian and vegan dogs that sub out meat for plantains, carrots, and a fried block of queso.

This family-run Greenpoint spot specializes in all sorts of appetizing-store throwbacks, from smoked fish to matzo-ball soup. Hot dog lovers can appreciate the shop’s freshly griddled franks, which are long, skinny and generously loaded with sauerkraut. 

You may need a friend to help you tackle this eye-catching behemoth. The oversized “15-bite” all-beef frank is griddled on the flat top and stuffed inside a massive bun, which you can pile high with sides of hand-cut fries and homemade juniper slaw.