Get us in your inbox

Search
Crif Dogs
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz/Crif Dogs

The 21 best hot dogs in NYC

Try NYC’s best hot dogs, frankfurters and sausages from all over the five boroughs

Edited by
Will Gleason
Written by
Rachel Pelz
&
Christina Izzo
Advertising

New York City’s most iconic foods: the pretzel, the bodega coffee…the hot dog. While street meat served from carts beneath red-and-yellow umbrellas is the quintessential NYC treat, we’ve rounded up the very best assortment of wieners from all over town, including both high-end hot dogs and extremely cheap eats.Here, you’ll find hot dogs served from burger joints, dive bars, Mexican restaurants and some of New York’s best delisall waiting to be covered in mustard and eaten while you walk around the streets of NYC.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Best hot dogs in NYC

  • Restaurants
  • Hot dogs
  • Coney Island
  • price 1 of 4

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.

  • Restaurants
  • Hot dogs
  • East Village
  • price 1 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Delis
  • Upper East Side
  • price 2 of 4

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 for $10.75. We like ours topped with sweet onions, mustard and sauerkraut—in a deli that’s been around since 1956, tradition just tastes good. 

  • Restaurants
  • Hot dogs
  • Williamsburg
  • price 1 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • South Slope

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. If you’re feeling especially hungry, order the “Lone Wolf” meal deal, which comes with one Chicago dog, one chili cheese dog, one kielbasa, one hot Italian beef and a milkshake. 

  • Restaurants
  • Delis
  • Boerum Hill
  • price 1 of 4

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 and the tangy sauerkraut are made in-house, while the thick, poppy-seed-studded bun is courtesy of Hot Bread Kitchen. Weekday lunchers can get the dog solo; at night, it comes with pickle relish.

Advertising
  • Bars
  • Lounges
  • East Village
  • price 4 of 4

Phillip Kirschen-Clark (formerly of Vandaag) is the latest boldfaced-name toque 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).

  • Restaurants
  • Midtown West

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. 

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Hamburgers
  • Elmhurst
  • price 1 of 4

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, and salsa rosada — plus the crowning jewel: a skewered, hard-boiled quail egg. Wash it all down with a drink even more gluttonous, the crushed-ice and condensed milk cholado bobbing with fresh tropical fruits and showered in grated coconut.

  • Restaurants
  • Delis
  • Lower East Side
  • price 2 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Shopping
  • Specialist food and drink
  • Chelsea
  • price 2 of 4

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.

  • Restaurants
  • Spanish
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Hot dogs
  • Upper East Side
  • price 1 of 4

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. 

  • Restaurants
  • Hamburgers
  • Upper West Side
  • price 1 of 4

Danny Meyer's fast-food joint brings Gothamites a taste of the Midwest with this Chicago-style snack. The Vienna beef dog is split and griddled on a flattop, then nestled in a pillowy potato bun.

Advertising
Kings of Kobe
  • Restaurants
  • Hot dogs
  • Hell's Kitchen
  • price 2 of 4

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.

  • Bars
  • Flatiron
  • price 1 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Spanish
  • Jackson Heights
  • price 1 of 4

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.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • American
  • West Village
  • price 2 of 4

Vegans in the know get their soybean dogs at Westville, where the grilled faux franks pack a serious hit of smoke and spice. Order a single, or ante up for the special: two dogs with thick-cut pickle chips, fries, salad or one of the eatery's seasonally driven sides, like sautéed kale with shallots.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • Diners
  • Midtown West
  • price 1 of 4

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.

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising