Hot dogs.

Everybody knows hot dogs are little sausages served in buns.

They're one of the great American foods.

Everybody loves a hot dog.

A good hot dog.

I can even eat them for breakfast.

It's an American tradition.

You get ‘em ballpark and hot dogs.

You can just grab them and go.

You can eat with your hands, you know, you can get messy.

There's no rules to the game.

You know.

One of the best things about hotdog shops is they've not become standardized and franchised across the country.

They're still small and regional and unique.

So get ready.

We're going to check out a few from Macon, Georgia to Chicago, Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska.

We'll sample dogs topped with all kinds of stuff.

I myself, I like it just like this, naked They good, they good You can't beat the chili dog.

Sauerkraut or just mustard.

Ketchup.

I think most Americans grew up on hot dogs.

Eat a everyday There really should be a hot dog day I think a hot dog is best enjoyed alone.

Look at Gordon.

Look all the way here, though.

Where you at?

We're going to celebrate hot dogs and the people who love them.

Even though some folks have slight reservations.

Nobody can identify anything they put in these things.

I wouldn't say they're bad for people.

I would say everything in moderation.

Upton Sinclair, the jungle as him.

Five days a week.

That's fine.

That's moderate.

Its a sin to eat hot dogs.

I'll take my chances.

We're going to call this a hot dog program.

And we apologize in advance if we don't get to your favorite stand.

No.

You steam the bun, you steam the dog, and it's real soft.

And it snaps with some chili that's living.

A hot dog program is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by annual financial support from viewers like you.

Now, where do you get a good local hot dog?

Let's say you're in Fairfield, Connecticut, where most mornings Gary Zemola parks this truck behind his father's lighting store.

All its hand-painted signs, including the name SuperDuper Weenie.

We're already on this 1973 GMC Step Van.

When Gary got it and fixed it up in the early 1990s, There are times when I drive in that thing and I could see people's lips inside their car and they're going, and I'll stick my head out.

I say, you know what?

It's funny, but you said it, you know, how can you deny I read your lips?

I said, it's a great hot dog.

How do you beat that?

if the truck is in its regular spot, Gary's assistant, Mike Yanzic says you want to take exit 24 off I-95.

People get off the highway right over there, and there's a truck facing them with a big hot dog on the side.

And if they've been driving all day and they're hungry, it kind of sparks them.

Get some imagination going.

They think about it and pull over.

They won't be disappointed.

Gary studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and takes pride in his two homemade relishes and his so-called killer dogs with names like The New Yorker and the Chicagoan and the New Englander.

Kraut, bacon, caraway, the sweet relish that that's how the New Englanders started was just your basic dog with the works.

The dogs here are extraordinary, and the French fries are legendary.

But we want to add two French fries, one iced tea one dog with everything is all I can can cook.

Very good stuff, very good stuff.

And the fries are the best.

Awesome.

I love my fries, you know, and a killer dog.

And it looks like really good.

I get off on it and I get off on the feedback that I get so good.

My wife was in labor in the hospital with our second child, left the hospital, come down to have a hot dog and go back to the hospital and have the baby.

This tiny little truck is serving hot dogs like a sort of four star hot dog.

You go on your lunch break, you want to be relax.

This is the place to relax.

And sure, there's traffic going by, but he's got a great hot dog stand personality.

He's.

He's a great chef.

Not because he's my brother, but he's he's very good at what he does.

Gary will do just about anything for his customers.

But there is one thing he won't sell.

So many people come up to that truck and they'll order the whole damn thing.

The most loaded dogs you can get, New England or whatever.

They order.

Order of fries.

Then I hear diet soda and the hair on the back of my neck goes up.

Diet soda is not conducive to the times.

The truck.

The diet doesn't exist here.

You are here to splurge.

You're here to relax.

Enjoy.

It's supposed to be like a, you know, 40s.

50s lunch wagon and diet soda didn't exist.

Well, Gary's dream has always been to open a diner.

A great diner with food prepared with all the love and conviction that he puts into his super duper weenies.

Passion is the key to this thing.

If you don't dig what you're doing, you're dead.

I love this, I love working here, and I love the super duper weenie.

And I could be happier, right?

Most people are miserable at their jobs, so I dig it.

I totally dig it.

you know, a love of the crazy work involved really helps.

Even at a big hot dog stand.

Like in Atlanta, Georgia at the varsity.

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Put your money in hand and your heart on your mind.

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

The varsity is an Atlanta landmark founded in 1928 by the late Frank Gordy, who dropped out of nearby Georgia Tech.

He made the varsity famous for excellent hot dogs and unbeatable curb service.

Big crowds on football weekends.

You could go inside, but the varsity was the world's largest drive in.

Ladies did not come in the varsity.

Don't ask me why, but it was called the men's club.

And if you brought a date, you were outside.

Or if you were in your family, you had curb service.

Nancy Simms, who is Frank Gordy's daughter, now owns and runs the place where hot dogs with some southern variations are put together and sold at an incredible pace.

The hot dog is just boiled.

We have special designed steamers to keep our buns nice and light and fluffy, but not soggy.

You can get a dog here topped with specially made pimento cheese and like most hot dog places in the south, the Varsitys got a superb slaw dog This places sales rate is phenomenal.

It's around 17,000 hot dogs a day.

George and Georgia Tech football games, big concerts.

We can serve up to 50,000 and more coke than any single location in the world.

You can order at the counter or stay in your car because they've still got drive in curb service.

Either way, things move fast, and when you get to the front of the line, you better know what you want on your dog.

How do I know eat them?

I eat them naked.

I eat them yellow I eat two when I get here and I eat some chili cheese slaw.

Two when I go on break, and one when I go home and I eat slaw.

I eat them everyway.

I love them.

They are so good.

They are.

I love a yellow dog for breakfast.

That's good.

Employees often stay here for decades and the counter people all chant the signature question Whatll you have?

Anybody want to place an order?

Hi, sir.

Whatll you have?

Some of the veteran cashiers are the best.

Come on, let's go down so we can get Erby down at one end of the 50 yard long counter.

Erby Walker is in charge of the express line, and he often chants much of the menu.

This is Erby.

Say the menu for ‘em Say the menu for ‘em Erby Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Have your money in your hand and heart in your mind So I can get you to the ballgame on time.

What kind of drink you want?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Have your money in your hand.

You're heart in your mind.

Well, I can get you to the game on time.

Whatll you have?

Oh, yeah.

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

There three words you got to learn.

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

Just keep practicing over and over.

It took me ten years to get a job.

I went home every night saying.

Whatll you have?

Whatll you have?

It doesn't matter what you have at the varsity when you've got a true counterculture and crazy cashiers, they make this big Atlanta hot dog stand unforgettable.

And various factors can do that, including a little creative architecture.

If you drive out of Denver, Colorado, toward the Pike National Forest in Aspen Park, you have to stop at the Coney Island.

We drive by it going back and forth 285, and the 20ft hot dog is hard to miss.

Yeah.

Just rode by and saw the building, and said wow.

Let's stop in for a hot dog.

You got to love a building that looks like a giant hot dog.

It's 33 tons of concrete in the shape of an enormous wiener, in a bun, topped with mustard and a mountain of relish.

It was moved here in 1968 from Denver.

Karen Bott, whose mother owns the Coney Island, often works inside the giant weenie.

Every once in a while, you'll see somebody come in with this look on their face, and then you can remember what it felt like when you first came in the big hot dog.

It just feels unique, like you're in some little funhouse.

The building is understandably long and narrow, and the perpetual line lets you know that the food must be good.

Regular jumbo footlong hot dogs Had one, a jumbo.

Excellent Hot dog.

Ketchup.

Mustard.

Relish.

Onions.

We have sauerkraut was a sauerkraut kind of a day.

I choose.

And hot dogs.

Chili cheese mouth is watering, isn't it?

Tastes good.

I find everybody loves hot dogs that come in here.

Even the vegetarians, I think, sometimes have a hard time resisting.

Or so it seems.

The dogs are irresistible, the building is cool, and the name Coney Island conjures up hot dog history, which is not very well documented.

We know the sausages came to America with immigrants.

Frankfurters from Frankfurt, wieners or wienerwursts from Vienna.

Now it may have been at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition that someone first put the sausage in a roll, although some say it was at the St Louis Exposition of 1904.

Still others say Franks were first put in buns on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, perhaps as early as the 1870s, by a seaside vendor named Charles Feltman.

He later had a restaurant, and one of his employees, Nathan Hand Worker, quit in 1916 to open his own stand.

Nathan's.

By then, lots of folks called the sausages hot dogs, but where that term came from is uncertain too.

A newspaper cartoonist named Tad Dorgan helped make it part of the American language by putting hot dogs in his widely read cartoons.

In the early 1900s, Dorgan poked fun at a concessionaire named Harry Stevens, who often sold food at various arenas, including at the old Polo Grounds, where Stevens is sometimes credited with coining the term red hots, who knows?

There's just a long tradition of sausages sold by vendors at sporting events, especially baseball games.

It would be no game if you didn't have hot dogs.

Wed have to give our tickets away.

Baseball and hot dogs go together.

Hot dogs!

Hot dogs!

Hot dogs here in Cleveland, Ohio, at Jacobs Field on a hot June night.

Hot dogs Hey hot dogs.

Jason Earnhardt sells hotdogs wrapped in foil.

Tonight, I'll probably sell between 360 and 400 hot dogs, so it's a good night.

Hey, hot dogs, hot dogs.

How many?

Three, please.

Here in Cleveland, you get local mustard with the dog.

It's not good.

Plain.

It's better with that mustard.

This is called Bertman's ballpark.

It's custom blended.

It's very special.

Better than the regular yellow stuff.

As I tell people, it's got a little Jewish mother in it.

Pat Bertman.

Mazoh now takes care of the mustard business that her father started back in the 1930s.

It used to be said the Indians stink, but the mustard is great.

Well, the Indians don't stink and the mustard still the same.

But the Indians have caught up with us.

In fact, I think they may have surpassed us in a little bit.

Bertmans is a brown mustard with an award winning taste.

Everybody says, oh, it's got a wonderful taste of horseradish, but it has no horseradish in it.

All I have to do is find the mustard, and I'm in good shape.

The thing about mustard is that it's a fun product.

The ballpark mustard makes the hot dog.

What do you think of when you think of mustard?

I was enjoying this hot dog, and I missed Mark McGuire's home run.

Hot dog.

Do you think of baseball games, amusement parks, fun.

Hey, hot dogs?

Yes, the hot dog business can be fun, but sometimes it's work in the middle of the night.

In New York City, attorney Stephen Shaw is working on his website.

He reviews local restaurants, fancy and not so fancy.

I love hot dogs.

I think that they are.

They are one of the ultimate foods, and I think that you can't explain its popularity any other way.

You can't explain the popularity of sausages the world over, then that they are activating more taste buds per square inch than than almost any other kind of foods.

Stephen suggested we walk to the corner of 86th and third to Papaya King.

This is beautiful.

I give it four stars.

It's very it's very well-balanced.

It's very harmonious.

It's a it's it's a temple of hot dogs.

In some places, like here, the food is the decor and the people.

I mean, that's one of the things about any restaurant in New York.

The people are the decor also.

And, you can't beat this crowd.

Papaya King began in the 1930s as an open air tropical fruit juice counter.

A Greek immigrant named Constantine or Gus Poulos had stores in other parts of the country, but this one in Manhattan, in what was then a predominantly German neighborhood, may have been where frankfurters came onto the menu.

Around 1940.

Gus's son, Peter Poulos, is the president of the company now.

It was in 19, I believe, 1972, that my father decided to make a special frankfurter, our own blend that nobody could have.

So it's a combo of the quality of the meat.

The casing, the spices, the smoke that we toast to roll.

We have our own blend, the mustard.

So you put all these together and then you make one hell of a good frankfurter.

Well, whatever they do, it works.

And for a buck 25, you get an all beef dog that delights even a highly discriminating palate.

The casing offers just the right amount of resistance.

You got one got kind of bite into it a little bit and then bang, you're in there with the hot dog.

It's a very, very good hot dog.

And then you got to cut that with a little papaya.

It's a perfect combination.

Still, papaya drink with hot dogs sounds weird to everybody but New Yorkers.

But I guess that is the ultimate in fusion cuisine.

The hot dog with the papaya.

Well, there are lots of places to get hot dogs in New York.

Stevens says the boiled dogs at the Pushcarts aren't that good.

My favorite hot dogs graze for two reasons one, I think hot dog is excellent, and everything about hot dog, the bun, the choice of mustard, their sauerkraut, the temperature they keep their sauerkraut at.

Everything about is just right.

But also the hot dogs are 50 cents and I can't, I can't get past that when evaluating the difference between greatest papaya and all the competition.

I think the cost has a lot to do with it.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, yeah, there's not very much you can get for $0.50 in New York.

You know, Nicholas Gray started Gray's Papaya in the early 1970s in imitation of Papaya King.

He deals in volume I sell about 11,000 a day between the two stores, just over 4 million a year.

And they're just good here I guess, because they've been cooking for a long time and you can't beat a box for lunch.

I bring my dates here every now and then they get a little upset But hey, this is good hot dog Sauerkraut makes the hot dog.

I can't have it without it Ketchup and mustard strictly.

Ketchup and sauerkraut is good You never did bun to.

Yeah, we go for everything.

Usually.

I enjoy it, I really do.

I'm a hot dog freak.

I'm not an authority, but they're very good.

Once in a while, I feel.

Inextricably drawn, its almost a sinister As soon as I gather enough money to come back here, I get more hot dogs.

Theyre good.

Little hot.

Pretty good.

Even so, for a good dog, many New Yorkers will still send you out to Coney Island to the original Nathan's Famous.

They sell 130 different foods now, even fresh clams.

But Nathan's president, Wayne Norbitz says get the original.

Our hot dog is 100% all beef.

There are no fillers, and this is a casing on this hot dog, a special sheepskin casing that gives it a certain crunch and snap when you bite it.

You know Nathan's opened in 1916 and I guess they really don't make a good wiener.

So starting from this corner right here, right here, this corner with $600.

Now, please forget about it.

When I was little, we used to come here $0.05 for a hotdog and $0.05 for a drink to the food.

This is so, so authentic.

You still got that Nathan's flavor, the Coney Island flavor.

And my husband tells me it's really not the best thing for me.

But I dont care.

Chili, chili dog Very good.

Now I eat chili dog and cheese they do specialize in dogs, so it really tastes good.

Well, this stand becomes the center of the universe on the 4th of July, when Nathan's sponsors the annual World Hotdog Eating Championship Happy 4th of July!

We come out here on the 4th of July, and it's a way to demonstrate how much you love your country.

It's a Nathan's tradition now, run by this clever PR man named George Shea.

Competitive hotdog eating season.

I don't know if you call it the sport begins on Memorial Day and it ends here in Brooklyn.

I would like to see by the year 2000, a spot in the Olympics.

I would like to see us in Madison Square Garden.

Well, in 1998, it was still on Stillwell Avenue on Coney Island.

The crowd gathers early to see who will eat the most hot dogs in 12 minutes.

It's like a free form circus with protesters too.

Nathan's go veggie.

Give peas a chance!

The competitors are introduced just before noon.

The whole thing is overblown, outrageous and silly.

It's all American.

I'll think about it.

We're here on the 4th of July at high noon.

12 minutes.

That's the patriotic epicenter of the year.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Go.

Go ahead.

Go go go go.

Contestants each get a pile of hotdogs.

They can't add mustard, but savoring the sausage doesn't seem to be a priority.

The man they're all trying to beat is the defending champ Hirofumi Nakajima, a tiny 23 year old from Japan where he's won numerous noodle eating contests.

And in the crowd, there are fans who know the superstars.

I know the techniques to it, so it's quite slow.

Do not chew.

You separate the bun in the dog.

You squish the air out of the bun.

You go dog bun, dog bun.

Looks like you need a lot of concentration.

You don't need a big belly for this.

The last five minutes, but that's where dreams are made, reality is a broken Six, five, four, three two, one Put down the hot dog with 19 Nathan's hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes.

World record holder.

Hirofumi Nakajima Hirofumi Nakajima ladies and gentlemen.

That a non-American On the 4th of July, should win the hot dog eating contest.

I think it's appalling.

The surprising thing is, the smartest guy won this whole mission.

He'll eat hot dogs only once a year when he comes here at the contest.

And this, I believe, is the best, biggest and supreme stunt in America.

I might be a competitor next year.

I don't know, we'll see.

Yeah, but even on the fourth, New Yorkers have to face the fact that the world capital of hot dogs may be Chicago, I mean, Chicago.

They try to claim everything.

They're like deep dish pizza.

Like Pizza Hut didn't invent that.

A New York hot dog is a limp little weenie.

They got the Windy City like we don't have wind here on a skinny little limp bun.

Well, you know Chicago, they put on everything with some mustard.

And actually, by the time you have the frank, you're not sure what youre eating and some kind of icky sauerkraut.

That's it.

There's no onion, there's no tomato, there's no relish.

There's no hot peppers.

There's no pickle.

There's no celery salt.

There's nothing there.

But in Chicago, you get all that, usually on a boiled dog in a steamed bun, you know, there are more independent hot dog places here than all the areas McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King's combined.

Each place in Chicago is an original.

They've got some very high concept of what they should be doing, and they do it.

Rich Bowen and Dick Fay are professors of psychology at Loyola University.

Back in 1983, they wrote a now legendary book titled Hot Dog Chicago.

They said we should meet them first at Bill's Drive-In, near the border between Chicago and Evanston.

Could this be the best hot dog place in the city?

It's like saying, who's the best human being on the face of the earth.

We're all we're all great.

All right.

The question is what?

What makes each of us distinctive?

And so this ranks right up there.

The hot dog here stands shoulder to shoulder with any other hot dog in the universe.

Bill's Drive-In opened in 1949.

The original Bill's son, who's also Bill, works occasionally, but he's retired.

His daughter Robin and her husband, Rob Klitschko, run the place now They dress no dogs until they're ordered.

Every order is a special order.

We ask every customer that comes in what they want on it.

It just seems like the perfect way to make a hotdog right in front of the person.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, this is a this is a classic Chicago hotdog with the beautiful, red tomato.

This one has, pickles on it.

Chopped onions, mustard.

This should be some green relish in there somewhere.

And then it's also got the hot sports Peppers in Chicago.

Adults love hot dogs, and they're made for adults.

Yeah.

You know, spicy and full of adult taste.

Bills.

Drive in is a low key sort of neighborhood place doesn't call a lot of attention to itself, unlike the Chicago landmark known as Super Dog.

Super dog is on Milwaukee Avenue at the intersection with Davon and Nagle.

It's the place with the two big wieners on top.

They're not wieners.

It says so on the menu.

Not a wiener, not a red hot, not a frankfurter.

They're super dogs up there.

If you'll clean up your language, we can continue.

Okay, those super dogs on top of the building are known as Maurie and Flaurie, named for the couple who has owned and operated this place since 1948.

Maurie Berman and his wife, Flo.

I love hot dogs.

I just love them.

Every day I eat a hot dog.

and I think it has to do with the with the spicy seasoned taste because I don't eat a hamburger everyday and I could They do make some great burgers here called Whooper Cheesies, but it's the super dogs that have been the prime attraction since the beginning.

Mustard, neon green relish Ketchup being really an abomination.

We we will serve it, but we won't put it on a slice of kosher pickle, a slice of pickled tomato, and serve with our own French fries.

And so it gets an entire package.

They're fun little boxes.

Say stuff like your super dog lounges inside, contentedly cushioned in super fries.

And if you're lucky, the car hops will be on duty.

Every customer who comes and presses the button for car hop service is greeted.

Hiya!

Thanks for stopping.

May I take your order now?

Now that's standard.

It's standard, but distinctive.

One of those special touches that distinguished this place from all the other hot dog joints in Chicago.

Each place has got to have a great sign, or a funny name or a cool location, like Demon Dogs on West Fullerton that sits right under the elevated train tracks near DePaul University.

Peter Schivarelli who owns this place Serves relatively simply dressed dogs.

But on weekends, he employs a man in a tuxedo.

Make sure everyone gets a good seat by the window.

Our early morning customers who come in on Saturday hungover can't remember where they saw this guy at, but you know, they see a guy with a tuxedo is maitre d and a hot dog stand.

I figured it's it's kind of a thing to make them start out their day in a in a good mood.

Peter also manages the rock group Chicago, and he's decorated with rock stuff.

Also Rich Bowen, that hot dog psychologist brought his kids who get their dogs with ketchup.

Ketchup.

This is like a there has to be something in the brain of the child that causes this phenomenon, because what as the child grows at some point, I think in their teens, they finally bond with mustard like a switch goes off.

Well, ketchup or mustard.

In Chicago, it's easy to find one of the places called Portillo's.

This one's in Downers Grove.

It's a new building designed to look old and interesting.

I don't want to get in your way here.

Okay, let me squeeze by.

It has a drive through the real.

Well, that's Dick Portillo.

He owns 20 some hot dog places.

How you doing sunshine?

He began with one tiny shop.

No running water back in 63.

Hi lady.

How are you doing?

I'm good.

How are you?

Make sure you count that right.

I will.

Now he has a huge hot dog empire Is there some secret to all of this?

Tastes good.

Simple.

You're looking for this big explanation.

It's, There's good hot dogs, and it's bad hot dogs.

And then most of these people are repeat customers If it didn't taste good, They wouldn't come back, would they?

Well, at Portillo's, as at most Chicago stands, the dogs themselves are from a company called Vienna Beef, founded in 1893.

Jane Lustig, one of Vienna Beef's vice presidents, offered to show us how they make wieners.

We have a team of very skilled, butchers, and they trim the fat off of briskets, which we use then inside our hot dogs.

Our hot dogs are made from 100% domestic fresh bull meat and sweet brisket trimmings.

And those ingredients will be ground first, like hamburger, then transported, seasoned and ground again.

Those machines, those weird flying saucer machines, actually take the elements of a recipe and they grind it down to a fine puree.

The puree is still raw and has to be put into some kind of casing to hold it together while it cooks.

Even skinless wieners at this point get a casing often brightly colored.

Skinless hot dogs have a very uniform look.

They're straight, and they're exactly the same size.

Whereas a natural casing hot dog has irregularities in its shape and its curved.

Natural casings are made from the linings of the intestines of a sheep.

Sometimes they're hand measured and twisted into links.

All the little raw sausages are eventually moved into huge ovens filled with hickory smoke until they're fully cooked.

The natural casing wieners are ready to go, but the so-called skinless wieners have to have their fancy skins taken off.

The skin is removed with our hot dog skin removal machine, and it actually peels the hot dog from the plastic outer wrapping, shoots it out like a bullet.

Kind of cool.

It's totally cool.

And you can top these babies Chicago style.

Or if you're ready to motor west only as far as Springfield, Illinois, you can see a totally different kind of dog a cozy dog at the cozy Drive-In on Old Route 66.

Buzz Waldmire has the kind of family run place here that's good to find anywhere.

Cheeseburger basket up Buzzs father, Ed Waldmire, was one of the co-founders of the Cozy Dog House back in 1950.

He had learned to make corn dogs in Texas while he was in the service.

He made some improvements and started calling them crusty curs.

When he brought the Crusty Curs back to Springfield, Illinois.

My mother didn't like that name, so she came up with the name Cozy Dog.

It sounded a little bit more pleasant and Cozy Dogs are what the Waldmires have been selling ever since.

I would say 90% of my business is local people who've been coming here when they were little boys and girls, and every time we come back to visit, this is where we come first.

Its a corndog.

It's a corn dog.

My mom, you said it's a cozy dog here.

It's called a cozy dog.

And I've been a town for less than a week, and Ive been here four times already I can just remember coming here when I was a little kid and, you know, 4 or 5 years old.

Because I want to tell you, this is the best I just love these cozy dogs.

And people do develop affection for some of these sausages.

And in Clifton, new Jersey, there's a definitely lovable hot dog place called Rutt's Hut.

It's been a local landmark since the 1920s.

We used to come here in our high school days quite often.

The hot dogs are great, and in the 50s when I got my first car, this was the place to come with a date.

My parents made out in the parking lot on the right side.

This used to be a makeout joint and I thought it was quite different that everybody was here just kissing and hugging and and then you make out in the parking lot afterwards.

It was great.

And he got me introduced to hot dogs.

And this place makes some unforgettable hot dogs.

Deep fried hot dogs.

Abe Rutt, The original owner started to cook the dogs this way, but he sold the business in the 1970s to a new family.

We're all related is, four families.

Actually, it's, the Karagiorgis the Petropoulakis, the Sakellaris, and the Chrisafinis.

The new Greek owners, including Gus Chrisafinis, kept all the original recipes and traditions including calling out the orders to the kitchen in the fryer.

Gus's sister Calliope, Chrisafinis says the nicknames for the dogs here are just part of the Rutt's hot shtick.

A lot of the customers that have been around forever.

When they come in, they already know the lingo, so they order it that way.

You don't come in here and order a hot dog Theyll give it to you raw if you want a hot dog.

You got to order a ripper or a cremate or a weller.

When we first drop them in the oil and it first comes up, it's what is called the in-and-outer and it's just it's cooked, but it's very like almost rare.

So most of them after a while they will become rippers because the hot oil makes them rip open like this.

And last but not least is the cremata, which is cooked through and through.

Super well done.

And this is the homemade relish that's very famous.

It's a secret recipe.

Its mustard and cabbage and carrots and it's great.

But there's no question people come back here for the Rippers and it's never too soon to start.

Customers just rant and rave.

This is my third one.

I could keep going.

I had my grandfather's funeral some ten years ago.

They come off the plane.

I have to have a Rutts Hut hot dog.

If my wife knew I was here, she kill me right now.

You know they stopped here before the funeral.

It's almost embarrassing to admit it, but then we all joke about them to this point and laugh.

I wonder what grandpa would have wanted.

Of course, Rutts Hut is obviously a beloved place in Clifton, and that's not unusual even in a big city like Los Angeles.

Richard Pink and his wife Gloria help run the place called Pink's at the corner of Melrose and Libreria in Hollywood.

Richard sister, Beverly Wolfe also helps carry on the Frankfurter traditions established by their parents.

Back in 1939, when Pinks started as a pushcar and, you know, they had hot dogs there for I think it was $0.10 and Cokes for a nickel, and people would drive up in front.

And that's pretty much how it got started.

The secret is that the food tastes great, really is delicious.

And also there's a sense of history here in Los Angeles.

Anything over ten years is, you know, major news.

The counter here opens right on to the sidewalk.

And Pink's has lots of hot dog possibilities.

Well, the famous thing is the chili dog chili dogs.

Okay, we got a ten inch stretch dog or the jalapeno dogs.

You see the long 12 inch hot dog And the Polish dog is meatier and very good.

And I like it with the lettuce.

Sour cream and guacamole.

It sounds like it wouldn't taste good on a hot dog.

It's delicious.

You have to try them.

There's a nice patio out back where you can dine al fresco, but everywhere here is a place to be seen.

People of some notoriety may show up at any time.

We're we're we're near about four different studios here.

I used to do The Jeffersons.

I'm an actor.

I play the character Marcus, I work in the cleaners.

And a lot of struggling actors would come in, and they knew that directors and sometimes producers would come in here.

So they started like hammering or tacking their own picture up on the wall.

In fact, Matt LeBlanc said when he made it big, his dream was to have his picture up on the Wall of Fame at Pink's.

When I was on the show, everybody used to tell me about Pinks.

You know, who holds the record for dogs?

Orson Welles.

And all my friends were here, so, you know, and we conducted business here.

Yes.

How many did he eat at one sitting?

What I like is theres no commitment involved with the hot 18 at one sitting.

Orson Welles.

Isnt that fabulous?

And my dad would say, you know, Orson, you're going to get heavy if you eat all these hot dogs.

So and guess what?

We're standing here, and this is not a set up.

Ruth Buzzi just pulled up in her car.

Ruth, I love you.

You want a dog?

It's just.

It's just a great place.

There's nothing better than a hot dog and a drink you know, in the middle of the day, it's even if you're sneaking food, you know what I mean?

Its a good sneak food.

The terrible thing is you think nobody else, you know, go there 1:30 in the morning, there's a crowd.

Yeah.

No matter when, no matter when you come here.

There were people here.

Well, obviously it's people.

Not just celebrities who make a hot dog place thrive.

Sometimes an extra community service helps to.

Just north of LA in Van Nuys, California.

theres a smart little hot dog stand with a legal theme.

It's called law dogs.

That's the usual stuff.

On my day off, I get the police dog the mustard and sauerkraut.

Our popular dog is, you know, the judge dog, which is mustard, onions and chili.

And then you have, our jury dog, which is the mustard, onions people like that too.

Frank Cavani is only 17.

He wasn't born when this place was founded in the 70s by a lawyer who named the different dogs and who started the special service that people line up for on Wednesday nights.

That's our legal advice line.

We have a lawyer who comes in and we we have a lot of people come in for seeking advice, and it's a free consultation.

I have about two thirds of my clients, Spanish speaking, and one third are English speaking rich people, poor people, all kinds of walks of life, but really are aimed at those people who cannot afford legal advice.

Jesus Perez is a lawyer and part time judge who since the early 1990s has been helping all kinds of people in the back of law dogs.

You have people who sue for a dog bite, who sue for back rent, people who don't want to pay rent.

I've stopped it a few times.

I've had the hot dogs, but never had a need for the advice.

Now I need the advice I prefer he would tell me than looking in the yellow pages because he shows me the right kind of community spirit.

People feel secure there Good evening.

Good evening.

How are you?

Fine.

How are you?

Okay.

Thank you.

What brings you here today?

Confidentiality rules apply.

As if he were paying me.

Given his free time for something as American as his hot dogs, you know.

And he's in the legal system.

I said he's got to be all right.

Sometimes people laugh, and some people.

Some people cry, but, they all get the answer.

Somehow or another, I give them the answer.

Okay.

For a Wednesday I know your last minute.

Heard someone say it's the American way.

You know, hot dogs and the Constitution.

Yeah.

And it's like, has a good fit.

Hot dogs fit all sorts of situations.

And hot dog stands can be comfortable and accommodating in ways that other restaurants just can't.

In downtown Macon, Georgia, on Cotton Avenue, Nu-Way Wieners has been a place to meet and eat since 1916.

It's as old as Nathan's.

Jim Andrus is one of the four family partners who now own and run it.

It's called Nu-Way, but it's really old.

It's kind a place that doesn't change much, but you can always depend on and count on it to be the same every time you come.

Jim Cacavias is a cousin and a partner here.

It's really a time machine.

You come in here and you would think you're in the 1940s.

But during the depression, it was, it was a mainstay because the chili dog all the way.

That's kind of a way of staying with you throughout the day.

I've had hot dogs everywhere, up and down New York, Chicago and a Nu-way is a new way.

I think it's a combination of chili and the hot dog itself I get slaw, sometimes I get ketchup and mustard too.

It's like a like a real hot dog are one thing by any red.

I don't know where to get them from.

The red hot dog.

You can't get them from the stove.

There is, there is a red dye government number.

So and so and it's very safe and, it's, it's always been on there.

The way things have always been is important here.

In any culture you look at, bread wrapped around the meat is a basic issue.

And, for instance, Im Greek So I know about Greece.

You have the gyro, which is the round pita bread around with the stuff with meat and goodies on the inside.

In America, it's the hot dog and it tastes pretty good.

I don't think anybody dislikes the hot dog, no matter where it comes from.

Well, if you're down south doing the dog tour, you will want to head also for Anderson, South Carolina, where there's an out of the way hot dog place called Skin Thrashers in an old textile mill village.

If you go to business school everybody, talks about location, location, location.

Well, this defies all business logic.

It is off the beaten path.

If you ask anybody in the city of Anderson, they can get you there.

Skins.

Hot dogs is a family business run by the two Thrasher brothers and their brother in law, Wayne Harvin.

This place was a cafe and pool hall.

According to Mike Thrasher.

My dad started it in 1946.

Skins Thrasher Well, actually, his name is Lloyd Thrasher Skin, who got his nickname after a boy who had haircut started making hot dogs that everyone said were extraordinary.

Some people say it's the buns because we split them on top.

Some people say is the wennie Skin Used to say it was a combination of three things.

You know, the chili and the bun and a good wennie.

You can get beer here too, limit two, but that's not the beverage they sell most of.

The drink of choice here is Coca-Cola and a glass bottles, returnable bottles, small Coke, small cup, small Coke.

Always.

The little bottles taste better you know?

No mustard, mayonnaise to-go Two chili dogs, no onion to-go And we're both lawyers.

So like a rich world.

We'll come here at least once a month.

Probably 2 or 3 times a week.

I can't hardly stand a week without them.

Why?

Cause their good They easy you know get like that but you get like five minutes some fast Texas pete, and a little salt.

That's it.

Probably some of ones he made.

These are the best.

It's so good.

If you get one to try, you will see what Im talking about.

I have to keep up my appearance Well how a hot dog looks and the style with which it served are also important factors.

Skins here is a bit unusual because they don't serve that most beautiful southern variation on the hot dog.

The slaw dog.

For a great slaw dog, you will want to head on to Columbia, South Carolina, where in the neighborhood called Five points, You'll find Franks hot dogs, owned and operated by the Barco family since the early 1970s.

Nowadays, six days a week here, Steven Barco grills and serves some extraordinary wieners.

What I love about them is the, natural case, the natural casing.

I like it a lot.

It's the best dog in town.

I mean, there's some other good dogs.

They got a funky chili, too.

It's not quite as, It's a little tougher.

It's got a little snap to it.

It's got a crunch to them too.

Tough.

Tough dogs kind of goes.

It's even got a vegetable on top of it.

Your set.

Coleslaw.

Now that's really a southern thing I think.

And it's a real treat northerners to catch-on.

I get a Slaw dog.

No onions.

I like onions, but I deal with the public.

I don't know what it must be.

The chili.

Whatever.

If it's during the day around here, Steven takes care of the business.

How many?

One.

His father, Frank Barco, has retired.

But four days a week, Frank moved a little trailer into a parking spot across the street where he sets up the late night Frank's hot dogs.

Here he caters to cops, cab drivers and college kids from the University of South Carolina who corrals around here.

We have a few wild ones every once in a while, but but, most of them are good.

Well, one thing that I like about him is I feel like they're not as fattening as hamburgers.

You know, I'm looking for the good stuff.

You know, the good stuff.

Like my mom cooks.

Frank does it, man.

I think they got my mom in the kitchen back there.

You know what I mean?

He just like to stand around with a hot dog.

But you're not eating.

Can I have a bite?

Sure.

I usually take ketchup and mustard cause I don't want to like the onion.

It's bad breath.

Late at night Oh, it's awesome whenve been drinking and you can come here It sobers you up then you might be able to drive off My college years would not be significant if, Frank, we're not a part of.

When we get ready to close the Late night and all the bartenders know, We call it the $5 bag.

Anything we got left.

Oh, we fix him a $5 bag.

About $8 worth of food for $5.

It's good.

I mean, my father and my family has made a decent living by selling hotdogs.

Whether it be 10:00 in the morning or two in the morning.

All right, now this is getting bigger and bigger all the time, I tell you, my business is growing all the time.

Oh, that's pretty damn good.

Hot dogs in good times.

Work well together.

And you can bet that sometimes size does matter.

In Las Vegas, on the strip, there's a very small casino called Slots of Fun, where the hot dogs are famous.

They're big.

Humongous.

We've never seen a hot dog this big.

And Germany too often.

This little end in Las Vegas is big, is beautiful.

Big hot dog.

Very big.

Well, these are one half pound hot dogs.

They're all all meat.

And we sell about 800 a day.

One of them is usually plenty.

Ben Spidel, who's vice president and general manager here, says slots of fun has to compete with the big places for hungry gamblers.

It's too small to have a big buffet.

So we had, something different somewhere.

Something not found.

Just anywhere.

Where else can you get a hot dog like that?

Every day they say it's on the strip.

Biggest hot dog in the world.

That's how I got my start with the mustard.

I don't know why.

It's the best thing in Las Vegas.

Well, we've been coming up here for 35 years, and we always come here to have our hot dogs ketchup on this side.

We take a flight out of Phoenix it takes an hour to get up here and an hour to register.

onions on the top, onions and things and ketchup.

And that's the first thing we head for, is this.

Because it's a full blown meal, it is huge.

We divide it We take one of these and three of us split it.

The bigger the better.

They're just great.

I mean, they taste good and they're only $0.99, so you can't get any better and cheaper.

And I'm cheap.

It's just a smidgen of of relish.

Chili and cheese.

Super!

in the middle of the night.

It doesn't matter.

They get their hot dogs whenever they want.

It is our loss leader.

We do not make money on this hot dog.

I had one last night and didnt make me sick, so it's good.

Beautiful.

You can all do Las Vegas Some people “Oh my God.” Because they are so large Yeah.

And Las Vegas so.

Bye!

Well if you're leaving Las Vegas and heading north, remember a hot dog cart can be a warm and profitable place.

On the first Saturday in March, a cold winter morning in Anchorage, Alaska, Michael Anderson sets up his little hot dog stand.

Because that's the day people come to see the start of the great sled dog race called the Iditarod.

Michael, who's known as M-A, sells hot dogs here on Fourth Avenue every day during the summer.

This is sort of an unusual gig.

The Iditarod is running.

Dog sleds are running.

He only comes out twice in the wintertime, so you've got to take advantage of it.

Whenever he does come out, there's thousands and thousands of people.

And, when it's cold, you can have a hot dog and it get warmed up.

My regulars that haven't seen me all winter are excited only in Alaska where you sell hot dogs.

And what's the temperature?

It's not that bad.

You know, you layer up and you're moving so fast and you stay real close to the grill and it's not that bad.

The street is full of teams of dogs.

Their drivers are known as mushers one minute and the smell of onions and sausages cooking on the cart makes every creature nearby salivate.

Probably 10 20% of my customers are mushers or handlers.

You know, they, they appreciate a good dog Iditarod 27, the last great race on our way to the famed The bull arches of Nome.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two, one.

Go!

The start of the race lasts about two hours, with two minutes between each of the teams and standing there watching the dogs take off in their protective booties, you can develop a special appreciation for Alaskan made sausages, often with exotic ingredients.

Reindeer, genuine reindeer and reindeer is actually a domesticated caribou a little spicy.

There's a really good juicy a little gamey.

A little, a little more spicy.

I didn't ask if it was reindeer.

I wouldn't say it's too wild.

Well, it doesn't taste like chicken.

Michael has been working this Iditarod Day of Winter fun since 1992.

But, you know, he really makes his living here on the sidewalk in the summertime.

It's like a show five days a week.

You know, I do five shows a week starts at 11, ends at four.

It has really, really given me, the opportunity to do, world traveling to write my own schedule.

You know, I'm working five months out of the year.

I, I just couldn't I can't imagine a better life.

I mean, it's it's good.

It's very good for me.

You know, hot dogs are simple food, but they can have an amazing effect on lots of people in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the part of the city called Oakland.

You'll find the original hotdog shop sort of right in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh.

Students here have lots of names for the original, but the most common is simply the O. If you want an O dog, you order it standing at the front counter, ketchup and relish.

On one we wait on people who we see first, but generally it's the person with a lot of smof and gets waited on first person.

I was next.

The O is famous for its natural casing dogs, but it's French fries are extraordinary too.

Fried twice in peanut oil.

A man named Sid Simon opened the O in 1960, and his daughter Teri Campuzano says its success is based on fast, fresh food.

You see it being made right in front of you.

It's big portions and quality and fattening you ever seen a large xlr fries, the original?

You can feed a family of six.

I just can't believe there's a bigger size of French fries.

Then this is but the first time I ever came here, it's like I'm going to get it for a large fry because I'm thinking McDonald's, right?

Let's put it this way.

If I could order a fries for myself, he can eat it with me and he can eat it with me, and we're still not going to eat it all up.

So they bring this huge, huge thing of fries and I'm like, there's only me.

There's just me thats going to eat these.

A large.

There's a super large, something like it's the originals.

Come on, this is the dirty O. Everybody knows this place Dirty O, dirty Os a nickname.

My wife definitely called it that.

The Dirty O. The original, the spot.

Come out here.

You meet girls when you were younger, you know?

Now you bring your wife, your kids, your grandkids.

Yeah, it's a tradition, man.

It's great.

Probably half of it's tradition.

And the rest of it, it's really good hot dogs, you know, I don't know, I like hot dogs.

So we came all the way from North Carolina.

Actually, I love hot dogs when I was coming up younger, in grade school we used to smell the hot dogs.

I can't tell my age, but since I was a little girl Every day, every day.

Open the windows.

The hot dogs and French fries couldn't wait to lunch time to come here and get them.

My husband.

We both went to Pitt 15 years ago, so we're seeing if we still like the same things on them and they are still as good as then, Excellent.

Its like the center of the universe, everybody, everybody comes.

So nothing is good.

You can meet people from all walks of life, all religions, and when you have a place like this that everybody can come to, you can meet them, talk to them, find out different people's opinions about things, and they all get along and it works.

That's like an important place to have so This is a good melting pot right here, and there's not a lot of places like that.

I love it, as you can tell.

I'm happy Lets face it, a hot dog will do that.

Make you happy.

It's a food with more than just nutrition and calories.

But I think hot dogs is like part of the fabric of America.

It really is.

It's just a hot dog, you know?

It's it's, it's American.

You have your certain hot dogs that you grew up with and that someone you love.

You probably have hot dog places all over, and there's probably one special one in each town.

And I think everybody has their own.

And I mine is here.

Hot dogs everywhere help define a sense of place, and all these hot dog joints give us unique, informal, classless meeting places.

And no matter what you put on top of these sausages, they seem to satisfy something more than mere hunger.

They're juicy snacks, guilty pleasures, and maybe as close as we'll ever get to a national dish.

And I don't know, it's just like something that, you know, I think we all grew up with, and, and they taste good.

Hot dogs are easy.

I mean, hot dogs are the perfect food.

They're the only thing they eat here at night.

Cheap date, a couple of hot dogs and the root beer crisp on the outside, cheesy on the inside.

I like the nitrates.

The bht the preservatives control and the chili sauce on top of it.

You've got the king of hot dogs.

You had hot dogs when you're like growing up since you were little.

I don't know if they're very nutritious, but they taste good.

I don't want to know whats in them actually.

Hes moving hands feet wings, mother in laws they could fall in dogs.

I don't want to know.

Heads, teeth Nobody knows what's in there I think it's a it's mostly an impulse item.

And also a lot of these people here, on the sly.

Dog is a dog.

You know me goes in one in end I want you!

Eat a lot of hot dogs, ok?

A hot dog program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you.