PrintEd Levine's Updated Guide to the Best Hot Dogs in NYC
Photographs taken by Robyn Lee
Around the July 4th holiday a person's attention turns to hot dogs, as it obviously did for Jenn Sitt when she wrote the extraordinary regional hot dog styles post that went up on Serious Eats yesterday. There can be no doubt that serious eaters love hot dogs. More than two years ago I wrote the guide to My Top 6 Hot Dogs in Manhattan. That same year we posted about all the great Latin-style hot dogs to be found in NYC. A year before that I wrote a hot dog piece for the New York Times.
I thought it would be fun and entirely appropriate to update these New York City missives in time for July 4th eating this year, complete with a new top ten hot dogs in NYC list. Please note that I have not tried the Wiley or the Chang dogs served at Crif Dogs that Sietsema wrote about recently.
On to the list of the Top 10 Hot Dogs in New York City
Gray's Papaya: Great natural casing, all-beef dog made by Marathon, Sabrett's parent company. I ask for mine well-done, not that any of the counterpeople listen. Many locations, I go to the one on 72nd and Broadway.
Papaya King: Virtually the same hot dog as Gray's (there's one secret spice added), but the mustard is spicier and the bun is more or less toasted. Papaya King does offer many more toppings than Gray's, including my new favorite topping of choice, cole slaw (thank you, Brian Koppelman, for alerting me to this wondrous possibility). Multiple locations, but I go to the one on 86th street and third avenue. Multiple locations; papayaking.com
A word to the wise on most of the Papaya King imitators: They may have papaya in the name (they're obviously trying to fool us hot dog lovers), but they're trying to run a hot dog game. In other words, almost every one I've tried use a skinless Sabrett all-beef hot dog. Nice try.
Katz's: The best deli dog in lower Manhattan. They give you more sauerkraut than either of the above-mentioned spots, and the hot grill gives the hot dogs a great crust. 205 East Houston St., New York, NY 10002 (nr. Avenue A; map); katzdeli.com
The Shake Shack: The SS serves the only true Chicago-style dog in NYC: A Vienna Beef hot dog, poppy seed bun, and sport peppers as one of the condiments. I wish they would grill the hot dogs instead of steaming them. Have the frozen custard for dessert. 11 Madison Ave. (nr. 23rd Street; map); shakeshack.com
Artie's: A big kosher-style deli dog properly grilled. It would be hard to finish two hot dogs here. At Artie's I get cole slaw and sauerkraut on the dog. 2290 Broadway, New York NY 10024 (nr 83rd Street; map); arties.com
Brooklyn Diner: A humongous (easily sharable), expensive, natural casing, all-beef dog served with crispy, wispery onion rings and very good sauerkraut. brooklyndiner.com
Crif Dogs: The spicy redneck, a deep-fried skinless all-beef hot dog with cole slaw, bacon, chili, cheese, and jalapenos may sound like hell on a bun to cardiologists and vegans, but it is supremely tasty.
Dominick's Hot Dog Truck: Angelina D'Angelo serves a terrific steamed natural-casing Sabrett with sautéed onions to cops, local businesspeople, and the hot dognascenti on Woodhaven Boulevard across from St. John's Cemetery in Rego Park, Queens. Her husband, Gary, makes an estimable grilled skinless Sabrett dog with great grilled onions and peppers at another truck, D'Angelo's, about 100 yards south on Woodhaven Boulevard. Woodhaven Blvd., Rego Park NY (nr 67th Avenue; map)
Old Town Bar: The Old Town Bar on East 18th Street not only toasts the bun that encases its grilled natural-casing all-beef Sabrett dog, it butters it as well. Sublime! 45 East 18th Street, New York NY 10003 (nr. Broadway; map); oldtownbar.com
Nathan's Hot Dog (Coney Island location only): Nathan's has sullied its hot dog reputation in recent years by serving undistinguished skinless beef hot dogs at many of its franchised locations. However the original Nathan's location in Coney Island still serves a fine natural casing dog with plenty of snap. The salty ocean air in Coney Island adds immeasurably to the taste and the hot dog-eating experience in general. nathansfamous.com
Have a happy 4th of July weekend everyone, and make sure no matter where you are, to eat a hot dog!
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4 Comments:
Hey Ed,
This is kind of a long haul for you, but NYMag listed the hot dog at The Smoke Joint as one of the best in the city. Have you tried it?
btw, the "My Top 6 Hot Dogs in Manhattan" link is broken. I think you missed the ":" in your url, and when a browser does not catch that, it adds "http://" for you... so the link is broken.
foodinmouth at 11:43PM on 07/03/08
The dog at Papaya King is the EXACT same as the dog at Gray's Papaya. There is no secret spice added. Papaya King claims this in order to have people think that their dog is unique, when in truth, it is the same exact recipe as any other Sabrett all beef dog. Marathon, the company that owns Sabrett makes dogs according to only 2 recipes. One is beef and pork, which is called the "Country Girl" and is served at Jersey hot dog joints such as the Hot Grill, Windmill, and Callahan's. The other recipe is the all beef dog that is served in numerous places. The dogs are made in different sizes and either with a casing or skinless. But only in 2 recipes.
I have been told this by people who are absolutely in a position to know including distributors, people who own certain hot dog joints, a man whose father delivered hot dogs to Papaya King, Gray's Papaya, Katz's, and others for 41 years, and last, but not least, the person in charge of private label at Marathon. I called asking about purchasing a quantity of beef dogs. This person thought I was going to open my own place and told me that I could have the same dogs that Papaya King uses when I told him it was my favorite New York dog. I asked about the proprietary recipe and the extra spice. No extra spice, no special recipe. In fact, I was given a three digit number (some kind of code) for the dogs at Papaya King and Gray's. They are the same since both places use the exact same dog. Not just the same recipe, but the same size and casing. Katz's also uses the same recipe dog, but in a slightly larger size.
Any difference that you may be able to discern between a dog from Papaya King and a dog from Gray's Papaya has to due with how they are prepared. Maybe the one you had at one place was fresher or spent more (or less) time on the griddle. The mustard used at Gray's is Sabrett. Papaya King uses Admiration brand Dusseldorf mustard. I'm not positive, but I've heard that Papaya King is one of only 10% of the accounts that Marathon will deliver fresh or refrigerated, rather than frozen. Perhaps this may account for a percieved difference between the 2.
I've posted about this many times in the past on different sites and forums. I know what I've stated to be true. All places using a Sabrett beef dog are using the SAME recipe dog. As I've said, there are different sizes, some have casing, some are skinless, and some places boil their dogs, some grill or fry them. But in the case of Papaya King and Gray's, they are not only the same recipe, but the same size, code #, etc. Papaya King does have a different label that appears on packages delivered to them that has their name rather than Sabrett.
As a result of some of my posts, I was once contacted by a local New York television station and asked to be interviewed about this subject. I agreed, but the interview was cancelled because the station feared a potential lawsuit even though I told them that I was 100% sure of the information I was given.
I won't go into detail (you can read some of my posts elsewhere), but I can tell you that the biggest lie in the hot dog business is "we have our dogs made specially for us". In rare cases this is true. Most of the time it isn't. According to people I've spoken to, it's just too labor intensive to make different recipes for different clients. The equipment must be cleaned out after every batch to prevent mixing of flavors. People I know and trust have told me there is no secret spice added to the dogs at Papaya King. I also know the plant manager at a New Jersey Provision Company that makes excellent frankfurters that are used at many hot dog establishments. I was told that they have only one recipe, although the dogs come in a variety of sizes and either natural casing or skinless. He laughed when I told him of certain hot dog joints that claim to use a "special recipe" or have the dogs made "just for them" by this company.
I can give you many examples. Superdawg in Chicago claims the dogs are made special. They are not. They use a regular Sinai 48 kosher dog. Pink's in LA makes the same claim. They use a Hoffy brand beef dog that anyone in the area can buy. Some places I've been to even claim to make their dogs themselves on site. When they do, I ask to see the sausage making equipment. Then they have to change their story.
Take what you hear with a grain of salt. It's a competitive business and a lot of places want you to think that their dogs are unique and only made for them and available at their restaurant.
hotdoglover at 8:37AM on 07/05/08
Thank you for an extremely informative comment. Do you know whether the exact same Papaya King/Gray's/Katz's recipe hot dogs are available at retail (other than onsite at Katz's), perhaps under another brand?
gustoct at 3:56PM on 07/05/08
There are places in New York that sell these dogs with a Papaya King label. I believe a supermarket named somewhere on this site in a past post. Also look in any supermarket, deli, or specialty store for Sabrett natural casing franks. I've seen them at the Garden of Eden gourmet store. Any Sabrett distributor will also sell you these franks.
hotdoglover at 12:08PM on 07/06/08