Hot Dog Of The Week: Seattle Style
"Seattle has many hot dog joints but until recently didn't have its own definitive Seattle Dog."
Whenever I think I'm out of regional hot dogs to cover, I get four or five e-mails about hot dogs I've never even heard of. It's amazing how quickly a hot dog style can be established. This week's dog, the Seattle Style cream cheese dog, seems to have popped up out of nowhere.
Served at carts and trucks all over the city, popular for a quick lunch or after the bars at 2 a.m., the Seattle Style hot dog is a wiener or Polish sausage grilled and often split (to hold more toppings?) then jammed into a cream cheese slathered toasted bun.
Standard garnishes include grilled onions, jalapenos, and either kraut or grilled cabbage. Condiments range anywhere from mustard to barbecue sauce or Sriracha. A few carts are even edging towards Tijuana Style with pico de gallo or bacon.
It's almost "anything goes" with the toppings, yet Seattle Cream Cheese Dogs are rarely topped with chili or any other cheeses. Pickles are available but not often, and they usually seem to avoid ketchup.
The Seattle Dog takes cues from Chicago (the Polish sausage option and even celery salt at a few vendors) New York (the kraut) and Tijuana dogs (cream cheese instead of the mayo or crema), but the new regional hot dog was also born out of Seattle-specific influences. In fact it's so new, most sit-down hot dog "restaurants" don't even have it on their menu, with the exception of Cafe Racer, where they offer a Polish dog slathered in cream cheese, green chilies, and bacon.
Seattle has many hot dog joints but until recently didn't have its own definitive "Seattle Dog." Chicago-style dogs are popular at Matt's Chili Dogs and Shorty's, a combination bar, arcade, and hot dog joint. Or you can go the gourmet route at Diggity Dog and the soon-to-open Po Dog (seaweed-wrapped wasabi dogs anyone?).
Or check out Cyber Dogs, an internet cafe that offers sixteen different veggie dogs—everything from a veggie Coney to a beet-topped "borscht dog" to the Brazilian "Dog From Ipanema" overflowing with fake beef, rice and beans, hearts of palm, cilantro, avocado, and walnuts.
In 2003, Seattle passed legislation cracking down on street vendors and even banned them in certain areas. But earlier this year the laws were revised and Seattle has seen a boom in street food, hence facilitating the growth of the cream cheese dog.
Hot Dog Joe's has a whole fleet of carts and serves latenight cream cheese dogs all over the city, offering wieners and sausages from Seattle's own Bavarian Meats Delicatessen. Dog in the Park is a friendly family-run stand where you can enjoy a grilled cabbage-topped cream cheese dog in the park. Comet Dog and S&S Cream Cheez Dogs—open after 10 p.m. with 80s music blasting from a jukebox—are two more favorites.
I'm surprised by the lack of Seattle Dog coverage even in local Seattle papers and food blogs. Either it's taken for granted or every food writer in Seattle is vegetarian (although many of the vendors offer veggie dogs as well). I think it's an awesome development in hot dog evolution because no particular stand, restaurant, or chef seems to have created it. Instead it's a style that developed naturally on the streets and quickly became a tradition. That, and it sounds delicious.
Dog in the Park
1520 4th Avenue, Seattle WA 98101 (near Westlake Park; map)
Open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Comet Dogs
922 East Pike Street, Seattle WA 98122 (in front of Comet Tavern; map)
Open after 11pm
S&S Cream Cheez Hot Dogs
Belltown, 1st Avenue and Bell Street, Seattle WA 98121 (map)
Open Thursday through Saturday after 10 p.m.
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27 Comments:
That looks F***ing disgusting. BBQ sauce, cabbage and cream cheese? uuughh
daemon at 2:13PM on 10/02/09
The proliferation of this dog may be what's new but the dog itself isn't. I remember the first time I had this dog was outside Safeco field before a Mariners game in 2000 or 2001.
br at 2:15PM on 10/02/09
@br-
Really? That's still pretty new in terms of bona fide regional dog styles. The earliest reference I could find was a 2006 Seattle Times article, where the owner of Matt's Famous remarked about "some customers asking for cream cheese":
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2003089719_hotdogs28.html
If any former or current Seattle folks have any insight into the history of the cream cheese dog, feel free to chime in!
@daemon-
cream cheese isn't so bad on a dog, Crif dog in NYC does a killer everything bagel style dog, and cabbage is what slaw and kraut are made out of anyway.
The BBQ sauce is a bit close to ketchup for my taste but I'd be all over the Sriracha.
hkrall at 2:47PM on 10/02/09
YES! I was wondering when this was going to make it to the list. I still crave these Seattle yumdogs out here in the middle(west) of nowhere!
GretchinF at 3:29PM on 10/02/09
Yup, the cream cheese hot dog has been served around Safeco Field and Pioneer Square since around 2000. So br is on point with his observation. I remember having them often.
They are delicious. I like mine simple though. Cream cheese, carmelized onions and the dog. Yes.
proncis at 4:23PM on 10/02/09
I used to live in Pioneer Sq and ate my share of cream cheese hot dogs. I don't know about the BBQ Sauce but we used to take them home and put some Sriracha on that dog!
When Willie's Dogs opened in Park Slope my boyfriend and I suggested they add cream cheese to the menu and the guy looked shocked and stunned. It never made it on the menu but I'm glad to see that it's finally getting some press!
kokeshi at 5:05PM on 10/02/09
I haven't ever seen kraut or bbq sauce at the hot dog stands. They automatically come with toasty bun, grilled onion, and cream cheese. I like to add jalapenos, sriracha, and mustard. very, very occasionally. If I sprung for one every time it smelled amazing at 1 AM I'd weigh 200 lbs.
My favorite stand is for sure Comet Dogs.
unarata at 5:18PM on 10/02/09
Yeah, I don't think BBQ sauce or sauerkraut is standard at all, just one of the many condiment options based on your own taste. It's all about the cream cheese, split dog, and grilled onions, very simple.
Soooooo good when you're going out and need a bite at two in the morning.
boxofbirds at 5:36PM on 10/02/09
I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but a popular hot dog restaurant in New Jersey served a dog with cream cheese that they called "My Schmiero". Their regular dogs were very good and they should have stuck with them. They hired a Public Relations firm who got them all kinds of publicity, including a piece on New York's Eyewitness News. The piece focused on the cream cheese and other esoteric toppings and combinations rather than the high quality dog served there. It was a trendy, fancy pants place that emphasized toppings and combinations rather than the high quality dog that was wasted since no one could appreciate it under all of the crap that only served to mask the flavor of a great dog. While this might be acceptable in a trendy place like Seattle, it wasn't in an old school hot dog mecca like New Jersey. This particular place went under. I knew the owners who persuaded me to try the hot dog with cream cheese. I finally did and it was awful. Cream cheese should be on bagels, not hot dogs.
In my opinion Seattle ought to stick to craft beer, not hot dogs. Salmon dogs (yuck!) are also popular there.
While this regional hot dog style may have been established quickly and "popped out of nowhere", I think more attention should be paid to established regional hot dog styles that have been around a long time, and as an old Rheingold beer commercial stated, "stood the test of time". For example, the Newark Style Italian Hot Dog. Given little attention by the Food Media, this regional hot dog style has stood the test of time. It is to Jersey as the Cheesesteak is to Philly. Introduced in 1932, it is as popular as ever. And it thumbs it's nose at the politically correct and health food fanatics who look down on it for it's cooking method (fried in oil) and high calorie content.
The Newark Style Italian Hot Dog. Born in 1932.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gQHPM9JtIY
hotdoglover at 9:46PM on 10/02/09
@hotdoglover
Whoa! That's some sweet hot dog propaganda! Also, thank you for allowing me to use the phrase "hot dog propaganda" in a sentence today.
chrisfurniss at 11:57PM on 10/02/09
Sorry. I can't help myself. It seems that nowadays people who open hot dog restaurants feel that they have to offer something new and trendy in order to do well. I won't tell anyone how to enjoy their hot dog, but I think the emphasis should be on the actual frankfurter, not things that overpower and mask the flavor of a fine piece of meat.
Bark in Brooklyn serves a top quality delicious hot dog. It would go great with mustard and perhaps their home made sauerkraut. But when you add toppings like chives, sour cream, cream cheese, crushed fritos, etc, in my opinion you're ruining a great dog. There's a reason why places like Papaya King and Nathan's never go out of style.
hotdoglover at 10:14AM on 10/03/09
Part of a sarcastic rant I posted awhile ago, but fear may come true:
"Reprobates have opened trendy hot dog restaurants (in New Jersey of all places!) and introduced all kinds of deviations from the traditional hot dog. In addition to ketchup, we now have such things as cream cheese, peanut butter, broccoli rabe, corn flakes, and eggs being thrown at us. And that's just some of the things. The rest I've blocked out, fearing a relapse and a possible return to the psychiatrist's couch. I shudder to think what might be next. The rumor going around in hot dog circles is that two twenty something guys are looking to open their own place soon. Their goal is to outdo the existing hot dog eateries where the focus is the crap piled on the dog rather than the dog itself. Proposed toppings include raisinets, gummy bears, rice crispies, oatmeal, and sweet tarts.
Be afraid. Be very afraid."
hotdoglover at 10:28AM on 10/03/09
@hotdoglover-
While cream cheese on a hot dog might not be to everyone's taste, I would hardly call it "fancy" or "trendy" especially when we have chefs doing things like kobe beef vietnamese banh mi hot dogs. Which actually sounds pretty good, but it's not really a hot dog.
The Seattle dog might be unconventional but it evolved "naturally" the way many regional styles have - almost randomly, from a mix of regional tastes, habits and available ingredients. It's considered a rather "low brow" thing in Seattle, something dirty you do at 2am and feel bad about the next day.. I think Seattle is almost embarrased about it. I combed the Seattle "blogosphere" for 4 hours and found nothing but picture after picture of cutesy cupcakes and vegan gluten-free noodles with heirloom tomatoes.
Also some of the better Seattle carts do use real german style wieners from here: http://www.bavarianmeats.com/ that are probably terrific with a swear of cream cheese and some mustard. The fact that the cream cheese dog goes back to 2000 and maybe started outside the stadiums - popular with working class folks as well as the hipsters - means it will probably be around for a while, or at least longer than seaweed wrapped wasabi dogs, or vegan dogs topped with chutney and yogurt (that's what I call trendy).
I do agree that a salmon dog sounds disgusting. The only time fish belongs anywhere near a hot dog is the Philly Combo. And that fish cake is 90% potato.
You might be interested to learn that a lot of Seattleites think that the Cream Cheese dog actually originated in NEW JERSEY, because of a certain episode of the Sopranos that I can't believe nobody has mentioned yet... where Carmela makes a 'Lincoln Log Sandwich' of hot dogs and cream cheese, that some think may be a jersey/italian thing..
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/lincoln_log_sandwich/
hkrall at 10:47AM on 10/03/09
Philly is also apparently in the midst of a supposed "upscale hot dog" trend, at least according to a few articles, but it's mostly just a few places doing clever hot dogs. We could still use a decent middle of the road hot dog joint in a good location that's open LATE.
I'm not against fancying up a hot dog, It's just never done right, and almost never done with any respect for hot dog history. I cooked in a 4 star restaurant for years and saw plety of chefs with wacky ideas for hot dogs, but few of them really knew much about making hot dogs or sausages.. for them it was a gimmick of using a "low" concept in a "high" place, kind of like when fine artists enlarge a comic strip, transfer it a to a canvas and sell it for $3,000,000.
If a chef who really knew charcuterie and hot dog/sausage making (an apprenticeship in germany or some old style makers here) and spent some time reseaching some killer recipes for chili and various hot dog sauces, some based on regional traditions (flo's sauce, greek sauce, etc) you could really put together something amazing... I would want to eat there. And I would want to design the sign, and the menu.
hkrall at 11:08AM on 10/03/09
@Hotdoglover-
Also meant to say, I am definitely going to do the Italian Hot Dog soon. I need to get out to Jersey and hit a few of the better known spots, I feel it would be a shame to do it without some first person researh. As much as I'd like to spend every day researching hot dogs all over the country it's not always possible.
hkrall at 11:14AM on 10/03/09
Have to give a shout for the Red Hot in Tacoma- 15-20 West Coast craft beer tap handles and a well-selected bottle list to go with a diverse offering of a dozen or so dogs & sausages, the closest to the Seattle style being the 6th Ave. dog w/ cream cheese, onion & tomato. No BBQ sauce or grilled cabbage, but slaw and kraut both show up a few times, most tastily in the Destiny City dog w/ slaw & chili.
2 solid pinball machines (complete w/ pint glass holders) as well.
Oakland Aaron at 1:43PM on 10/03/09
Hawk,
I wouldn't be surprised if the Cream Cheese dog did originate in New Jersey. Because hot dogs are big here and there is a lot of competition. People want to be known for something original. Which may or may not be good. Most of the time; at least to me, it is not. When I think of being original, I look at a place bringing in Usinger's beef dogs from Milwaukee and serving them with minimal toppings. I never heard of the Lincoln Log Sandwich until the Sopranos. This thing has the cream cheese inside the dog. My first exposure to a dog with cream cheese was 2006. But this was with the cream cheese on top of the dog. As I mentioned earlier, it was served on a quality dog. To me it didn't go well with it.
Those dogs from bavarianmeats do look good. But I would guess that a small minority use those. And like the quality dogs at Bark, I can't understand why anyone would want to put a lot of toppings or condiments on something so good. It's like desecrating a steak. Or a pizza from DiFara's with pineapple. I may be in the minority here, but that's how I feel. There must be a market for these things otherwise they wouldn't sell.
Interesting that Seattle would look at a hot dog as a guilty pleasure. That's the impression I get. Just a different culture. In Jersey (like Detroit) we had 2 places right next door to each other. Each had their loyalists who wouldn't set foot in the other place and proudly proclaimed their loyalty.
You mentioned Kobe Beef dogs. I held off a long time on these, stubbornly refusing to pay the hgh price. I saw 2 quarter pound dogs in Kings Supermarket (an upscale store) for $8.00 and bought them. Ok, but nothing special. Same thing applies to a Kobe burger. I don't know if going through a grinder is good for this type of meat.
By all means get to Jersey and try an authentic Newark Style Italian Hot Dog. Although in reality it is more like a sandwich and a meal. But all of the ingredients go really well together. The dog used by most (from Best Provisions) is perfect for this sandwich.
Have you ever had a hot dog at John's in Philly? The place known for Roast Pork and Cheesesteaks? I've heard that they have a real good hot dog.
hotdoglover at 3:15PM on 10/03/09
@ GretchinF
Me, too! I looooooove Seattle's hotdogs and I can't wait to go back for one in November!
I particularly like Comet dogs the most, too. I used to come out of figure drawing at Trapeze and gorge myself on delicious cream cheese and caramelized onion hotdog heaven....
hefloats at 6:37PM on 10/03/09
I don't know if anyone has suggested it, but you guys should really do Windmill hotdogs in Long Branch, NJ. They are by far the best tasting hot dog I know of.
michael fitzgerald at 11:18AM on 10/04/09
The Windmill has about 8 or 9 other restaurants besides Long Branch.
hotdoglover at 11:55AM on 10/04/09
The Windmill was a stop on last year's Annual New Jersey Hot Dog Tour. They serve a long 1/4 lb natural casing Sabrett beef/pork dog that is prepared on a hot griddle. A very good dog; similar to Max's about a mile down the road in Long Branch. Do it yourself fixings bar with basic hot dog toppings. Chili is extra. Their chili took 2nd place in the comprehensive Star Ledger Hot Dog Tasting in 2006. 87 hot dog establishments were reviewed.
hotdoglover at 12:24PM on 10/04/09
Using cream cheese sounds delicious.
wunami at 1:53PM on 10/04/09
Around 2002, I used to get those all the time after concerts at a hot dog (ho dogs because the t was missing) stand in front of the Showbox. I never had it with cabbage but cream cheese, bbq sauce and grilled onions. Yummy!
KikaVon at 12:42AM on 10/05/09
@KikiaVon
Finally someone else who uses BBQ sauce! My seattle hot dog correspondent swears by it, although it seems more like one of many options than a Cream Cheese Dog standard.
Hawk Krall at 12:15PM on 10/05/09
Also- this article made it onto SLOG, the Seattle Stranger blog, with another active comment thread where the lovers and haters of seattle hot dogs are going at it.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/10/02/the-seattle-dog
Hawk Krall at 12:22PM on 10/05/09
Thanks for the link. I think I'll go over there and have some fun.
hotdoglover at 7:15PM on 10/05/09
Found a reference to Cream Cheese dogs from 1999, again from the Seattle Stranger-
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/hot-diggity/Content?oid=535
And another angry food writer who doesn't like hot dogs-
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2009/10/is_there_a_signature_seattle_h.php
Hawk Krall at 12:23PM on 10/20/09