Gray's Papaya in New York!

Portillo's is in CA?

I love Varsity in Atlanta.

Best everyday hot dog...Costco. ^

They opened their first non-Chicagoland store in Buena Park, CA a few months ago. It's been packed to the rafters ever since opening day.
In a pre-opening press interview the owners of Portillo's said if the Buena Park store was successful they would "blanket" CA with new units.

I would guess there are more than a few skin-on, non-kosher franks that would meet your seal of approval, just perhaps have not had the chance to experience them. I would also guess that the east coast/Nathan’s thing is playing a part as well in your preference.
Hot Doug’s http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308456 is great for their exotic sausages but NOT for their hot dog. The duck fat fries at Hot Doug’s do not come close to being as savory as the duck fat fries at Sweet & Savories, post #29 in this thread from the Chicago Forum: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=457684

Here is a long running thread of the best hot dog in Chicago from the Chicago Forum:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334192


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Hopefully they won't follow the Krispy Kreme model. :rolleyes: I think a good model was In-n-Out. They did't go bonkers putting stores on every corner, and the stores they have a very busy.

They seem to be going pretty slow even in the Chicago area. They've been in business for over 40 years and only have 30 units open. And many of them are new in just the last few years.

The Portillo's model of "blanket" would be maybe 25 stores between Simi Valley and the Mexican border over the next 10 years. It took them forever just to come east of I-294 in Chicago from their NW Cook and DuPage base.

This may actually be worth a drive down to OC to check out. I've been happy with the hot dogs at Rubin's Red Hots in Sherman Oaks (the restaurant actually bought a piece of El track to put his stand under), but this sounds interesting...and they have Italian beef, too. Guess I'll have to make a stop on the next trip down to Disneyland.

I see that Pink's in LA had a cameo in Hell's Kitchen earlier this week! Pink's make great hotdogs! :)

The Snack Stand in Madison Park in NYC. (23rd Street and Madison Ave). Their Taxi Dog is fantastic. Combo of onions and kraut on a dog. Also great fries and shakes to go with it.

Anywhere that puts the following on a Dog has my vote:

Onion
Bacon
Chili Salsa
Cream Cheese (aka Philly)
Cheddar Cheese

I like to have the bun buttered with the Cream Cheese, then put a layer of chili salsa, then the Dog, then cheddar cheese, then onion, then bacon, then more cheddar.

You can also add some sauerkraut on there too, if you're game :)

Throw some avocado on there too and you've got The Heart Surgeon's Delight™. ;)

I am kind of amazed it took until the 17th post for the first mention of Costco to show up. For me, a toss up between Nathans in Coney Island and Pinks in LA. But I have to mention the guy that runs a stand in the summer in ANC. He's down on 3rd or 4th st downtown where all the tourists hang out.. Great hot dogs and even has spicy reindeer sausage.

They have added a webcam now to check the lines.

And it's called Shake Shack, not Snack Stand. Here's the website with a link to the Shack Cam:

www.shakeshacknyc.com