Good Morning America Hot Dog Showdown

Anyone catch the thing on Good Morning America yesterday?
A poll came out where 28% of people polled like New York Hotdogs and 26% like Chicago Hot dogs.

How do they decide to settle it? The invite Nathan's and Vienna Beef to come onto Good Morning America for a taste test. Well, let's stop and think here. The Good Morning America Studios are in New York..... who the heck did they think was going to get a bigger crowd and more response?

Anyway, it was good to see. I think some people in New York were suprised at how good the Vienna Beef was.

I think Vienna needs to call for a rematch. Neutral turf... like Clevland Ohio or something.

Did they mention that Nathan's closed their only Chicago location after nine months? No business.

The Nathan's franchise in LA closed too. I think it's a chainwide thing, not just LA or Chicago.

See ya
Steve

They closed a store? Or they closed like an office?
Wow, that's pretty big considering they are one of the supposed "big" hot dog companies.

LONG LIVE VIENNA BEEF!

Closing a Nathan's franchise in Chicago is no indication of the quality of an authentic Nathan's hot dog. Just like having a Vienna Beef dog at a Target is not indicative of an authentic Vienna Beef frank. Nathan's franchises are hit and miss for the most part. Some prepare the skinless version on roller grills, ala Target. People in Chicago are used to boiled or steamed milder tasting Vienna Beef franks. New Yorkers are used to griddle fried, spicier, natural casing all beef Nathan's or Sabrett's. I agree it would be worth a comparison. But only if the authentic versions are offerred.

The worst hot dog I ever had was at a Nathan's in the Orlando airport. Whereas, the hot dogs at O"Hare have always been first rate.

JohnFox:
Have you ever had a Vienna Beef hot dog? I grew up on them They are spicey, they have a pop and a kick to them unlike any other hot dog I have ever had. I have had Nathan's Hot Dogs before, and I was not impressed. They didn't give my tastebuds anything to tango with.
As for the ones at Target, they taste almost identitical to normal Vienna hot dogs. Obviously they are not the same, but they are close, and they are so SO good.

I think that if Chicago wanted to win any hot dog contest or a (which is better) comparison test against Nathan's they should have used the "Superdawg" I believe Superdawg a much better hot-dog then Vienna.
It is also my view that Nathan's and Vienna Beef are the brand names with the most recognition factor but certainly not the best meat product.

Do you mean "Super Dawg" as in the hot dog itself or the hot dog on their menu called super dawg? They are a Vienna customer I believe, I have been there before.....

It doesn't count if they didn't include a charcoal grilled Sahlens hot dog.

quote:

Weenie Girl
Junior Burger



23 Posts
Posted - 07/29/2005 : 12:14:50
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Do you mean "Super Dawg" as in the hot dog itself or the hot dog on their menu called super dawg? They are a Vienna customer I believe, I have been there before.....

I'm talking about a true Chicago hot-dog stand the likes of Nathan's in New York
Superdawg Drive-In
6363 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60646-3726
(773) 763-0660
According to one of the principals at Superdawg who I just talked to, they have an independent meat processor prepare the hot-dog to their very own recipe. And he also gave me a resounding NO to the question does Vienna make your dog?

My bad, thinking of some other place. I know which one you are talking about now. I have seen them in the documentary about Hot Dogs on WTTW. I have been there a while ago.

I am a Chicago girl tried and true. I still think that they need to have a rematch somewhere on middle ground.

Vienna dogs are super tasty, i can't seem to find them retail in Central ohio but Target stores do sell them for eating. I went to amazon.com and they are selling vienna dogs in a 5 pound package (about 100 each) for i think $60.00.
Darn..wish i was having a block party or something

Had both of thses dogs--their both good--but i really think there are other dogs out there that are better then either of them!True test---get them both ---and a bunch more and taste test them in say---Salt lake city---or Biluxi Ms! Good Morning America had a cute idea for a feature--but really --with only two entrys--as a "who's got the best dog" contest--its pretty meaningless--and besides--no matter what the results--or where its done--you will NEVER find the difinitive answer to a question of TASTE!I know --to my taste--if its not on a top-split buttered and grilled bun--its not the best,no matter what dog is sitting in it!!

I asked in the Vienna cafeteria about a week ago about getting Vienna Beef hot dogs to send to my aunt, and they said that this fall, Vienna is going to have a new website with a store where you can order their products and ship them anywhere in the country.

as for the contest, it was a competition between New York and Chicago to see who has the better hot dogs.

quote:

Originally posted by John Fox

Closing a Nathan's franchise in Chicago is no indication of the quality of an authentic Nathan's hot dog. Just like having a Vienna Beef dog at a Target is not indicative of an authentic Vienna Beef frank. Nathan's franchises are hit and miss for the most part. Some prepare the skinless version on roller grills, ala Target. People in Chicago are used to boiled or steamed milder tasting Vienna Beef franks. New Yorkers are used to griddle fried, spicier, natural casing all beef Nathan's or Sabrett's. I agree it would be worth a comparison. But only if the authentic versions are offerred.

I agree with this. The Nathan's franchise stores are pretty lousy in my experience. Even the ones in NY, close to the home of the original Nathan's sell something that seems a world away from the Coney Island original.

quote:

Originally posted by Weenie Girl

JohnFox:
Have you ever had a Vienna Beef hot dog? I grew up on them They are spicey, they have a pop and a kick to them unlike any other hot dog I have ever had. I have had Nathan's Hot Dogs before, and I was not impressed. They didn't give my tastebuds anything to tango with.
As for the ones at Target, they taste almost identitical to normal Vienna hot dogs. Obviously they are not the same, but they are close, and they are so SO good.

I've had the Vienna Beef frank on 2 occassions, 3 if you count Target. First time, I had one was a skinless version from a hot dog truck in South Jersey. Second time was at Shake Shack (formerly Danny Meyers) in New York where I had a Chicago dog and another dog with just mustard. Both were Vienna Beef. The dogs I had were skinless, 8 to a lb and boiled. I prefer grilled with natural casing. The dogs were ok, but lacked the flavor of a Gray's Papaya dog that I had right after leaving the Shake Shack. Gray's uses Sabrett. As I've said previously, I think a lot of what you like is influenced by what you grew up on.

I agree with fpczyz about Superdawg being a better choice than Vienna. Again, I may not feel this way if I grew up in Chicago and ate Vienna Beef all my life. They can certainly claim to be the authentic Chicago dog, accounting for over 80% of hot dog sales. Sort of in the same way that Heinz can claim that they "are what ketchup tastes like" since so many people use Heinz, that anything different doesn't taste like ketchup.

Superdawg uses a brand called Sinai 48 which is made by Best Kosher of Chicago. My favorite all beef dogs are Best's (New Jersey) and Usinger's. For a North Jersey Italian Hot Dog, Best's is the brand used by over 80% of people selling this type of dog. To most Jerseyans (including myself) this dog must be used to make an authentic one. Although there are those that use different brands. I'm sure some of you from Chicago trying this type of sandwich would prefer it with a Vienna Beef dog.

When I first saw this thread, I thought that this was the ultimate in rigged contests. Luckily, I decided to check my facts, for it turned out my mind played tricks on me, probably caused by all those nitrates I consume. I was off by a block. The Good Morning America studios are at the southeast corner of 44th Street and Broadway. At the southeast corner of Broadway and 43rd Street, there was a restaurant called Toffinetti's, which closed and was opened as a company-owned Nathan's around 1970. It closed when the building was purchased by the people who put up the new NASDAQ building along Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Type in Nathan's Times Square for stories about that real Realfood-type place. I originally thought the contest was held on the physical site of the old Nathan's!

I pay no attention to contests like this anymore. It is just like those "Best Pizza Joint in Podunk" awards local publications bestow upon establishments, usually their advertisers. These are not statistically-valid judgements. If they invited people from this forum to take the taste test, I might believe the outcome of the tasting. But I don't know what the demographics of the tasters were. So, Weenie Girl, I think it is just a waste of time to pursue any additional testing. How do you measure which of two regional favorites are better? If people in Chicago liked a New York style dog better, I'm sure the people at Vienna have the technical expertise to produce one right within the Chicago city limits.

If you walk exactly one mile down Broadway from the Good Morning America studios to Madison Square Park and cut through at the 24th Street entrance, you will come to the Shake Shack on New York City Parks Department-owned property where they serve Vienna Beef franks with the poppy seed rolls in original Vienna Beef packaging (obviously frozen) and all the condiments. There are also plenty of Nathan's franchises in Manhattan, some good, some dreadful. During this time of year, there are long lines to place an order at the Shake Shack. Granted, a lot of people on line are employees of nearby MetLife and CS First Boston who want to have lunch in the park. I hear a lot of out-of-town accents on the line as well.

As for me, I like both dogs. They are definitely very different. Which style dog I am in the mood for when picking which place to go to that day seems to depend more on what side of the bed I got up on that morning than anything else.

-David

quote:

Originally posted by hawkeyejohn

Did they mention that Nathan's closed their only Chicago location after nine months? No business.

Nathan's had a Chicago location??? Where the heck was it and when did it open?

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

quote:

Originally posted by hawkeyejohn

Did they mention that Nathan's closed their only Chicago location after nine months? No business.

Nathan's had a Chicago location??? Where the heck was it and when did it open?

It was on the Near North/Gold Coast area. It opened about 4-5 years ago and shut its doors about 6-8 months later.

Near North? There are a few spots in Chicago where it seems a new hot dog place opens and then closes really quickly. There isn't alot of foot traffic and i think some of the rent in the store fronts is kind of steep at first and then becomes ridiculous when they go to renew thier lease.

It's kind of sad to see so many places come and go. Alot of them seem really cool, but they lack atmosphere, you know?