Tipped for a resurgence of greatness a couple of years ago, the hot dog has made it. Having languished in the shadows of gourmet burgers and chicken wing buckets for too long, the hot dog is now climbing up the ranks of most popular meals and is currently sitting pretty at 17.
London street food stalls began the wave with the likes of Meat Liquor followed by Big Apple Hot Dogs and Bubbledogs, which brought a Champagne twist. Pub operators from small to large have leapt onto the bandwagon and foodservice consultancy Horizons has reported an 85% increase in hot dogs featuring on menus than a year ago.
Pub dogs
Four dogs have been added to JD Wetherspoon’s (JDW) already comprehensive menu, while smaller operators such as Greene King’s the Avery in Cambridge are also cashing in with a classic and a gourmet dog from £5.99. Selected drinks are just £1 more when buying a hot dog.
Spirit Pub Company has also bought a piece of the action with a Dog House range joining its Burger Joint section on the menu at its Flaming Grill pubs. Gourmet-style dogs are on offer at JDW in the form of chilli con carne, cheese and onion ring toppings, or at Marston’s outlets with mac and cheese varieties.
Beautifully simple to throw together in the kitchen and easy for operators to add value with toppings, hot dogs are attractive to the consumers’ purse as well with the average costing £6.12 in contrast to a burger average of £9.27 (Horizons).
Dedicated menu
Snug Bars’ Sports Bar & Grill, which has four sites in central London, has a dedicated hot dog menu with a range of topping-heavy sausagey delights. The Beer Dogs are available with pork, beef or vegetarian sausages and come in many flavours including the New York Buffalo Dog with homamde buffalo sauce, blue cheese sauce and crumbled blue cheese (£10.95) and the Acapulco Dog with beef chilli, sour cream and jalapenos (£11.95).
General manager at the Waterloo branch Michala Johnson says pork is the most popular meat of choice while the Louisiana Dog with cajun spice, red onion and strong American Cheddar (£10.95) and the Oklahoma Dog with bbq sauce and strong American Cheddar are the best sellers.
The sausages come fresh from the butchers and are cooked to order. "They sell best in the evenings as they are a big meal," she says.
Leap in popularity
Hot dog tasters are often given out at busy times to encourage people to order them and, surprisingly, they are just as popular with men as with women despite being a very sizable meal. Johnson estimates that around 25% of diners go for a hot dog, up "at least" 400% from a couple of years ago when Sports Bar & Grill carried just two options on its menu.
All-American
As a nation, we seem to have an insatiable hunger for all things American, and rare is it that a hot trend over the pond goes cold in the British market despite our reputation for the finer things in life. The Common Room in Sheffield, owned by Forum cafe Bars, has fully embraced our love of all that comes with fries with a menu that wouldn’t be out of place in a Texan food hall.
While the burgers do manage to nab the limelight the majority of the time, its lesser eaten cousin the hot dog is clawing up the ranks. Four options grace the Common Room’s menu including the just-landed New York Deli Dog with onion, bacon, pepperoni, chorizo, pickles and smoked cheese sauce (£9) and the Cincinnati Coney Dog with chilli and cheese or cheese sauce (£7.50), which are the most popular.
On the ascent
Floor manager James Garriock estimates that 30% to 40% of hot dog eaters go for the Cincinnati and, since changing the menu, hot dogs are stealing burger trade with around 30% of main meal diners opting for a dog. "People like to upgrade to sweet potato fries, bacon and pulled meats like chicken, pork and beef, " he says.
"As a sports bar the hot dogs and burgers sell well in the evenings and during matches, but you’d be surprised by our diverse clientele. Recently, we have been taking a lot of family and couple bookings amid the football blokes and hen dos." The hot dog, it seems, has cracked the British market.
Hot dogs only
Cocktail bar group Be At One started selling the dish in October last year in one site and now they are available in seven sites across the estate with a view to rolling them out further.
"They are easy to make and we have had great feedback from our guests plus great growth and superb margins. I’m sure they will feature in more pub menus," says King’s Cross general manager Scott Aubrey.
Around 200 hot dogs are sold a week across all the sites with the barmen playing a key role in upselling them. Incentives are run for staff to upsell them and in some venues there are ‘dogtail’ evenings where a cocktail and hot dog are bundled together.
"Be At One worked closely with Rollover to develop a gourmet sausage we are proud of. It is 87% pork shoulder and comes chilled in vacuum packs." Front of house staff are able to cook and prepare the dogs as they are simple to make. They are served with gherkins, crispy onions, ketchup and mustard. The range is due to be expanded next month.