One of the oldest hot dog stands in a city that was once home to countless frank purveyors, Gus’s is the place to try the Birmingham hot dog developed by the city’s early Greek immigrants. Both the regular and the "special" dogs feature a half pork-half beef weenie charred on the 70-year-old grill and served in a steamed standard issue bun with yellow mustard, chopped white onion, sauerkraut and spice-scented special sauce that’s like a sweeter, tangier version of New York pushcart-style onions. The special, with the addition of ground beef, is city’s storied hot dog claim to fame, as owner Lee Pantazis sees it. "A small piece of history wedged in a bun covered in sauce," he says.

Long before the wild game sausage trend took over gastropub menus across the United States, Anchorage residents where noshing on dogs showcasing one locally ubiquitous, otherwise rare ingredient: reindeer. Reindeer has been a summertime street cart specialty in the Last Frontier for more than two decades. But International House of Hot Dogs serves its McKinley Dog throughout the year - sleigh-pulling season included. It starts with a hearty and heavily spiced Polish-style reindeer sausage in a bun with a simple combination of sauteed onions and a sweet and smoky homemade chipotle sauce.

Peddled by hundreds of restaurants and street cart-pushing hotdogueros throughout Tucson and Phoenix, Sonoran hot dogs are so common in Arizona, they might as well be called Grand Canyon wieners. Beef franks are swaddled in bacon and griddled until they fuse together like a carnivorous candy cane. Those flavorful franks are cradled in a fluffy Mexican baguette, then topped with a whole shebang of toppings like pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard and spicy salsa. At Aqui con el Nene in Tucson, those exceptional dogs are served chilipon-style with a toasted bun and melted cheese with all the old reliables and a world-class jalapeno sauce.

One of those dishes of unknown origin, the Frito Chili Pie — corn chips topped with bold chili, cheese and crisp onion — is claimed by many places throughout the South and Southwest. This 1957 England, Arkansas, dairy is one. Owner Claude Spradlin claims that infamous dish has been on the menu for more than a half-century. And while he still serves plenty of chili-topped Fritos, he sells a lot more hot dogs coated in that same sauce. Spradlin's chili dogs follow the Arkansas ethos, its footlong dog topped with mustard, chili and slaw with optional additions of American cheese, pickled jalapenos and raw onions. And, of course, Fritos are available on the side.