Auckland’s Hot Dog Hot Spots

We see them in movies, we seem them on our BBQs – the hot dog is a household staple. While New Yorkers may take the credit for the best hot dogs, Auckland City’s gourmet hot dogs would certainly give them a run for their money. Here is a list of our favourites.

The days of drooling over American hot dogs on Instagram are over because lucky for us the Brooklyn Dogs food truck brings New York inspired hotdogs right here to Auckland. With a simple yet delicious menu, you can quickly start making your way through their four flavours consisting of the Spicy Hog, Vege Classic, Bacon and Cheese, and Brooklyn Classic served with sauerkraut and all the dressings. These dogs are priced perfectly, coming in at $10 per hot dog, you’re getting more bang for your buck with their loaded portions. You can find the super friendly Brooklyn Dogs team at most markets, food festivals, and Food Truck Collective events, keep track of them on their Instagram page.

If you haven’t tried a Korean hot dog yet, you need to make a beeline to Mighty HotDog in Chancery Square today! Served hot on a stick, Korean hot dogs are deep-fried in a batter of dough, rolled in sugar and your favourite savoury or sweet toppings, and finished off with a generous amount of sauce – making for the perfect cheese-pull. Mighty HotDog has mastered the art of Korean hot dogs and offers an array of flavours including Mozzarella Cheese, Mighty Potato, Korean Rice Cake, Cheese Lovers, and Choc Peanut. For only $6-$7, this is going to be your new favourite inner-city snack spot.

This may be Auckland’s best kept hot dog secret at the moment, but we are willing to share. There is a new big dog in town, going by the name of David Lee and he is the brains behind the Good Dog Bad Dog operation. His menu is entirely devoted to the hot dog itself, with some heavenly creations in store for us.. Let’s start with the “Dirty Dog” – this delicacy is concocted of the time-honoured frank sausage, Swiss cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, and a very secret special sauce, all topped with chives. The universally-loved and decadent “Chilli Cheese Dog” is a frank sausage doused in a house-made spiced chilli mince, cheddar cheese sauce, and chives all nestled up in a home-baked bun. The “Good Dog” is made for our veggie/vegan friends, offering a plant-based sausage, fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, spicy jalapeños, and truffle mustard to top it off. As a previous pop-up in Newmarket, Good Dog Bad Dog finally has a permanent home in Harbour Eats at Commercial Bay.

We couldn’t complete a hot dog list without including the legendary Lord of the Fries. While this place is certainly set up for our vegan/vegetarian comrades, their hot dogs are so delicious even the steadfast meat-eaters have subsided and revelled in these veggie-friendly hot dogs. Similar to Ugly Hotdogs, the hot dog menu is concise with three popular options available. The “Tijuana” is described as the Mexican inspired hot dog with a veggie sausage that gets a flavour kick with jalapenos, cheese, onions, and spicy tomato sauce as well as sour cream. Next up is the “Chicago”, an ode to the classic American hot dog. This hot dog is piled high with the traditional fixings – like crunchy pickles, relish, peppers, and a generous drizzle of mustard and celery salt. Finally, we have the “Melbourne” which is both simple and classic consisting of only cheese and onion topped with mustard and ketchup. Let us not forget all of these juicy hot dogs are 100% vegan. Find Lord of the Fries online, or on Karangahape Road and Commerce Street.