This Is The Best Fast Food Hot Dog

Hot dogs can be the perfect snack as you dig into one on a warm summer day and mix it with your preferred toppings. Whether you're a fan of mustard or plain old ketchup or like to keep things classic, few things in the world are as satisfying as a well-prepared hot dog. When it comes to fast food restaurants, several big brand names include them on their menu for those of us with a craving for an All-American treat.

Several places such as Sonic, Shake Shack, Five Guys, Checkers, and more offer their customers an option to dig into hot dogs and add their preferred sauce to the snack. Sonic claims to grill a 100 percent beef hot dog, with additions like chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard, while the Shake Shack website has a couple of options to choose from. The brand says that it sticks to Vienna beef while serving up its grilled hot dogs. Five Guys, for its part, even has Kosher style hot dogs among its many choices, such as bacon dog, bacon cheese dog, and cheese dog. If you find yourself at Checkers, you can choose between a chili hot dog and a simple grilled hot dog.

In case you're wondering which fast food joint would survive in a fierce hot dog face-off in terms of taste and overall value, we have the answer for you. 

Shake Shack is the right answer

If you're craving for a well-made hot dog from a fast food joint, your best bet is hitting the nearest Shake Shack outlet for a bite of deliciousness. According to the Shake Shack website, the brand's journey began with the hot dog, even though it's more popular these days for its other offerings, such as its burgers.

A description on the site reads, "With all this burger talk it's easy to forget that Shake Shack began as a humble hot dog cart. These aren't your average ones, either: ours are made using 100 percent Vienna Beef with no hormones or antibiotics, ever. Split and griddled crisp, then served on a non-GMO Martin's Potato Roll." 

So why is Shake Shack's hot dog better than its counterparts? Per Delish, the brand's hot dogs aren't typical at all. As that article explains, the dogs are separated in the middle and then griddled until they're nice and crispy on top, which makes them perfect for toppings. The potato roll simply adds to the hot dog's appeal. The prices are good, too: You'd pay somewhere around $3-$4 for a delicious hot dog with its incredible toppings and a hard-to-resist potato roll (via Fast Food Menu Prices). If you're in the mood for it, you could even add the special cheese sauce to the mix for the ultimate experience. Ready to try it yet?