Hot dogs don’t get nearly enough respect around here, and these four spots make the case better than I ever could. I’ve been eating my way through Maryland’s hot dog scene lately, and this is where I landed: a gastropub in Olney, a tiny stand on the Annapolis waterfront, a great food hall stall in Clarksville, and a Frederick institution that’s been at it for decades. Loaded dogs, gourmet dogs, globally inspired dogs, all of it!
As usual, these are in no particular order, they’re just the spots I genuinely loved. One quick thing before we get into it, since people mix this up all the time: none of these are half-smokes. That’s a DC thing, a bigger, coarser, part-pork sausage with its own whole history, so it’s a different animal from what’s on this list. What these four have in common is that they take a humble hot dog and treat it like it deserves real care, whether that’s a 20-mustard toppings bar or chimichurri made in house.
1. Brew Belly
The Eloté Dog is the one I came away obsessed with. It’s a loaded dog piled with corn relish, chile mayo, feta cheese and corn nuts, and all those flavors work SO well together. At $6.99 it’s a total steal, and it’s a yum from the very first bite. Brew Belly’s technically a gastropub, so the dog isn’t even the headline act: there’s a whole cheesesteak lineup running from a classic Wiz Wit to a Seoul-style with soy-hoisin and spicy mayo, 24 locally-focused craft brews on draft, and house-cut poutine with brown gravy and cheddar curds that I could not stop eating.
The Cooper Sharp ($12.49) is stuffed with tons of meat and they don’t skimp one bit. It’s counter service with self-seating, tucked into a shopping center, so it punches way above its address. The Washington Post called that cheesesteak worth a drive to Olney, so I’m not out here on my own with this one.
2. Pip’s Dock Street Dogs
This tiny stand’s been a City Dock fixture since 2006, roughly 17 years of feeding downtown Annapolis through floods and everything else, and one bite tells you why it lasted. They use natural-casing all-beef Sabrett dogs and Hebrew National kosher dogs, then turn you loose on a toppings bar that runs from sweet peppers to red hots, plus their own house-made Pip’s Relish and something like 20 different mustards.
My pick was The Stavvy ($8.55), a spicy dog under sharp white cheddar, homemade chili, chipotle mayo, fried onions and hots, and every one of those flavors worked together instead of fighting each other. They had a Reuben Dog running as a special too, a juicy beef dog buried in a TON of sauerkraut and thousand island, so grab it if you spot it. Their Coney Island ($6.25) is the number one seller, and pricing includes tax, which is a nice touch. Eating one steps from the water doesn’t hurt either.
3. The Nomadic Glizzy
If “glizzy” is new to you, it’s just the fun, internet-y word for a hot dog, and this Clarksville newcomer takes that humble dog and runs it through street food flavors from all over the world. Founder William Castillo’s Argentinian Glizzy ($14) was the star of the show for me: spicy chorizo on a perfectly toasted French roll with diced onions, diced tomato and a house chimichurri I would 100 percent buy by the jar.
I was worried the bread would be too thick and it was the opposite, super buttery and light. The Korean Glizzy ($12) is right behind it with sweet corn, shredded cheese, mayo, sriracha and bbq, and it’s a def order if you’re into corn cheese. Every dog comes with potato chips, you can build your own from scratch, and you can swap the bun for a baked yam, a potato or mac and cheese, which is wild in the best way! Save room for the Heavenly Yam ($8), a MASSIVE dessert with roasted marshmallows that’s somehow less sweet than it sounds. It lives inside The Common Kitchen food hall, so it’s a great excuse to check that out if you haven’t.
4. Beef ‘n Buns ‘n Paradise
This one’s the oldest family-owned carry-out of its kind in Frederick, and it’s earned every year of that. The Nacho Dog ($7.99) is a juicy dog under nacho cheese sauce and jalapeños and it’s so satisfying, though the spice fiend in me wanted even more jalapeños, which is an easy fix. They use 100 percent ground chuck with no fillers from the nearby Mount Airy Meat Locker, so if you’re a burger person the Cajun Bleu Burger (8 oz, $12.49) is a whole event: a huge patty dipped in hot sauce, then topped with ham, fresh fries, lettuce, tomato, onion and bleu cheese dressing.
Come hungry for that one. They also pour something like 40 shake flavors, and the Peanut Butter Overdose ($8.59), vanilla ice cream under homemade peanut butter sauce, broken Reese cups and crushed peanuts in a waffle bowl, is absolute perfection on a hot day. It’s a walk-up window with outdoor seating, nothing fancy at all, just the kind of food you drive out of your way for.
That’s my current Maryland hot dog lineup, Nomsters! Whether you want a loaded dog by the water in Annapolis, a chimichurri-covered glizzy in a Clarksville food hall, or a milkshake the size of your head out in Frederick, there’s a dog on this list with your name on it. Have you guys been to any of these, or is there a spot I’m sleeping on? Let me know in the comments, I’m always taking recs. And save this one for the next time somebody tries to tell you a hot dog is just a hot dog.