rennervision

I've always wondered about this Harry Callahan line from Sudden Impact. I may be slightly paraphrasing, but it goes something like this:

"You know what really makes me sick? It's what you put on your hot dog. Nobody - I mean NOBODY - puts ketchup on a hot dog!"

Ummmm... I put ketchup on my hot dog. Is this something I should be ashamed of, or is the no-ketchup rule strictly a San Francisco thing, or what?

sundog

Try to get ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago and you can hear the entire city roll their eyes. That's along with any verbal abuse you'll suffer at the hands of the cook, or other customers.

But I feel your pain. I hate mustard and always used to put ketchup on my dogs as a kid. That was then. Now I just load it up with anything but that vile yellow sauce.

Scot1458

Sundog is right. I live in Chicago, and they will shoot you if you put ketchup on a hot dog or a brat. It's mustard only.

Sunday Morning

Kids put ketchup on hot dogs, so putting ketchup on a hot dog as a grown up is a sign of immaturity.

For dirty harry, rites of passage include:

Switching to mustard.
Blowing the head off of the scum of the streets.


I like both ketchup & mustard on my hot dogs, am both mature & Immature and I occasionally see people get blown on the streets in Nyc.

Panda Phil

Sounds a bit like going to New York and asking for a pizza with pineapple.

rennervision

Wow - I had no idea! Here in Columbus, OH I am unaware of any type of ketchup stigma with hot dogs. But Sunday Morning - in my pursuit to become more like Clint Eastwood your "kids analogy" has now succeeded in making me self conscious about reaching for the Heinz.

I'm trying to remember if in the original Dirty Harry, if Callahan was eating a hot dog right before muttering his famous line, "Did I fire six shots or only five? Do you feel lucky, punk?" If so, wish I could remember what he had on it!

Oh well. I do enjoy a good brat with mustard. Maybe I'll just stick with that from now on.

fumanstan

Wow, glad i don't live in Chicago I can't imagine a hot dog without ketchup at all, unless it has chili on it

Morf

Funny. I lived in Chicago for years, and this is the first I've ever heard of any of this. Pure rubbish, if you ask me.

Hiro11

I live in Chicago and I can verify that t's definitely true. Then again, a properly loaded Chicago hotdog has tomato slices on it (blarg) so what do they know.

Numanoid

Another Chicagoan here and it is true...depending on the joint. I've been to Hot Dog stands which don't even HAVE ketchup, just so no one can dare defile one. I've also been to plenty of places with buckets of it (probably owned by out-of-towners ).

Buttmunker

I guess ketchup on a brat would make it look like the kid was bleeding. Smearing mustard in my brat's hair will fix his wagon!!

But seriously, there was never such a thing as putting ketchup on a hot dog! Unheard of! Ketchup is for hamburgers, mustard is for hot dogs. Period.

A friend of mine used to eat his dogs with ketchup, and I thought he was a friggin' freaky weirdo! I'm from New York City.

Charlie Goose

I've heard of this no-ketchup-on-hotdogs thing before, but I don't understand it. I like mustard on a dog too, but I prefer ketchup. I think I heard Dennis Franz say something about no ketchup on "NYPD Blue" once. He's from Chicago.

Honk!

lesterlong

Ah yes, yet another reason to not visit Chicago.

milo bloom

I'm in Chicago-land now, but I used to live out in Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky and I've always put ketchup on my dogs. I go into Portillo's and get them with mustard and ketchup only. I've heard it from many people here that it's pretty much blasphemy, but I can't stand all those vegetables they try to put on them. Now that's strange, putting rabbit food all over them.

Scot1458

You guys remember Portillos?

First time I had one of their "chicago style hot dogs" I didn't know what half the $#% was on there!

Ginwen

When I was in Germany, you had to pay extra for ketchup for your bratwurst--it seemed like most people paid the extra though (not me, I much prefer mustard).

greatjedi

No ketchup on a hot dog? I don't know if I could handle that. Heck here in Utah we even have special sauce for french fries.

dave955

What's this long list? As a Chicago resident who is moving away this month for a new job, here's my list, in alphabetical order:

That is all.

I am aware of the preference many people have for mustard-only, though I usually (not always) put ketchup on my hot dogs here.

sundog

Reading the Chicago Tribune's sports section this morning, I came across a letter they printed (responding to the Sosa stuff). I think it's relevent to this discussion:

jaeufraser

I too have never heard of the ketchup on a hot dog stigma. Personally, if it doesn't have chili on it, then I've got to put ketchup and mustard on the hot dog. Got to have both to make the hot dog tasty in my opinion.

fumanstan

Dodger Dog with the works... ketchup, mustard, onions, relish... awesome