Competition for the best hot dog heats up

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 | 8:21 a.m.

A few months back we took a look at some of the best hot dogs in town, but did not chronicle a Las Vegas institution that almost universally makes hot dogs available, namely the casino sports book.

Virtually every one of the larger sports books in town has the type of seating that makes eating while betting an option. A few sell dogs off carts directly adjacent to the book.

Station Casinos used to run independent hot dog carts, but it has discontinued the practice. Palms is planning to install a hot dog cart directly in the sports book, but has not yet done so. Most others have snack bars adjoining or directly adjacent to the sports books. All of these snack bars include hot dogs on the menus.

The best deal in town is surely found at both The Orleans and Gold Coast, where Vienna beef hot dogs, one of America's best-loved brands, are sold directly from a cart for only 75 cents apiece.

These are spicy, plump, tasty hot dogs, made in Chicago and sold in several places around town that advertise authentic Chicago hot dogs. Not only are these top-notch dogs, they are between a third and a quarter the price of dogs sold in a typical casino snack bar.

These come eight to the pound on Wonder Bread buns, which are not going to be everyone's favorite. These dogs are steamed and spurt juice when pierced or bitten. A free sauerkraut option, plus deli mustard, ketchup and relish, makes this the best deal in town.

Meanwhile, downtown there are hot dogs galore. At Binion's Horseshoe, each year during the World Series of Poker, there is a line at the snack bar to purchase the Oscar Meyer all-beef hot dog, which sells for $2.50. These are also eight-to-the-pound dogs, but are grilled. The waitress, Susie, says she will be glad to have the bun butter-grilled as well -- a nice idea.

Binions' dog comes with sour pickles, mustard, relish and onions.

That's all well and good, but down the street, for just 25 cents more, at Golden Nugget's snack bar adjacent to the sports book, there is (in this reporter's opinion), a bigger and better-tasting hot dog.

That would be a Hebrew National hot dog, a quarter-pounder and all-beef, naturally. This is a juicy, beautifully spiced hot dog, and for an extra 50 cents the casino serves it topped with a rather bland beef-chili topping. Purists will prefer it plain.

Both of these downtown dogs are tastier, but not as large or as inexpensive, as the one sold at the Fremont. At this casino's sports book snack bar, footlong hot dogs turn slowly on a rotating, roller-type grill, and the scent is intoxicating.

These dogs are made by a company called Smithfield, and they are not all-beef, but rather beef and pork. These hot dogs sell for $2 apiece, and one will satisfy a normal appetite.

Sam's Town also sells a grilled hot dog, an Oscar Meyer, and the price jumps to $2.99 for a quarter-pound hot dog.

The proper name for the venue is the Sports Bar Deli Snack Bar, and it is adjacent to the sports book. Sauerkraut is 30 cents, and for an extra 60 cents there is a chili-and-cheese option.

One of the best Strip dogs is sold at Treasure Island, at the deli in the sports book.

The food and beverage executives, including Vice President of Food and Beverage Adam Odegaard, conducted a hot-dog tasting to determine what they felt was the best-tasting hot dog available, and the winner was the Eisenberg Hot Dog made by the Kelly Corned Beef Company. (These dogs, incidentally, were a big hit at ShoWest in March, with theater owners and vendors.)

The Treasure Island hot dogs are $2.50 for a 4-ounce hot dog. They are cooked on heated rollers and are served with every condiment imaginable, on delicious, seeded-egg buns. There are even a few fancy types of mustard available, for those who do not cotton to the typical American prepared mustard.

Another dependable venue to find a good hot dog is Stage Deli. There are multiple locations at MGM Grand, Bally's and Green Valley Ranch Station Casino. At the first two, the locations are adjacent to the sports books. At Green Valley Ranch Station, it is across the casino in a food court.

These dogs go for $2.75, but there are a few details to note: At Green Valley Ranch Station and Bally's, these are Hebrew National quarter-pound hot dogs; at MGM Grand, they are slightly smaller, at five to the pound.

The reason, deli owner Joel Barish says, is a different grilling mechanism is used at Green Valley Ranch Station and Bally's than at MGM Grand.

Again, Hebrew National makes a great hot dog, but when you buy one from the Stage Deli there are a few little pluses: one is a spicy deli mustard called Sunshine that the deli gets directly from New York. It has a nice tang.

Another is a quarter-pickle slice, an authentic sour Kosher dill, also trucked in from New York. Only the buns, in fact, are local. Barish buys his hot dog buns from a local bakery, the Nevada Baking Company.

Any way you slice it, Las Vegas has to be one of the great hot dog towns in the country, if not (with apologies to the Big Apple) the greatest outright.