Sonoran Hot Dog appears as a signature dish in 2 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Sonoran hot dog · Phoenix
Phoenix's defining street bite: a bacon-wrapped frank tucked into a soft bolillo-style bun, then loaded with pinto beans, diced tomato, onion, jalapeno salsa and a stripe of mayo and mustard.
The Sonoran hot dog crossed the border from Hermosillo and Sonoran ranch towns in the late 20th century, where street vendors wrapped franks in bacon and served them on the fluffy bolillo-style bun. Phoenix and Tucson turned it into an icon, sold from carts and trailers that run late into the night. The full build, with pinto beans, tomato, onion, jalapeno and mayo on a bacon-wrapped dog, is the canonical Arizona version.
Where to eat in Phoenix:
- Nogales Hot Dogs
- El Sabroso Hot Dogs
- Micky's Hot Dogs
- El Caprichoso Sonoran Hotdogs
Sonoran hot dog · Tucson
The Sonoran hot dog is a bacon-wrapped grilled link in a steamed bolillo bun, loaded with pinto beans, onions, tomato, mayo, mustard and jalapeno salsa.
The Sonoran hot dog crossed the United States border from Hermosillo, Sonora in the late 1980s and 1990s through Mexican-American street vendors who clustered on South 12th Avenue in South Tucson. Daniel Contreras started El Guero Canelo as a 6-by-8 foot cart in 1993; Benny Galaz of BK Tacos sold a thousand dogos a day from his cart at age 21. The James Beard Foundation recognized El Guero Canelo with America's Classic 2018, naming Contreras the 'leading hotdoguero' in the American epicenter of the form.
Where to eat in Tucson:
- El Guero Canelo
- BK Tacos