Hot dog! Here’s where to enjoy the best hot dogs of the summer in Santa Cruz County

Summer is hot dog season. Americans eat a staggering 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day, its unofficial start and end. That’s 818 per second during that period, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, a very real organization. And why not? Discovering that number probably just made you hungry for a hot dog. After all, the sizzle and shimmer of tubes of meat rolling on a hot grill, drink sweating in hand, packages full of plush buns waiting next to glass jars and bottles of condiments is a nostalgic summer vision for many.

Santa Cruz County might give an outsized contribution to that figure, with six hot dog stands sprinkled from Boulder Creek to Watsonville. These vendors (plus one cafe with a hot dog worth seeking out) are taking this all-American item and elevating it to an art form, with locally made sausages and imported all-beef hot dogs, and toppings ranging from kimchi with seaweed salad to elote-inspired grilled corn, cotija cheese and lime. Others go a more traditional route, amping up the classic condiments with homemade versions like garlic aioli, craft beer mustard, artisan pickles and naturally fermented sauerkraut. 

Hot dogs are, by nature, customizable, leaving near-infinite possibilities and combinations. With so many options waiting to be wrapped in paper and dropped into a hungry palm, I traveled the county in the name of research, and offer my suggestions with a hot dog emoji 🌭 below. 

Thankfully, all of these stands, carts and cafés – listed from north to south – are open all year round, so no one has to wait for the dog days of summer to enjoy this iconic meal.

River Dogs of Boulder Creek

Getting to the little town of Boulder Creek can be a trek, even if you live in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But it’s worth it for River Dogs of Boulder Creek’s claim to fame: It’s the only hot dog stand in Central California with a real Chicago dog. This regional specialty from the Windy City comes with tomato wedges, pickled sport peppers, yellow mustard, chopped white onion, neon-green sweet pickle relish and celery salt. While the toppings are replicated at stands throughout the county and beyond, Rivers Dogs is the only vendor in the region allowed to import traditional Vienna Beef all-beef hot dogs, a privilege earned by owners Chris McCann and Paul Faraone by attending its Hot Dog University in southern California. This summer, River Dogs is also vending at Humble Sea Brewing’s pop-up beer garden on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf midweek through October. 

Steamer Lane Supply Co.

From the edge of Lighthouse Field State Beach, across the street from the stairs leading down to one of Santa Cruz’s most famed surf spots, Steamer Lane Supply Co. serves surfers, tourists and locals enjoying the panoramic views of Monterey Bay. As the only for-profit business on West Cliff Drive, it’s an anomaly, and within its menu of pressed burrito “dillas,” sandwiches and rice bowls is an unexpected showstopper: the Kimchi Dog. The toasted bun and seared, split all-beef hot dog are loaded with a rainbow of tangy homemade kimchi, fresh cucumber, shredded pickled carrot, sesame-ginger mayo, seaweed salad, jack cheese and crumbled queso fresco. It’s a unique tangy, crunchy, cheesy combination of Asian, Mexican and American-inspired ingredients that gives true California vibes. 

Happy Dog Hot Dogs

Daniel Aguirre has posted his cherry-red cart on River Street for a decade, and has the regulars to prove it. Visit Happy Dogs during lunch hour and you’ll be in good company while Aguirre greets many guests by name and a firm handshake. He proudly serves sausages from Corralitos Market & Sausage Company and offers customers a range of quality condiments, many of them homemade. I counted more than a dozen different mustards and mayos, but don’t miss out on Aguirre’s own garlic aioli or the mustard made with craft beer from Balefire Brewing Co. in Live Oak. Overwhelmed by the options? Aguirre suggests loading your dog up the “Happy Dogs way,” with different flavor combos on each end. 

Good Dogs

Good Dogs owner Philip Mansfield dreamed of working in the restaurant industry as a young man, but his deafness made it impossible for him to work in kitchens, he says. After retiring 10 years ago, he decided to finally open his own hot dog cart, near the intersection of Soquel Avenue and Soquel Drive, and start sharing his food with the Santa Cruz community. Good Dogs’ mobile kitchen is housed in a 1962 Airstream trailer, and offers a concise menu of hot dogs made with quality sausages on buttery brioche buns topped with thoughtful combinations, like homemade chili and mac and cheese. But the California Dog strikes a fresh balance, with cool cucumber slices, shredded carrot, crunchy pea shoots and creamy green goddess dressing, on a veggie or all-beef hot dog. 

Left Coast Sausage Worx

Located across the street from Capitola Beach, you can almost toss a hot dog from Left Coast Sausage Worx to a friend on the sand. Owner Josh Fisher prides himself on using locally made products. Left Coast’s dogs are sourced from Corralitos Market & Sausage Company, including its Polish, Cheesy Bavarian and wild game sausages, and its buns are made by Aldo’s Bakery in Aptos. Guests can customize their sausage with other high-quality toppings, including mustard from Santa Cruz-based Twins Kitchen and Wildbrine sauerkraut. There’s a not-so-secret menu of special dogs, too, like The Heater, a hot link topped with a face-melting combo of pickled jalapeños, sport peppers, spicy mayo, Sriracha and Beaver Brand Extra Hot Sriracha Mustard. It hurts so good!

Scoop Dog

Scoop Dog, the hot dog stand at the Hangar on the outskirts of Watsonville, specializes in regionally inspired flavor combinations like an L.A. dog with pico de gallo, jalapeños and bacon, and a New York dog with spicy brown mustard, onions and sauerkraut. But arguably its biggest flavor powerhouse is the Elote Dog, which evokes the classic Mexican street snack with charred corn, cilantro, crumbled cotija and jack cheese, a swirl of mayo, a sprinkle of Tajin and a squeeze of lime. The pop of sweet corn with a kick of spice over a snappy all-beef hot dog is a true taste of summer. 

Taylor Brothers Hot Dogs

It doesn’t get more “old school” than Taylor Brothers, a red and white drive-in at the edge of Watsonville’s downtown plaza. This 70-year-old hot dog stand’s vibe, menu and prices are straight out of 1954, the year it opened. There’s only one thing to order: a hot dog in a steamed bun with everything, in this case finely chopped white onion, a swipe of yellow mustard, relish and a ladle of chili. Wrapped in white paper and pressed into your palm by an attendant in a paper hat, it feels lighter than it looks, like holding a bird, and it’s gone in four or five bites. It tastes like nostalgia, even if you’ve never had one before. 

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