Top Dog Food Truck – Gourmet Hot Dogs in DC

The hot dog – one of the main food groups at camping trips, backyard barbeques, 4th of July festivities, and baseball games.  They are generally dressed in the usual  suspects: ketchup, mustard, and relish.But sometimes your hot dog needs a break from these old favorites. It needs to be dressed up with fancy, unexpected flavors just to shake things up (and we’re not just talking about using fancy, color-coded condiment bowls from a kitchen store.) We’ve found that one of the city’s best places to grab a gourmet hot dog is a restaurant on wheels – The Top Dog food truck!

Local DC food truck, Top Dog has three regular dogs on the menu and a “Dog of the Week.”  We ordered two of the regulars – the Sonoran Dog and The Boss. The Sonoran Dog is a bacon wrapped dog topped with pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard, and jalapeno sauce. It’s a party of flavors! The Boss is dressed in barbeque sauce, onions, banana peppers, and a pickle wedge.  The sauce and onion give it a little kick (there are no banana peppers in our picture). Vegetarians don’t have to miss out though – Top Dog also offers a veggie dog affectionately called the Not Dog.  It’s dressed up with many of the same flavors of the Sonoran Dog but with avocado instead of the dog and the bacon. For a couple of extra dollars you can get chips, a drink, or cookies to go with any dog.

We usually find Top Dog in Reston or Tyson’s, but they are worth the trip if you live in the city. You can follow their whereabouts on Twitter (@TopDogTruck). If you can’t go to them, they cater special events and office lunches.