Today on "Things J has an Irrational Love of":
Chili dogs.
An even halfway edible chili dog makes me inordinately happy.
Gimme a good dog, a quality bun, some hot chili, some fried onions, and just a touch of ketchup and mustard? And you will have me pleased for days.
The curiosity: Do you eat chili dogs in hand like regular hot dogs, or in a bowl? 
In hand, frequently over a plate.
A chili cheese dog CAN be even better, but it largely depends on whether I'm in the mood for cheese or not.
Does it make me a heathen, eating them in a bowl with a fork--
Melty cheese can demolish an otherwise wonderful chili dog at the wrong time.
No, it's smart. A chili dog is messy.
I get more chili if I use a bowl =9
It's not the quantity for me, it's the flavor blend.
Having more chili helps the bun flavor, for me.
But that's still fair XD
For a lesser quality dog, I can see that. But my optimal dog, the bun has just an important part to play.
What's the optimal dog?
/points up
Good quality sausage, quality bun (hoagie roll or something works great), fried onions, hot chili, and a touch of ketchup and mustard.
I've admittedly only had chili dogs with like... the oscar meyer angus beef dogs.
A butcher-prepared dog has the potential to be so much better.
note to self: find butcher somewhere in Salem
It's pricier, but the flavor is SO worth it.
You'll need to try those hebrew national dogs I showed you sometime and tell me how the flavor compares to butcher stuff. 
They're the tastiest I've had yet, myself.
They're the tastiest I've had yet, myself.
we've got a chili dog place in town here that's been going (off and on, sometimes, when an owner got old and no one was immediately up to take over) for just over a hundred years
I've had hebrew national dogs. They're better than most, but they're still mass-produced dogs.
It's the difference between a grocery store steak and a butcher-purchased steak.
The only place I know about in town that does chili dogs is Sonic 
And man, I want a mom and pop chili dog place, that sounds great.
Sonic's foot long coney is a guilty pleasure, but yeah, it's one of the "meal of convenience" vs. meal of pleasure dogs.
classic chili sauce that's more of a Greek flavor profile than 'chili', finely minced onion, spicy brown mustard, is the default
...I'm so curious about this Greek flavor profile mentioned.
you got some combination involving cumin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, oregano. not all at once but they're in tehre.
it's certainly not hot spicy
/nodnod
My preference is definitely the american south style chili dog.
it's at least the common inspiration from like, PA through Ohio into Michigan
Closest comparison is a Memphis Dog, except the Memphis Dog uses sliced green onions rather than fried onions.
...then you go to Cinci and they put it on spaghetti too lol
XD! Cinci dogs are... special.
I'd love to try both types of chili please.
But yeah, nearly every region has their own take on the chili dog.
That's just SOME of them.
Correction, regional hot dogs. XD Regional CHILI DOGS is getting into obscure minutiae
I do intend to try to swing into somewhere I can get a Polish boy if I visit my sister near Cleveland one of these days
I looked up what hotdog Oregon would get and it's. Odd. XD
well, Oregon
Yeah?
Oh, I recognize that one. Yeah, that's a carb-dog.
Macaroni Salad is a weird topping, but sometimes it works.
I can say I'd try it lmao
Oh yeah, so would I. I just have to be in a mood for it. That's a LOT of carbs.
Yeah.
LIKE I'll split one with someone--
Hehehe
I'm a bizarrity in my family in that I don't like a lot of veggies on my dogs. My dad loves Chicago Dogs, and my mom loves hers swimming in relish.
I think the only veggie I want is raw onion on a chili dog.
I like the snap =9
Hehehe, whereas I like mine to have crunch, hence the fried onions.
I ONLY like fried onions. I can stomach caramelized onions, but otherwise, the texture of onions grates on me.
Which is a shame, because onion adds a lot of flavor to things.
I can deal with caramelized onions, but like... literally I've taken a full center slice of onion and put it on a burger as is.
XD And as is true of most things, Vegas doesn't seem to have a style of dog its own, just a hub of other styles.
XD sounds fair