How To Order A Chicago-Style Hot Dog At Five Guys

Five Guys is known for its burgers, but its hot dogs deserve as much attention — especially if you know how to hack the toppings. Five Guys lets you customize your hot dog with as many free toppings as you want, so with the right choices, you can build something close to a classic Chicago-style hot dog without paying extra for the fixings. Why aim for a Chicago dog? Well, because it’s delicious.

People love Chicago-style hot dogs because they’re deeply rooted in the city’s history and culture. They became popular during the Great Depression, when hot dog stands offered an affordable, filling meal for working-class Chicagoans. The Chicago-style dog also represents the city’s immigrant influences, as the toppings reflect diverse culinary traditions. Over time, the combination of toppings became synonymous with Chicago, and the “no ketchup” rule became a quirky part of the city’s food culture.

We’re talking about an all-beef hot dog on a steamed poppy-seed bun, topped with mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato slices, a pickle spear, Chicago’s favorite hot pepper, the sport pepper, and a sprinkle of celery salt. While Five Guys doesn’t offer sport peppers or a poppy-seed bun — its buns are soft and slightly sweet – you can get pretty close by adding the other toppings. 

The best part is that Five Guys hot dogs are split and grilled, which gives them a nice crispy texture that makes every bite better. Now, let’s break down how to order your Chicago-style dog at Five Guys.

The first step is to order a kosher-style hot dog, which is grilled and sliced in half for extra flavor. While the Five Guys bun isn’t an exact match for the traditional poppy-seed bun, it’s still soft and holds up well under all the toppings.

For toppings, start with mustard — never ketchup. A true Chicago hot dog doesn’t include ketchup, so skip it if you want the real experience. Next, ask for relish and chopped onions. While its relish is a little different from the neon green variety found on Chicago dogs, it still gives that signature sweet-and-tangy flavor.

For the crunch element, add tomato slices and pickles. Five Guys’ tomatoes are thick-cut, and its pickles are sliced into long spears, both of which match the Chicago-style setup perfectly. If you want to get even closer, ask for extra pickles and tomatoes to make up for the missing sport peppers. While Five Guys doesn’t offer celery salt, a small sprinkle from home can complete the experience.

You get a stacked, flavorful hot dog that gives you all the classic Chicago dog flavors by using only the free toppings available at Five Guys. It’s not 100% authentic, but it’s close enough to satisfy a craving without making a trip to Chicago.

If you love a good hot dog, this Five Guys hack is absolutely worth trying. It really is a beautiful thing that Five Guys doesn’t charge extra for toppings, so you can build a fully loaded hot dog for the same price as a plain one. Compared to other fast-food hot dogs, this one stands out because of the grilled, split hot dog and all the free, fresh toppings.

One of the best parts of this hack is that you don’t have to stick to a Chicago-style hot dog. You’ve got a bunch of toppings at your disposal, so you can mix and match to create your own combination. Go classic, add some extra heat with jalapeños, or throw in some grilled mushrooms for a twist — the customization options make it easy to build the perfect dog, whatever that ends up meaning to you.