Why can't I get relish at any hot dog stands in New York City?

April 19, 2017 5:48 PM

When I was a kid, I'd always get relish on my hot dogs. For some mysterious reason, though, relish has vanished from hot dog stands in NYC. (Sauerkraut remains universally available.) Does anyone know why this is? Cost? Health codes?

You can skip the "relish" puns; I got enough of that googling.

posted by phooky to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

Best answer: Im not so sure your posit is correct. First i think you mean the dirty water dog carts. If you just ask for relish you get the ubiquitous sabrett nyc "onions in sauce" which is actually called sabrett relish or sabrett onion relish. i had a dog a few weeks ago and had mustard and sweet relish, and it was normal green sweet pickles chopped up in a sweet thick glump.

I think this topic needs meticulous investigation. Dog a day challenge??
posted by chasles at 3:59 AM on April 20, 2017 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I love the idea of a dog a day challenge, but I don't know if I'd survive long enough to record my findings.

I am indeed talking about the dirty water dogs. When I ask for relish, I'm pretty universally told "we don't have relish", so it's not like I'm just getting the onion stuff. Maybe it's a matter of where I'm getting the dogs; I'm usually trying the stands at the edge of parks, not the ones rolling around midtown. Maybe something particular to stands licensed by the parks department? Where are you finding your dogs?
posted by phooky at 7:01 AM on April 20, 2017

Last one i had was in the 50s by the hilton i think? Im usually south of central park and north of downton. Now im fascinated.
posted by chasles at 7:08 PM on April 20, 2017

Response by poster: Looks like the answer here is "try more dog stands".
posted by phooky at 11:05 AM on April 25, 2017