Seattle: Monster Dogs

Seattle has it's own regional-style hot dog aptly named the Seattle Dog, which is characterized by a split and grilled dog nestled in a soft, oversized bun slathered with cream cheese, then topped with caramelized onions. Allegedly, the Seattle Dog made it's appearance in parking lots outside of Seattle Mariners games about a decade ago.
We found our Seattle Dog on a corner in the Belltown neighborhood being served by Monster Dogs, one of Seattle's more well know late-night street meat slingers. Monster Dogs set up their carts (they have carts in Belltown and Capitol Hill) in the evening to catch the drunk-and-starving crowd as they come out of bars.
Here you can see our order of veggie dogs (really veggie sausages) getting grilled alongside the soft rolls. For whatever reason, the veggie dogs were not sliced open before grilling, but our meat ordering friends had their dog sliced. Over to the side is a large pan of onions that cooks and caramelizes as the night grows long.
The hot dog stand operator smears cream cheese on the inside of the bun, plops the dog in, and tops it all off with a generous amount of caramelized onions. That's your basic Seattle Dog. Condiments vary from stand to stand, and according to personal tastes. Pickle relish, sauerkraut, sliced jalapenos, bright yellow mustard, brown mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, bbq sauce, and Sriracha were all up for grabs at Monster Dogs.
I went with Sriracha and mayonnaise to start, and took a bite. Not bad, but the thin smear of cream cheese was lost behind the peppery sausage and sweet onions. Wanting a little more umpf, I then went back to the condiment bar and added sauerkraut. Not quite umpf-y enough, but I decided to quit tinkering with the franken-dog I'd created. Next time, I'd request lots of cream cheese, and top off the pile of onions with bbq sauce!

Monster Dogs
Seattle, Washington