Media Darling JJ’s, Recently Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Releases Fourth Annual Top Ten Hot Dog Toppings List Just in Time for Fourth of July, JJ’s Fifth Anniversary and the Most Popular Hot Dog Day of the Year
With July 4th, the most popular Hot Dog Day of the Year on the horizon, JJ’s Red Hots, has some good advice: don’t forget the mustard, which is still the Top Dog of Hot Dog toppings.
JJ’s, the Charlotte-based, national award-winning upscale Hot Dog and Sausage brand, which was featured earlier this year on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, today released its fourth annual study of the Top Ten Hot Dog Toppings, based on five years of the brand’s sales data.
According to JJ’s, which celebrates its fifth anniversary on July 4th and has featured more than 300 toppings on its Hot Dogs since 2012, America loves their Hot Dogs with the following toppings, in order of preference in the past year:
- Mustard
- Chili
- Cheese
- Onions
- Relish
- Kraut
- Slaw
- Ketchup
- Bacon
- Pickles
The normal suspects, chili, cheese, onions and relish rounded out the top five for the fourth consecutive year. Ketchup, JJ’s founder and proprietor Jonathan Luther’s least favorite topping, refuses to go away, fading but still listed at #8.
“Old habits die hard,” said Luther. “While we are always pushing the envelope to include the hottest new toppings like pulled pork and brisket, and introducing our guests to things they’ve never tried before, we always make the classic ingredients available and more often than not, guests opt for traditional favorites.”
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans consume seven billion Hot Dogs between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day, yet the most popular day of them all is July 4th, when Americans will consume more than 150 million Hot Dogs, enough to stretch from Washington DC to Los Angeles more than five times.
“Every Day is July 4th at JJ’s,” said Brandy Newton, JJ’s chief brand officer. “But on July 4th, we’ll be offering one of our most popular dogs, the Chili Cheese Coney, featured on Triple D, for $2.99 and will be pouring select $2 drafts. It’s the most popular Hot Dog day of the year and we cannot wait to see our friends and fans. And, of course, we’ll be packing plenty of mustard.”
JJ’s 4th Annual Top Ten Hot Dog Toppings list was released as the brand remains on an incredible roll that began on July 4th five years ago. In addition to February’s “Triple D” feature on Food Network and making Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers list for two years running, JJ’s has swept all of Charlotte’s Best Hot Dog awards in the past five years. Most recently, JJ’s was named by Tabelog as One of The 10 Most Unique Hotdog Joints in America, was cited by Spoon University as The 50 Best Foods to Eat in Charlotte Before You Die and as one of the 10 Best Hot Dog Joints Across the State by North Carolina’s Our State magazine.
JJ’s Red Hots is the premier purveyor of “hand-crafted” char-grilled hot dogs and sausages with two locations and several portable vehicles in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The restaurant concept is built on solid, hardworking values and is modeled after venerable establishments like Ted’s in Buffalo, NY, Gene and Jude’s in Chicago, and many others. Still, JJ’s is a true American original featuring house-made, scratch prepared sides and toppings served alongside time tested, revered American brands like Weber’s Mustard, Martin’s Rolls, Cheerwine and Coca-Cola. Perhaps most proudly, JJ’s Red Hots serves smokehouse hot dogs from Sahlen’s Meat Packing Company in Buffalo, NY. Sahlen’s is a 146-year-old company that remains family owned and operated, and makes, in our opinion, the best hot dogs in the world.