NYC It's All in How the Dog Is Served. Ed Levine of the NYT lets the cat, err, dog out of the bag: "You know those hot dogs that you know and love, and can't wait to eat this time of year? The ones served at Katz's Delicatessen, Gray's Papaya, Papaya King, the legendary Dominick's truck in Queens and the best "dirty water dog" carts? They're all the same dog, manufactured by Marathon Enterprises, of East Rutherford, N.J., the parent company of Sabrett. They may vary in size, preparation and condiment selection (and Papaya King has Marathon add a secret spice to its mixture), but they're the same ol' dog. In fact, until a few years ago, Marathon made Nathan's hot dogs."
(Call me a philistine, I don't care, but my two favorite hot dogs in the city are the bacon-wrapped, fried, and topped with avocado Chihuahua at Crif*Dogs on St Mark's and the pastrami-laden offering at Artie's Deli on the Upper West Side. Yum!)