The latest hot dog topping: Inflation

Generally speaking, the bun in which a Chicago-style hot dog is laid must be poppy seed. The relish should be neon and the salt, celery. Vienna Beef is considered the standard-bearer for the frankfurter. Though the city’s myriad hot dog vendors take their liberties here and there, swapping regular relish for neon or a green tomato for a red one, one rule is ironclad: No ketchup.

If the toppings on a Chicago dog have been relative constants over the years, the price of them has not. Old-timers may remember when they could pay for their Chicago dogs with coins instead of bills; the Tribune archives recall a Depression-era deal of a hot dog and fries from Fluky’s for 5 cents, or four for those who couldn’t spare the extra penny.

But the tab on a Chicago dog is up, just like it is on rent and groceries and plane tickets and school supplies.

Inflation continued to accelerate last month, with prices up more than 8 percent over September of last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue hiking interest rates aggressively in a bid to tamp inflation down, though economists warn that hiking rates too high could tip the U.S. into a recession.

Food prices in particular have skyrocketed, and the humble hot dog is no exception.

At The Wiener’s Circle in Lincoln Park, a Chicago dog costs $6 now, up from $5 at this time last year. Here the Chicago classic is called a char dog because it comes charred off the grill, and tax is included. But despite the 20 percent hot dog upcharge, margins are down at The Wiener’s Circle, a neighborhood institution since 1983. “Our restaurant is modestly profitable right now, but not wildly so,” co-owner Tim Won said.

Costs are up across the board, said Rick Novak, the restaurant’s accountant.

The price of a case of 80 hot dogs from Vienna Beef has increased only 3 percent over the last year, Novak reported. (The supplier won’t share information about pricing, or how it’s kept the cost of encased beef from rising too high.) But tomatoes are up a whopping 94 percent, from less than a dollar per pound a year ago to $1.75, Novak said.

A gallon of green relish costs just over $8 now, a 23 percent increase over last year’s price of $6.54. A case of poppy-seed buns is up 10 percent. A bag of white onions costs only a dollar more than it did last fall, or 4 percent, but sport peppers are up 21 percent. And a single pickle spear laid elegantly across charred Vienna Beef costs about a penny more now than it did in 2021, per Novak’s rough estimate, an increase of 11 percent.

Those price increases don’t account for the fuel surcharge the various vendors of The Wiener’s Circle added to their bills starting in the spring — about $4 to $5 per invoice, Novak said — or higher labor costs. The restaurant increased wages when the Cook County minimum wage went up in July, to $15.40 per hour; Won said the restaurant pays slightly above minimum wage, on average. The Wiener’s Circle is also contending with increased costs due to its expansion; it reopened last October after a monthslong closure for renovation.

Hot dog joint owners worry about how much they can pass on to their customers without driving them away. At the Superdawg Drive-In in Wheeling and Norwood Park East, a Chicago dog comes with a hearty helping of fries. The meal comes out to $7.25, said co-owner Lisa Drucker. That’s up from $6.75 last fall, though Superdawg hasn’t raised prices since December.

“We’re very deliberate about raising prices and not raising them too much or too often,” Drucker said. “But we know that it is on the horizon, sooner than later, because every single thing has gone up.”

Potatoes for Superdawg’s fresh-cut fries are a particular challenge right now, Drucker said, and even the oil used to fry them has skyrocketed in price. Superdawg gets its pickles from hurricane-ravaged areas of Florida, Drucker said, so they will be the next obstacle.

At Fat Johnnie’s Famous Red Hots in Marquette Park, a Chicago dog — served here with a cucumber in lieu of the traditional pickle — goes for $3. Last month the price tag was $2.50; the hot dog stand recently raised prices for the first time in about four years, said manager Roc Salerno.

“A gallon of relish used to cost $3.50. It’s about 6 bucks now,” Salerno said.

Dena Bachenheimer of Devil Dawgs said the chain will likely increase prices again after raising the price of a Chicago dog from $4.50 to $4.75 in May. Compared with other menu items, the Chicago dog has been spared the worst effects of inflation because it’s topped with vegetables instead of cheese or other kinds of meat, Bachenheimer said.

“We don’t get hit as hard as we would on the cost of a cheddar cheese dog, or a bacon cheddar dog,” she said.

The Wiener’s Circle, Won said, hasn’t received much pushback on the higher prices. “I think people know what’s going on,” he said.

But as food has become increasingly more expensive since the start of the year, talk of the trade-down has accelerated, too. That’s the practice of buying less, or choosing less expensive options, when times are tough. The price of food in the grocery store has accelerated more than the price of food at restaurants — prices in those categories are up 13 percent and 8.5 percent over last year, respectively — but Chicagoans have told the Tribune they’re eating out less and choosing cheaper restaurants when they do to cut back on food costs.

Won said he’s heard those concerns, but that it’s hard to pin down significant changes in consumer behavior at The Wiener’s Circle because of the restaurant’s long closure last year, itself preceded by the beginning of the pandemic. Business is stronger in the summer and tapers off when the weather cools down, Won said.

On a blustery Tuesday, David Fisch and his fiancee, both of New York, purchased two char dogs with everything for a total of $12. That felt a little high, Fisch said, but the price tag wasn’t a deterrent.

“You know, you have this expected, ‘Oh, a hot dog’s $2, $2.50,’ and then you’re like, ‘Oh, no, I forgot, things are more expensive,’” he said. “You’re getting to the above-$5-for-a-hot-dog range.”