Sahlen's Hot Dogs
Hot dogs made by Sahlen's, a family-owned Buffalo meat company, cooked over charcoal until the skin snaps. You'll find them at local hot dog stands and summer cookouts.
📍 Where to find it
Do it like a local: stop at a local Tops Market and grab a pack of Sahlen's, buns, and all the fixings (mustard, relish, onions, a jar of hot pepper relish if you like heat). Add a jar of Rootie's blue cheese, a bottle of loganberry and a box of sponge candy for dessert. Then head to Niagara Falls State Park. The park has grills you can use for free, so you can char your dogs with the falls roaring in the background. There's no Ted's Hot Dogs in Niagara Falls; the closest ones are in the Buffalo area.
📜 A little history
Sahlen Packing Co. has been making meat in Buffalo since 1869, when Joseph Sahlen founded it near the rail lines on the city's East Side. The company says the same family still runs it, now in its fifth generation, and its hot dogs are a hometown favorite.
The classic Buffalo way to cook one is over charcoal until the skin blisters and chars. The most famous stand is Ted's. It traces its start to 1927, when Greek immigrant Theodore Spiro Liaros bought a shack near the new Peace Bridge, and it added a Sheridan Drive location in 1948. At Ted's, Anderson's and other classic stands, Sahlen's dogs come off the coals onto a toasted roll, often with mustard, relish, onions, a pickle and Ted's spicy hot sauce.
Did you know? Visit Buffalo Niagara reports that the hot dogs Sahlen's makes in a year would stretch about 850 miles if laid end to end.