Hot dogs go upscale

To visit P-Dog’s on a Saturday in Summerville means wading through a protracted line to belly up at the countertop, where – menu, please – you can request a Big Willy or a Huff n Puff, a Blue or a Gus, or any of 28 specialty all-beef hot dogs.

You can get most anything, really, from the All-American with ketchup and mustard to the Sour Girl with sauerkraut and spicy mustard. Or for the particularly frisky: the Wild T, a turkey dog with cranberried onions and sweet potato mustard, or the Bandito with jalapeno cheese sauce, fresh salsa and avocados.

But it’s not outrageous or unusual – not anymore – those ordinary treats turned exotic, be it with blue cheese or arugula slaw, roasted red peppers, feta cheese or mango salsa at area joints like Johnny’s, Jack’s Cosmic Dogs, Brindle Brothers and The Tin Roof.

It’s the hot dog, all dressed up, with everywhere to go. And it’s taken the leap – believe it or not – onto the menus of higher-end restaurants here and nationwide, their creations more haute dog than hot dog.

Not in the traditional form, mind you. Some franks have appropriated other guises, including salmon, lobster, foie gras and Kobe beef. The summertime delicacy long associated with the Fourth is evolving.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.