California Restaurant Association

Sacramento restaurant nabs Guinness World Record for priciest hot dog

Dozens of hot dog connoisseurs gathered at Sacramento’s Capitol Dog May 31 to witness hot dog history in the form of a Guinness World Record-setting dish.

Weighing in at 3 pounds, and ringing in at $145.49, the California Capitol City Dawg features an 18-inch, all-beef frank custom-made by Red Hot Chicago, rare moose cheese sourced at a remote dairy farm in Sweden, Pommery whole-grain mustard from Meaux, France, New Hampshire double-smoked bacon, garlic-herb mayonnaise, caramelized sauteed shallots, mixed baby greens, chopped tomato, dried sweetened cranberries, Italian white truffle butter, ground peppercorns and fruity balsamic vinaigrette, all loaded atop a 15-inch herbs-and-olive-oil roll custom-made by boutique bakery Old Soul of Sacramento.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric presented the official title of “World's Most Expensive Hot Dog” to owner Mike Brown at a ceremony, which also included the presentation of a California Assembly Resolution from Dr. Richard Pan of the Fifth Assembly District. Empric was on-site to verify that the dog was a regularly listed menu item, and that it was actually sold to a customer. In this case, the first purchaser was Brian Wheat, bass player for the band Tesla.

 “I'm happy to bring the record to the United States where it belongs,” Brown said, referring to the previous record, which was hely by DougieDogs in Vancouver, Canada, “I thought setting the record in the capitol city of America’s largest state was only fitting. And that we could do all this and raise money for Shriners just makes me incredibly proud.”

A third of the proceeds from sales of the hot dog will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children.