How Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs Became Iconic Bay Area Street Food

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you've ever walked around Pier 39 in San Francisco or made a late-night exit from a concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, you're probably familiar with the bacon wrapped hot dog. But who are the vendors behind these savory snacks? And what's with the bacon and onions? Bay Curious listener Olivia Godfrey wanted to find out more. Additional Resources: How Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs Became One of the Bay Area’s Most Popular Street Foods Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Alexis Madrigal, co-host of KQED's flagship news talk show Forum.
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1:02.0	From KQED.
1:04.9	You smell them before you see them.
1:15.6	The scent is almost heavenly. And they become a Bay Area staple outside of sporting events, concerts and late-night bars.
1:23.6	We're talking, of course, about the bacon-wrapped hot dog.
1:35.5	Chances are, if you live in the Bay Area, you've seen people selling this iconic street food.
1:40.9	It's like an ice cream cart, but for hot dogs with just like their griddle on top, and they always just have a stock of bacon wrapped hot dogs like ready to go.
1:44.8	That's Olivia Godfrey. She grew up in Alameda, now lives in Oakland, and works as an usher
1:49.6	at local venues like the Fox and Greek Theater. It's in those places that she started to
1:54.9	notice just how abundant these vendors are. The hot dog people are everywhere. You see them
	...

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