Today is National Hot Dog Day. Though, with two young kids, it seems like everyday is Hot Dog Day.

In honor of the official National Hot Dog Day, I want to share with you the ultimate hot dog place that I recently visited when I was in Cleveland, Ohio. This place should be listed as a ‘National Hot Dog Landmark‘, to be honest with you.

The place is called Happy Dog. Happy Dog Cleveland opened in 2008 and they serve over 110,000 hot dogs a year. Its dogs are 100% Ohio beef and are made via Happy Dog’s own recipe. This hot dog is pure bred, if you know what I mean! So while the dog is delish in its own right, where I went ‘hot diggity dog’ was over the hot dog menu.

There were over 50+ hot dog toppings like Peanut Butter, Fruit Loops, and Blue Cheese. You can put all 50+ on the dog or just five, or you can pick from one of the pre-topped options. {Allow plenty of time for menu perusing.} One favorite to note is aptly called the “Happy Dog Favorite” – a hot dog drenched in bacon-spike southern-style greens, cream cheese, sunny side up fried egg, and Buffalo wing hot sauce. You can see the fab favorites here.

If you are looking for some tasty sides, the only options are tator tots and a list of 75+ beers that will boggle your mind (with many local microbrews to wash the dog down.) The tator tots were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with its own impressive 28+ toppings where you can happily dip your tots to your hearts content. Feel free to do so while listening to Polka, Poetry or the sounds of Pinball. There are lots of local events hosted by Happy Dog that makes it a destination beyond the dogs. It may be a bar, but it is a local one, with a local owner, that is family friendly too.

Alas, as you can imagine, the hazard of writing this post is that I now have a craving for a Happy Dog Hot Dog. While they are currently a plane ride away from my kitchen, it will be the first stop on my list when I head back to Cleveland.

Make sure to add it to yours!