A hot dog and a sandwich are two separate categories of food. When you want a hot dog you’re not going to ask for a sandwich and vice versa.

A sandwich has many condiments and other food items inside of it, while a hot dog gets other things on top of it.  You’re not putting tomatoes, lettuce, or other meat on your hot dog like you do on your sandwich. 

Even though some say a hot dog is basically a sub, a sub is a sandwich placed on its side with an opening on its horizontal axis. A hot dog has an opening at the top where the wiener is placed inside a bun which is not two pieces of bread but instead it’s one long roll sliced down the middle on a vertical axis with a hinge of bread left intact.             

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council defines hot dogs SPECIFICALLY as not being a sandwich. It is an exclamation of joy, a food, a verb describing one ‘showing off’ and even an emoji. It is truly a category unto its own. They even go so far as to claim, “Limiting the hot dog’s significance by saying it’s ‘just a sandwich’ is like calling the Dalai Lama, who became the most famous Buddhist teacher in the world and is widely respected for his commitment to both non-violence and the cause to Tibetan freedom, ‘just a guy’.” The hot dog is a classification of its own. It’s a unique item that breaks free of the category of sandwiches.

Have you ever seen a menu listing a hot dog as a sandwich? Did you ever go to a hot dog stand and order a hot dog sandwich? The answer is NO. A hot dog is just a hot dog. Same thing as a burger is just a burger. Because if it is a sandwich, then you might as well say that cereal with milk is a soup.