Speed's Hot Dogs was spotlighted as a top dog by the Wall Street Journal. Raymond Sokolov waxes rhapsodic about his discovery in a Roxbury parking lot, which he deems "untrendy":

Speed confides that he marinates the dog, supplied by a local company called Pearl, in apple cider and brown sugar. Then he grills it over charcoal. Actually, this octogenarian entrepreneur lets his young apprentices handle the dogs under his watchful eye. They also toast the buns.

By legend, the piquant relish he supplies along with raw onions and beanless chili to pack into his split 8-inch Kosher-style sausages, is another Speed treasure made by the man himself.

The announcement of Speed's victory led to a consideration of the city's other top dogs. If you can't get to Speed's check out the tempura-battered "corn dog" at the Lower Depths, and read about Cheap Eats' visit to Spike's Junkyard Dogs.

Pam Aghababian and Jon Petitt contributed to this post. Hot dog image from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.