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Gourmet Hot Dog Bar For A Fun Family Dinner

By  Trisha Sprouse Updated
Gourmet hot dog bar with red, white and blue tablecloth, star garland, and small bowls of toppings Trisha Sprouse

As the temperatures swell and daylight hours expand, so do the opportunities to escape from the indoors and head to your backyard or patio to fire up the grill. What better way to welcome the warmer days than with an all-American hot dog bar? We've elevated a simple family dinner into a choose-your-own adventure meal with an epicurean twist. A variety of classic and gourmet toppings arranged in a self-serve style buffet is sure to satisfy everyone's tastes, while a DIY condiment caddy pulls double-duty as a festive centerpiece and convenient sauce organizer. Easy, breezy, and oh-so-memorable for kids and adults alike!

Six gourmet hot dogs plated on wooden serving tray with potato chipsTrisha Sprouse
Parents and two small kids grilling and enjoying hot dog barTrisha Sprouse

Set the Scene

A beautiful buffet starts with a pretty table linen as the base with simple white platters and bowls to serve the various elements of the meal. Elevate your centerpiece on a cake stand for a visually pleasing arrangement with varied heights. Keep your drinks ice cold with a beverage cooler that also doubles as a table for displaying a free printable menu. Disposable wooden plates and utensils make cleanup easy on you — and also the environment.

For that extra festive touch, we strung patio lights above the table as well as a star garland, which we made by simply clipping free printable stars to a piece of twine with mini clothespins. Of course, no barbecue is complete without some pre-meal lounging — a pair of Adirondack chairs is easy to move around your patio or yard, and a stylish fringe umbrella provides shade to make the lounging all the more comfortable.

Overhead view of hot dog bar with bowls of gourmet toppingsTrisha Sprouse
Gourmet hot dog bar with redTrisha Sprouse
Framed hot dog bar menu on top of blue cooler that also serves as a cocktail tableTrisha Sprouse
Two small kids sitting in white Adirondack chairs under fringed umbrella enjoying potato chipsTrisha Sprouse

Build-Your-Own Bar

Set up the meal in a self-serve style arrangement with a variety of toppings in small bowls, and make transport easy by placing them on a wooden tray. Print our free menu and display it to encourage diners to build their own hot dogs with both classic and gourmet flavor combos. Mustard and relish are well-loved staples, but offer some adventurous fixings, too, like grilled corn and Cotija cheese or sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. Be sure to provide some kid-friendly options, like shredded cheese or pizza toppings, to please the younger bon vivants among you. And could there be any other side dish that's a more perfect match to a hot dog than potato chips?

Two small kids pointing to toppings on the hot dog bar tableTrisha Sprouse
Trio of small white bowls with cheese and chili toppings for hot dogsTrisha Sprouse
Mom and young daughter scooping toppings from the gourmet hot dog barTrisha Sprouse
Potato chips in small brown bag pouches inside serving dishTrisha Sprouse
Small boy assembling a hot dog in a bun at the hot dog barTrisha Sprouse

Make a Condiment Caddy

Get saucy with condiment classics like ketchup and mustard but mix things up with unexpected dressings like salsa ranch and barbecue sauce. Make them the centerpiece of the table with this DIY caddy that is both portable and stylish.

DIY condiment caddy made from four soup cans wrapped in cane webbing and attached to board with handleTrisha Sprouse

Things Needed

Step 1

Mark the height and width of two (or three) empty tin cans on a wood board, and then use a circular saw to cut the board to size.

Marking height of empty soup cans on wood boardTrisha Sprouse
Cutting wood board with HART circular sawTrisha Sprouse

Step 2

Cut pieces of cane webbing to size and glue them around the empty tin cans (be sure to remove the labels from the cans first). Wrap rubber bands around the cans to keep the cane webbing in place until the glue dries.

Cane webbing glued around empty soup canTrisha Sprouse

Step 3

Place two (or three) cans on each side of the board, and use a power drill to attach the cans to the board with wood screws.

Attaching empty soup cans wrapped in cane webbing to wood board with HART power drillTrisha Sprouse

Step 4

To create a handle, attach a leather strap to the top of the wood by hammering two brass upholstery tacks into the wood. Alternatively, you could drill two wood screws to attach it.

Leather strap attached to wood board with brass tacks and HART hammerTrisha Sprouse

Step 5

Download and print our free condiment labels, tape or glue them in place around condiment bottles, and done!

Four hot dog bar condiment bottles with printable labels for mustardTrisha Sprouse

Fire Up the Grill

Ah, grill season. At the heart of this meal is the grill, and nothing tastes better than a slightly charred hot dog fresh off the fire. Of course, no grill master should be without an apron and their barbecue tools. These magnetic hooks stick right to your grill and are super convenient for keeping your grilling tools handy.

Man grilling hot dogs at Cuisinart grill wearing tan and leather Pit Boss apronTrisha Sprouse
Close-up of hot dogs on grill and using tongs to turn one overTrisha Sprouse
Three wooden Pit Boss magnetic hooks hanging from grill with BBQ tools hanging from themTrisha Sprouse

Plate and Picnic!

Once everyone has assembled their own unique hot dog creations, make the meal merrier by spreading out a camp blanket and enjoying it picnic style. There's just something about sitting in the grass that makes you feel like a kid again. It's sure to be a fun family memory you'll all look back on in the years to come.

Woman holding wooden tray with six gourmet hot dogs and potato chipsTrisha Sprouse
Parents and two small kids sitting on picnic blanket enjoying hot dogs and chipsTrisha Sprouse

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