One bite. That’s all it took.

My teeth sliced through the bun and punctured the tender thin skin, and warm juices streamed into my mouth with bits of onion and the sweet tang of mustard.  I almost lost consciousness.

I was a kid, and that was my first experience with a Chicago style hot dog. My brother gave me an elbow and handed me a napkin.

“Here,” he said. “You’re drooling.”

One bite. And I knew why God gave us appetites.

Nowadays I make it to Chicago about once a year — the last time for the Royals opener against the White Sox — and when I’m within 100 miles of the ballpark, I start getting hungry. It’s uncanny. My truck knows the way. I don’t even have to steer; I just check the glove box for napkins and work the brake.

Chicago is the capital of the Weiner Republic, and you really can’t get a bad dog in the city. That’s because there are standards, there’s an unwritten law that governs how hot dogs are served. Actually, it IS written. Here it is:

Chicago hot dogs are all-beef wieners served on a steamed poppy-seed bun and dressed with yellow mustard, neon green relish, chopped onion, two small wedges of tomato, a pickle spear, one or two sport peppers and a dash of celery salt.

There are variations — plain buns are permissible, for instance — but there is one constant: You never put ketchup on a hot dog. Don’t even try. As a matter of fact, there’s been a book written about it. It’s called, get this, “Never Put Ketchup on a Hot Dog.” It was written by Bob Schwartz, the vice president of Vienna Beef Company, which makes the best wieners on the planet.

Anyway, while I was Chicago immersed in baseball and hotdogs, I started wondering if I could find a Chicago Style hot dog somewhere back home in KC.

So I asked around, and I consulted Mr. Google, and I drove down streets looking for the familiar yellow Vienna All Beef Wiener signs. And I came to this conclusion: Kansas City is not a hot dog town.  It just isn’t. We may have the best barbecue and steaks in North America, but when it comes to hot dogs, we don’t pass mustard.   

There used to be a place called Relish in Westport, and a little walk-up window on 39th Street, Zahm’s in Merriam and some joint on Sante Fe in Overland Park. But there all gone. Kaput.  If there’s a Chicago Style hot dog stand in the metro, it must be hiding pretty well. 

So, without a Chicago Style hot dog in sight, what are you gonna do?  Well, here’s what you do: You suck it up and bite the bullet and take the next best thing. So I did some sampling. I hit a few grills and pubs, and I’m here to tell you that there are plenty of tasty dogs in Cowtown. 

This town has puts its own stamp on the hot dog. I came across something called the Kansas City Style hot dog (which comes with sauerkraut melted cheese, which is why I didn’t try it), but that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about homegrown sausages, a style of serving it, and reasonable prices. And you don’t have to drive to Chicago to get one.

Here are my recommendations:

Miami Ice

1624 W. 39th St.

816-561-5600

Oh, this place comes close to Chicago Style! It serves Best’s kosher hot dog, which is a Vienna competitor and a juicy plump sausage. This place was the only restaurant I found to stock sport peppers. Extra points for that, boys. But there weren’t any tomatoes, and the guy behind the counter almost made a grievous mistake. I caught him about to squeeze ketchup on my dog. “Stop!” I shouted, and spared him possible bodily harm. Jeesh.

Price: $3.50.

Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill

817 Westport Road

816-931-1986

I figured the place that purportedly has the best hamburger in Kansas City, might also have a quality dog. I love this joint. The menu touted Fritz’s Smoked Hot Dog, and it really tasty. But it was weird. It was sliced lengthwise and splayed open like a butterfly. What’s with that? Anyway, it comes on a soft hoagy bun with or without kraut (no, thank you). Grace Potter was singing through the speaker, “Somebody fix me, fix me head to toe… ” which seemed appropriate as I waited for my order at the condiment stand.

Price: $5.99

Coach’s Bar & Grill

414 W. 103rd St.

816-885-6989

This menu at this place offers a dog “for the purist.”  “Nothing reminds you of the game like this classic,” the menu says about thes Simple Dawg. I ordered tomatoes, onion and pickles, and they came all diced up like chow-chow in the basket of fries. Strange. And the hot dog, get this, was splayed open like the butterfly. Was this a trend? The dog, though, was delish. It was a knockwurst from Fritz’s Superior Meat Company out of Leawood, I was told.  Fritz’s, hmm…

Price: $7.49 (includes fries).

Fritz’s Railroad,

250 N. 18th St.

Kansas City, Kan.

913-281-2777

I figured that since there was a Fritz’s smoked dog at Westport, a Fritz’s knockwurst at Coach’s, I felt oddly drawn to this joint. Turns out it’s not related to Fritz’s Superior Meat Company. The dog was OK. Came to my table via a miniature railroad overhead. Several different dogs on the menu, some of which come on inappropriately round buns. Others on hoagies. I got the hoagy one. It came sliced in half and, again, splayed open like a butterfly. It IS a trend! And I gotta say I don’t like it. The hot dog experience, you see, is about form AND function. So not only does it have to taste like a hot dog, it has to look like one, too

Price: $2.99.

Fritz’s Superior Meat Company

10326 State Line Road

Leawood

913-381-4618

All right, I took it to the source. These guys make about 15 different sausages, owner Rob Reeves said, and they supply restaurants and grocery stores all over the metro. At lunch time, though, they serve smoked sausage sandwiches over the counter. You can get a knockwurst or an all-beef wiener for $2.50, and there are daily specials, too. The condiments are slim, but if all you want is mustard, you’re in business. For some reason, they’ve also set out  a big jar of kraut  and — oh, no — ketchup.

Wednesday Special: Two dogs, $4.

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FACTBOX:

The quality of the hot dog experience is relative to the setting. It’s the smells, the sounds, the taste.  And it’s hard to beat a hot dog at the ballpark. 

The Royals open a week-long home stand tonight, and the T-Bones home opener is Friday. So, get your tickets and get your dogs, people. It’s time to play ball.

This story first appeared in The Kansas City Star