What is the name of the Seattle-style hot dog that includes cream cheese?

The hot dog with cream cheese is called a Seattle dog, or Seattle-style hot dog. Its defining feature is a hot dog served in a bun spread with cream cheese, commonly paired with grilled or caramelized onions and sometimes jalapeños.

The style is associated with Seattle’s late-night food-cart culture, especially vendors near music venues, bars, and sports stadiums. It is generally traced to 1989, when vegetarian food vendor Hadley Long began combining hot dogs with the cream cheese and bagel-style rolls already used at his Pioneer Square cart.

Toppings vary from stand to stand. In addition to onions and jalapeños, sellers may offer sauerkraut, grilled cabbage, scallions, mustard, barbecue sauce, or Sriracha. The cream cheese is not merely an optional garnish: it is the ingredient that distinguishes a Seattle dog from many other regional hot-dog styles. A Chicago dog, by contrast, is associated with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle, sport peppers, and celery salt, but not cream cheese.