����������ϼ�

A local hot dog joint has put the Duke City’s dogs on the map by earning the title of “Best Hotdog in America.”

Albuquerque’s Urban Hotdog Co. has officially come out on top of a hosted by an interactive online tournament platform called The64. The local joint secured the win on Monday, after six rounds of facing off head-to-head against 63 other popular hot dog eateries across the country.

“We were definitely the underdogs, and it’s super surreal,” Matt Bernabe, owner of Urban Hotdog, said on Monday. “I think I’ve checked like three times this morning to make sure it’s actually us that won.”

The64 — which hosts bracket-style competitive voting tournaments in categories spanning food, lifestyle, business, education and culture — launched the national competition more than two weeks ago in search of America’s best hot dog. Over the course of the 18-day tournament, the public determined which eatery moved forward.

Some eateries in the running included Gray’s Papaya in New York, The Original Chicago Dog House in Chicago and even another Albuquerque joint, Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor. Clowndog made it to the second round of 32 restaurants before ultimately falling to HayZ Dog in San Francisco.

But round by round, Urban Hotdog kept moving forward all the way to the championship, where the joint faced off against Yesterdog in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bernabe said he felt shocked and excited as Urban continued to advance.

“So to make it to the championship was amazing,” he said.

Bernabe said many of the hot dog joints in the competition were places he had researched and “looked up to” as he aspired to start his own gourmet hot dog business in 2012. He launched the venture with the belief that, “Hey, we could do that here,” Bernabe added.

Since opening, Urban Hotdog has grown to two food trucks and two brick-and-mortar locations on the West Side and in Nob Hill. The business, which offers more than 30 styles of hot dogs, has been featured on the Cooking Channel, Food Network, Condé Nast and Reader’s Digest.

The restaurant’s New Mexico-inspired dogs, like the “Elote Dog” and “Relleno,” are some of its most popular offerings. With ingredients like flame-roasted corn, hot sauce, homemade red chile lime crema, chili powder, chile con queso and chopped green chile, Bernabe said his menu goes big to prove that beef or Texas-style chile isn’t the only chile that belongs on a hot dog.

“It’s kind of cool to put New Mexico’s food scene on the map a little bit more because I feel like we don’t get enough respect sometimes on the national scene,” Bernabe said.

The restaurant owner said he attributes the win to the support of the Albuquerque community. Bernabe admittedly isn’t much of a camera person, but his team had him filming and posting some playful content to rally support during the tournament.

The community responded, with many customers sharing that they and their friends had been voting. Even former customers who have since moved out of state called to say Bernabe still had their vote, he said. But the response hasn’t been limited to just votes.

“We’ve seen a big uptick (in business),” Bernabe said. “I mean, this (past) weekend, we’ve had lines out the door at both our locations. The phones have been ringing off the hook.”

With the championship secured, Bernabe expects the coming days to be just as busy, so he was in the restaurant bright and early Monday morning to start prepping. The restaurant owner said he and his team also have some special deals in the works to show their appreciation to the community.

“Albuquerque supports its own, and New Mexico supports its own. That’s something that’s always stood out to me as a small business owner here. We’ve always got each other’s backs,” Bernabe said. “We’re thankful and blessed and just super proud to be Albuquerque born and bred.”

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.