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Start a Top 5 for Hot DogsEditor’s picks
Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in Madison Magazine. Updated August 2026.
State Street Brats · Downtown
An essential stop on any Madison sausage crawl, near the base of State Street where the tradition goes back decades. The house red brat is smoked and butterflied, taking its color from beef, and the kitchen also turns out a pork-based Sheboygan-style white brat for anyone after the classic version.
Prost! MSN · Capitol East
A German beer hall with the deepest sausage list in the city. The board runs to Kaesekrainer, currywurst, weisswurst, Thueringer, frankwurst and frankfurter alongside a classic bratwurst, a Sheboygan-style version and a jalapeno cheddar brat, which makes it the place to go when you want to compare styles side by side.
Essen Haus Restaurant and Bar · Near East Side
A long-running German room on East Wilson where the Bremen Bratwurst is the plate to order, a Wisconsin weisswurst topped with sauerkraut and melted Swiss on a pretzel bun, served with Duesseldorf mustard and curry ketchup on the side. The beer list and the sausage list are built to be worked through together.
The Old Fashioned · Capitol Square
A Wisconsin supper club on the Capitol Square that serves Miesfeld's Grand Champion brat, a Sheboygan-style double laid on a toasted buttery hard roll with raw onions, pickles and Duesseldorf mustard. It is a broader Wisconsin menu rather than a sausage house, but the brat is a signature.
Ba Lao · Williamson-Marquette
A Lao kitchen on Williamson Street whose Lao Bratwurst fuses the Wisconsin tradition with Southeast Asian seasoning. It arrives on a brioche bun under pickled mustard greens, spicy Chinese mustard aioli, cilantro, scallion, gochugaru and fried shallots, which makes it the most distinctly Madison brat on this list.