Chili Dogs and Family Roots: Exploring the Legacy of Our Beloved Recipe

But the one thing on the menu that kept people coming back to Griffin’s Bar-B-Cue was the chili sauce. In West Virginia, hot dog chili sauce is king. The whole state has an obsession with the dog topper that borders on the obsessive. Strict rules differentiate “chili sauce” from “chili.” It’s always called chili sauce, it never contains beans, it must be a tiny bit sweet (to counteract the saltiness of the dog), and it must always include ground beef simmered in water - never browned first.