The Little-Known Shake Shack Cheese Dog That Fans Swear By

When you think of Shake Shack, first and foremost, you think burgers. Next, you probably think milkshakes (it is in the name after all). Third, chicken sandwiches. Fourth, crinkle-cut fries. Fifth, crinkle-cut fries topped with cheese sauce. Sixth, maybe that cheese-filled fried mushroom veggie burger (yum). Seventh, Shack sauce. Then, the eighth thing you think about is maybe, just maybe, hot dogs. If you even realize they exist. But diehards know that the real Shake Shack menu item to get excited about isn't the Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake but the little-known cheese dog.

You'd be forgiven for only just learning that Shake Shack sells hot dogs. On its own website, "flat top dogs" is the second-to-last section of menu items listed, below shakes and drinks and only ahead of where you can enter large catering orders. What's more, for just $5.99 you can order a cheese dog, a "100% Vienna® Beef hot dog topped with melted cheddar and American cheese on a toasted potato bun." From the looks of it, the dog is split vertically and fried on the flat top before being cradled in a bun and slathered with melty cheese. 

"It's the only thing I get from there ... and they're so good," one former Shack employee admitted on Reddit. "They're great. Buttery goodness," wrote another commenter. Some devotees level-up their cheese dogs in creative ways, too. Other delicious-sounding options for dogs include ones topped with cheese and crispy onions or cheese and bacon. Moreover, in the summer of 2025, Shake Shack expanded its hot dog lineup even further, sadly for a limited time, in conjunction with National Hot Dog Day.

Dubbed the Dog Days, the summer 2025 flat top dog menu from Shake Shack featured interesting combos of toppings you've only dreamed of. In addition to the standard cheese dog, you could get a chili dog or chili cheese dog, a high heat dog, which was a cheese dog topped with "a hot pepper blend of cayenne, garlic, and paprika, and chopped cherry peppers," or — and here's where it goes off the wall — a fried pickle dog, which was the cheese dog with bacon and (you guessed it) fried pickles on top.

The menu was only around for a limited time, but it seemed to be Shake Shack's way of basically saying, "Hey you! Did you know we have hot dogs on the menu? Well, now you do!" There are plenty of Shake Shack secret menu items you won't want to miss, but to be frank(furter), the hot dogs aren't a secret. With the Dog Days promotion, Shake Shack is loudly and proudly advertising its hot dogs and, if we do say so ourselves, making them look quite tempting. So order yourself a dog or two and let Shake Shack prove to you why its prices are so high for fast food.