Nathan's Famous

On a summer day in 1916, Nathan Handwerker, a Polish immigrant who had been working as a dishwasher, scraped together $300 to open a hot dog stand at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island. He priced his frankfurters at a nickel, half what nearby stands charged. The gamble paid off. More than a century later, that same corner still sells hot dogs, making Nathan's Famous one of the oldest continuously operating hot dog stands in America.

The brand's all-beef hot dogs, made with natural casings that produce a sharp snap when bitten, became the foundation of a fast-food chain and a retail powerhouse. Today Nathan's operates hundreds of franchised restaurants, concentrated in the Northeast, while its packaged hot dogs, sausages, corned beef, sauerkraut, and condiments fill freezers and shelves in supermarkets across the country and abroad, including Canada and South Korea. The company's headquarters are in Jericho, New York.

Nathan's Famous is inseparable from American summer culture. Its annual July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at the original Coney Island location since 1972, draws millions of television viewers and has turned competitive eating into a mainstream spectacle. The brand's heritage and consistent quality helped it command a premium position in the hot dog market, leading to a $450 million all-cash acquisition by Smithfield Foods announced in January 2026.[edit]