Judging by America’s local-pride food blogs, you’d think that any of a dozen cities in the U.S. invented or perfected the hot dog. But not even New Yorkers who adore Coney Island red hots can claim a greater loyalty to the humble frankfurter than Iceland. (Close as we can tell, the particular sausage originated in Frankfurt, Germany, but that’s another story.)

You’ll find the most important culinary landmark in Iceland at Tryggvagata 1 in Reykjavik. That’s the location of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (www.bbp.is), the kiosk whose name (we’re told) translates to English as ‶best hot dogs in town.″ Opening at 10 a.m. and closing between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. (longer hours in the midnight sun of summer), it has been in the same spot near the waterfront since 1937. At any hour that we observed, an orderly line of customers is shuffling to the window to order.

Naturally, we joined the queue to see what all the fuss was about.

As we noted in a previous post, lamb is Iceland’s principal locally produced meat. The Icelandic pylsur is a sausage made largely with lamb and small amounts of beef and pork. (Unless they’re kosher, American hot dogs are made mostly of pork.) The lamb meat is organic, free range, and grass fed. By law, it is also hormone free. As a result, Icelandic hot dogs are actually meaty, both in flavor and texture. They ‶pop″ when you bite into them, a consequence of being made with natural casings.

Icelanders will insist that the only way to have a hot dog is topped with chopped raw onion, crispy fried onions, ketchup, the local brown mustard (pylsusinnep), and remoulade sauce. In Icelandic, this is called ein með öllu, or ‶one with everything.″ When Bill Clinton ate here in 2004, he begged off most of the condiments and had his hot dog dressed only with mustard. According to the owners of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, ever since a hot dog with mustard has been called ‶a Clinton.″

FWIW, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur now has six other locations around the island. Bun by bun, it’s doing its part to cement the hot dog as Iceland’s national fast food.