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A local hot dog joint has put the Duke City鈥檚 dogs on the map by earning the title of 鈥淏est Hotdog in America.鈥�

sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Urban Hotdog Co. has officially come out on top of a hosted by an interactive online tournament platform called The64. The local joint secured the win on Monday, after six rounds of facing off head-to-head against 63 other popular hot dog eateries across the country.

鈥淲e were definitely the underdogs, and it鈥檚 super surreal,鈥� Matt Bernabe, owner of Urban Hotdog, said on Monday. 鈥淚 think I鈥檝e checked like three times this morning to make sure it鈥檚 actually us that won.鈥�

The64 鈥� which hosts bracket-style competitive voting tournaments in categories spanning food, lifestyle, business, education and culture 鈥� launched the national competition more than two weeks ago in search of America鈥檚 best hot dog. Over the course of the 18-day tournament, the public determined which eatery moved forward.

Some eateries in the running included Gray鈥檚 Papaya in New York, The Original Chicago Dog House in Chicago and even another sa国际传媒官网网页入口 joint, Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor. Clowndog made it to the second round of 32 restaurants before ultimately falling to HayZ Dog in San Francisco.

But round by round, Urban Hotdog kept moving forward all the way to the championship, where the joint faced off against Yesterdog in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bernabe said he felt shocked and excited as Urban continued to advance.

鈥淪o to make it to the championship was amazing,鈥� he said.

Bernabe said many of the hot dog joints in the competition were places he had researched and 鈥渓ooked up to鈥� as he aspired to start his own gourmet hot dog business in 2012. He launched the venture with the belief that, 鈥淗ey, we could do that here,鈥� Bernabe added.

Since opening, Urban Hotdog has grown to two food trucks and two brick-and-mortar locations on the West Side and in Nob Hill. The business, which offers more than 30 styles of hot dogs, has been featured on the Cooking Channel, Food Network, Cond茅 Nast and Reader鈥檚 Digest.

The restaurant鈥檚 New Mexico-inspired dogs, like the 鈥淓lote Dog鈥� and 鈥淩elleno,鈥� are some of its most popular offerings. With ingredients like flame-roasted corn, hot sauce, homemade red chile lime crema, chili powder, chile con queso and chopped green chile, Bernabe said his menu goes big to prove that beef or Texas-style chile isn鈥檛 the only chile that belongs on a hot dog.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of cool to put New Mexico鈥檚 food scene on the map a little bit more because I feel like we don鈥檛 get enough respect sometimes on the national scene,鈥� Bernabe said.

The restaurant owner said he attributes the win to the support of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 community. Bernabe admittedly isn鈥檛 much of a camera person, but his team had him filming and posting some playful content to rally support during the tournament.

The community responded, with many customers sharing that they and their friends had been voting. Even former customers who have since moved out of state called to say Bernabe still had their vote, he said. But the response hasn鈥檛 been limited to just votes.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a big uptick (in business),鈥� Bernabe said. 鈥淚 mean, this (past) weekend, we鈥檝e had lines out the door at both our locations. The phones have been ringing off the hook.鈥�

With the championship secured, Bernabe expects the coming days to be just as busy, so he was in the restaurant bright and early Monday morning to start prepping. The restaurant owner said he and his team also have some special deals in the works to show their appreciation to the community.

鈥渟a国际传媒官网网页入口 supports its own, and New Mexico supports its own. That鈥檚 something that鈥檚 always stood out to me as a small business owner here. We鈥檝e always got each other鈥檚 backs,鈥� Bernabe said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thankful and blessed and just super proud to be sa国际传媒官网网页入口 born and bred.鈥�

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.