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As the biggest basketball tournament of the year tips off, a pair of Duke City hot dog joints are gearing up for a championship run of their own.

The64 鈥� an interactive online platform that hosts bracket-style competitive voting tournaments in categories spanning food, lifestyle, business, education and culture 鈥� is launching a national competition in search of America鈥檚 best hot dog. The begins next week and two sa国际传媒官网网页入口 spots are in the running.

Starting March 26, Urban Hotdog Co. and Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor will go bun-to-bun against 62 popular hot dog eateries across the country, according to a news release. The crown will go to the hot dog spot that makes it through an 18-day tournament with six rounds of voting. The outcome will be solely in the hands of the public.

鈥淓very region thinks their hot dog is the one,鈥� said Justin Woo, founder of The64, in a statement. 鈥淐hicago is absolutely certain about it. So is New York. So is the guy who鈥檚 been driving 20 minutes to the same place since he was a kid. We built this tournament to settle that argument publicly, one matchup at a time.鈥�

Urban Hotdog Co. and Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor are New Mexico鈥檚 only players in The64鈥檚 big dog dance.

Matt Bernabe, owner of Urban Hotdog Co., was aware that his gourmet hot dog business had been nominated for the competition but didn鈥檛 know it had been selected when the Journal reached out on Wednesday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting to say the least,鈥� Bernabe said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this for 14 years 鈥� and I鈥檝e read about the cool hot dog spots in Chicago and visited them in New York and even Hawaii, so it鈥檚 just an honor to be in the running for something like that.鈥�

Bernabe created Urban Hotdog Co. in 2012, inspired by the gourmet hot dog culture he鈥檇 experienced in other cities. He observed a variety of gourmet burger places opening up in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 around that time and saw an opportunity to do something different.

Today, the restaurant has two brick-and-mortar locations and two food trucks. Bernabe said Urban Hotdog Co.鈥檚 franks reflect the nostalgia of the American hot dog experience but 鈥�(dressed) up a little bit.鈥�

Some of the eatery鈥檚 signature dogs are the 鈥淓lote Dog鈥� 鈥� a bacon-wrapped, deep-fried hot dog with flame-roasted corn, hot sauce, homemade red chile lime crema, cotija, chili powder and cilantro 鈥� and 鈥淩elleno,鈥� which includes Panko-crusted dog bites topped with chile con queso and chopped green chile. The latter was featured on the Cooking Channel.

For Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor 鈥� a circus-themed eatery with one location in Nob Hill 鈥� the classic dogs are largely popular but it鈥檚 the 鈥淭attooed Lady鈥� and 鈥淓lote Dog鈥� that often steal the show. The former, which has been featured in national cookbooks, comes with chopped bacon, flame-roasted jalapeno salsa, Fruit Loops, grape jelly and mustard, while the latter comes with cilantro corn relish, bacon, cotija cheese crumbles, spicy elote dust and mayo.

Owner Rich Bartel opened the spot in 2021, adorning it with circus paraphernalia and creating a menu that offers circus-inspired dogs like the 鈥淪trongman鈥� with spinach and build-your-own options with more than 50 toppings to choose from.

Bartel said he and his team are 鈥渉onored to be selected鈥� to compete in The64鈥檚 best hot dog competition.

鈥淚t feels good every time our efforts get recognized,鈥� Bartel said. 鈥淲e hope to be voted the top dog in the country.鈥�

Bernabe also hopes Urban Hotdog takes the top spotl, adding the restaurant has some playful campaigning in the works for the voting period.

鈥淏ut more than anything, we鈥檙e just excited to represent sa国际传媒官网网页入口,鈥� Bernabe said. 鈥淲e have some amazing food here 鈥� not just in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 but New Mexico. So to be able to highlight a little bit of that and hopefully make it to the next step on a national level is just such an honor.鈥�

While New Mexico might be seen as an underdog in the world of hot dogs, Bernabe said he鈥檚 confident that sa国际传媒官网网页入口 delivers some of the best in the nation and is home to some Cinderella contenders ready to surprise.

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