Padma Lakshmi Settles The ‘Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich?’ Debate By Adding A New Twist

Padma Lakshmi

Getty Image / Dia Dipasupil


Padma Lakshmi was recently making the late-night TV rounds when she waded into the most passionate debate of the 21st century: is a hot dog a sandwich?

The long-time Top Chef was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the Top Chef: World All-Stars offshoot. Jimmy pried about her childhood in New York City and the rest was history.

Padma Lakshmi was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India but moved to New York City when she was just 4 years old after her parents split. She spent her childhood in NYC before moving to Los Angeles as a teenager.

During her childhood, Padma says she was a frequent diner at all of the hot dog carts. But there was a caveat: she was a vegetarian.

She told Jimmy “I didn’t eat meat then” and that she “asked the hot dog guy for the hot dog without the hot dog.” Specifically, she wanted the bun full of “all the fixings.”

Interestingly, my wife is a pescatarian and I refuse to eat vegetables (100% meat diet) so I’m very familiar with this ordering style. Padma’s version of a ‘hot dog’ is very much a sandwich by adding this twist which was pickedup by Food & Wine.

Fallon then asked Padma Lakshmi if a hot dog is a sandwich. She said “I mean, it’s a poor excuse for a sandwich, but it’s technically a sandwich.”

Here is Padma’s appearance on Fallon in full:

And if you’re not following Padma Lakshmi on Instagram, here is some of what you are missing:

Padma recently shared a picture of her eating pizza in the bathtub. She is covering herself in pizza slices. You can see that on Instagram if it interests you.

Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich?

Padma Lakshmi says ‘yes’, a hot dog is a sandwich. She described it as ‘a poor excuse for a sandwich’ but believed it meets the technical specifications.

Here at BroBible, this is a debate that has raged on for years. Some say the debate was settled in this article but I disagree.

I believe a hot dog is both it’s own entity and technically a sandwich. Nitpickers would argue a hot dog is a taco or a taco is a hot dog. That the angle of the food (ingredients facing the side vs. top) matters. It doesn’t.

“Stupid, beautiful, talented Padma Lakshmi” is right on this one… For those that didn’t get the reference:

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