Side Car: Hawk Krall
The Philadelphia-Based Illustrator Is the Hot Dog Artist This Country Needs!
In all my writings on hot dog culture, I have relied on photographs to communicate the pictorial reality of what I was eating. Little did I know there was be a visually oriented counterpart to myself out there.
Then, last December, a man named Hawk Krall sent me an email. “NEW Hot Dog Map & Holiday Sale!” read the subject line.
Hot Dog Map? Could such a thing exist?
Yes, it could! And not just any hot dog map. A map of all the dozens of hot dog stands in the state of Pennsylvania, from Erie to Scranton, Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, all rendered in a cheerful, bubble-letter style that reminded me a little of the work of R. Crumb. Among the chaos of words and pictures, I spied a few that I had been to: Jimmy John’s Pipin’ Hot Sandwiches in West Chester; Original Coney Island in Scranton; Yocco’s Hot Dogs in Allentown; and Pott’s in the Lehigh Valley, among others.
In the bottom right corner were tributes to food writer Holly Moore and hot dog historian Joey Spivak. Above them was a drawing of a man in glasses and a backwards baseball cap holding a hot dog. Beside it were the words, “Map created in 2025 by Hawk Krall, eating and drawing hot dogs since 2006.”
As that line indicates, the PA Hot Dog Map (which is a limited edition and is available for purchase here) is not an anomaly in the career of Krall, who has provided artwork for Lucky Peach, Philadelphia Magazine, Rachael Ray Magazine, Serious Eats and other publications, as well as custom work for various businesses. He has created artistic tributes to hot dog styles and cultures everywhere on the map, from the mini-hot dogs of Troy, NY, to the cream-cheese slathered Seattle Dog. If there’s a regional style of frankfurter, he has immortalized it in paper and ink. (Also: various styles of hoagie, pizza, and cheesesteaks.)
The Mix caught up with this kindred spirit to talk art, regional food, and, of course, hot dogs. The interview is below.
THE MIX: How did your interest in drawing and illustration come about?
Hawk Krall: I was raised in a family of artists, so there was never really any question. My grandparents were both Illustrators and professors at UArts in Philadelphia. My mother is an art teacher and formerly a food/photo stylist; my father was an art director and designer. I worked in restaurants for many years before doing illustration full time, but art has always been a part of my life.