It’s the time of year when hot dogs start to sound like a good idea. They’re easy to make, cheap and perfectly portable for events like baseball games and beach trips.

Several places claim to be top dog when it comes to taking credit for the hot dog. Frankfurt, Germany, calls itself home of the frankfurter, since it was created there in 1487. Vienna, Austria, gave birth to the wiener sausage. New York’s Coney Island is big in the hot dog world, and not just because it’s home to an annual hot dog-eating contest each Fourth of July. A German-born restaurant owner is said to have “invented” the hot dog at the beachy destination back in the 1800s, when he came up with the brilliant innovation of serving frankfurter sausage on a roll.

But Baltimore also lays claim. Our city of delis, cafes and blue-collar carryouts was quick to adopt the hot dog as one of our own. It’s home to numerous spots where you can take a bite, and get a history lesson at the same time.

Attman’s Delicatessen

• 1019 E. Lombard St. or 1401 Point St., Baltimore

Few people realize that Baltimore has its own style of hot dog: a weiner wrapped in griddled bologna. The more meat, the merrier. The dish dates back to at least the 1940s when it was first sold at Mandell and Ballow’s, a since-closed deli on Reisterstown Road. Soon enough, everyone was selling hot dogs with bologna. Many of those old-school Jewish delis have since closed, but Attman’s remains at its longtime location on Lombard Street. It’s been selling its own brand of all-beef hot dogs since 1915.

G&A Restaurant

• 11550 Philadelphia Road #120, White Marsh

Coney Island hot dogs, a.k.a. frankfurters topped with chili and onions, were a way of life for a generation of Greek-born restaurateurs. In the early 1900s, they made their living selling the dish around the Midwest as well as Texas and, yes, Baltimore. That was the case for Andy Farantos’ ancestors, Gregory and Alex Diacumacos, who opened the first G&A Restaurant in Highlandtown in 1927, where a tagline on the sign outside the building called it the “Coney Island Restaurant.”

Farantos moved the diner to White Marsh in recent years, but he kept the Coney Island hot dogs on the menu — a sweet and ever-so-slightly spicy treat that makes a perfect app or side.

The Cone Sisters kiosk at the Baltimore Museum of Art

• 10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore

Ladies who lunch can stop at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen after touring the Baltimore Museum of Art. The rest of us can order a hot dog from the Cone Sisters kiosk in the museum lobby and eat it in the sculpture garden. The stand’s name honors Claribel and Etta Cone, who bequeathed their impressive art collection to the museum. The sausages come from Berks in Reading, Pennsylvania, a third-generation, family-owned operation that got its start back in 1933.

“I swear to God, they may be the best hot dogs in the world,” said chef John Shields, who owns both Gertrude’s and the kiosk. He doesn’t pretend that they’re healthy, but steamed and then seared on a toasted bun, they’re moist and juicy, with a crisp snap when you take a bite. “Sometimes you just need a goddamn hot dog,” Shields said.

Charlesmead Pharmacy

• 6242 Bellona Ave. #1, Baltimore

Shields, who grew up in the Baltimore area, said your local pharmacy was long considered one of the best places to satiate a hunger for hot dogs. The Parkville-area store where Shields used to go is no longer around, but you can get a taste for the bygone era of lunch at Charlesmead Pharmacy on Bellona Avenue, which features a 1950s-style lunch counter complete with swivel stools. Order up a hot dog and chase it with a milkshake — Charlesmead claims to serve the best in Baltimore.

Dirty Gangster Dogs

• 7556 W. Main St., Sykesville and 9095 Frederick Road, Suite A, Ellicott City

Legendary mobster Al Capone lived in Baltimore for four months in 1940, but it wasn’t crime he was after. After being released from prison, he received treatment at Union Memorial hospital for syphilis that had spread to his brain. Capone died in 1947, but he lives on in hot dog form at Dirty Gangster Dogs, a Sykesville restaurant that recently added a location in Ellicott City. All of the dogs are named for famous gangsters, but only the Al Capone comes topped with onion, tomato, pickles and pepperoncini.

The Dog House

• 617 Fallsway, Baltimore

The fading sign that says “The Dog House,” just across from the city jail, might make you think the shop isn’t open anymore. But the restaurant, which started out as a food truck in the 1940s, is actually a thriving carryout shop with a retro interior and plenty of counter space for eating — but no seats. It’s no frills, much like the best hot dogs. The house specialty is their meatloaf sandwich, but you’ll also find a long menu of frankfurters, including a quarter pound all-beef version.