These dogs are no mutts

If belts are still tight, we don’t want to forgo luxury or excess. These are also American classics. The hot dog is an inexpensive vehicle for our desires. We can top it with whatever we want. We can riff on it whimsically, load it up ironically with rich extras, turn it into a cross-cultural experience.

And so the simple hot dog has taken on new life. Restaurants and hot dog stands around town are serving Kobe beef versions, hot dogs wrapped in bacon for double decadence, hot dogs with their own cute names: the Stairway to Heaven, the Marie Antoinette.

They’re offering them combined with the spicy, complex, and increasingly popular flavors of Korea and Vietnam, as well as the standard chili, corn batter, and relish.

They’re serving them alongside craft cocktails, on the same menus with dishes that have longstanding legitimacy in restaurants: the kind of food you go out for, the kind of food you don’t grill yourself in your backyard with one hand while drinking a Bud. You’ll pay more for the pleasure, but less than you would if you ordered the Kobe steak.

Should you buy it? Some might say this elevation of the hot dog means the lowering of diners’ standards. Some might say that’s reading too much into it. Food can be a barometer, but sometimes a hot dog is just a hot dog. A simple pleasure, no matter how you top it.

Here are some places to sample dogs, purebred and mixed up every which way.

Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.

TRINA’S STARLITE LOUNGE

3 Beacon St., Somerville. 617-576-0006. www.trinastarlitelounge.com. $3-$7.

At this hipster restaurant and bar, hot dogs are a focus of the menu. They’re available griddled, as corn dogs, and topped with chili and cheese. But where chef Suzi Maitland really gets creative is the ever-changing Dog of the Day. (Where have you ever seen “hot dog’’ on the menu beside the words “market price’’ before?)

This could be a Banh Mi Dog, dressed up like the Vietnamese sandwich (and for about twice the price). It features a hot dog braised in ponzu, topped with cucumber and carrot salad and pickled onions. If it tastes strangely familiar, it’s because Trina’s uses Kayem dogs, the ones you find at Fenway.