Chicago Style!

VIDEO: Chicago-Style Hot Dog Pitted Against New York’s, L.A.’s « CBS Chicago

NY and LA have hot dogs?

The Chicago Dog, my absolute favorite food of the gods.

My constant hunt for the ultimate dog is on going.  I have my favorites that I will drive an hour for and a few quick fix joints.

The video is fun ... Condolences to NY and LA, hard to nail it down since there is no typical LA dog.  Throw whatever on a bun and voila, it is trendy and they will eat it.

Chicago however, is hard corps and Chicagoans can be militant about the dog.  There are no exceptions ... Ketchup?  GET OUT!  (children under 12 excepted).    Personally, my favs, Byrons, Portillo's and Gene & Jude's.

Enjoy!


VIDEO: Chicago-Style Hot Dog Pitted Against New York’s, L.A.’s « CBS Chicago

Byron's - Lakeview

HOT DOG IN PARADISE

My favorite place to go for a dog.  It reminds me of the old days when Tasty Pup was on the NW side, or what was called a "garden" dog at some of the local dog joints.  

The jumbo comes with all the usual fixings plus green pepper, cucumber and lettuce.  Basically a salad on a dog.  Really huge, you need two hands to navigate this one.  

Top it off with some really great fries and out door seating on a nice day.  I'm in!  

I highly recommend Byron's for a great hot dog, burgers, grilled chicken - all of it is good.  

Good Hot Dog

Good Hot Dog!

Headed out on my quest for a good dog in the Loop.  Came across Max's.

At first glance, it isnt much, but the experience was pretty good.  For a dog, fries and a soda.  The dog was good, fresh toppings, which I love, my only gripe, the bun was not steamed.  Overall, good dog and the fries were pretty good too!  I am hoping to try a burger next!

Overall!  I recommend it! 

Best Hot Dog In U.S.? It’s Right Here In Chicago « CBS Chicago

www.thedailymeal.com

Best Dog in Chicago!  

The best hot dog in America is right here in Chicago.

And if you thought it was the soon-to-be-closing Hot Doug’s, you would be wrong.

Best Hot Dog In U.S.? It’s Right Here In Chicago « CBS Chicago



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a hot dog and tamale on a bun with chili and cheese. -  Now I have to try this!!!


B


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http://www.thedailymeal.com/america-s-50-best-hot-dogs-slideshow?slide=3

Luke's Italian Beef - Loop

Hot Dogs in the Loop

So, my quest for the best Hot Dog continues and Luke's is a convenient lunch stop for me at work.  On Jackson just east of Franklin, Luke's is a popular stop and it gets packed at noon, so go early or late!  

The dogs are average, the wiener was over cooked and a bit bland, the onions had that rancid taste like they sat around for a while.  Everything else was just about average.  For the price tag, I think you could bo better, but the problem is that in my part of the Loop, there aren't a ton of Dog Shops.  

Granted the Fries are really good and come in a huge portion, the other items on the menu make Luke's a great place to go.  Just not the dogs.  I would usually get the beef or some pizza!  So I recommend it for everything else, but if you are a huge Hot Dog fan like I am, this may not be the place to go for a dog.  

Westminster Hot Dogs - Loop

Sausages!!!

This isn't your typical dog shop.  They make their own sausages here and the taste tells it!  

I got there at about 11am, before the lunch crowd and ordered the Spicy Italian combo.  Let's start off with the fries, because you know that is the first thing you taste.  Their crinkle cut Fries Rocked! Perfectly cooked and salted.  That is a good tell of how good a place will be.  

The sausage .... I have mixed reviews, but it will be positive!  The sausage was great!  Perfectly cooked, with snap and juice!  It wasn't too spicy, but had some great flavor.  Serves with cheese and a tomato pesto sauce.  yum!  My only complaint, was that it was served on a hot dog ben, but at least it was a Rosen's!  That sausage wold have been the perfect lunch if it was on a a proper sausage roll.

The sausages are all made there at the shop, fresh daily, with no fillers or preservatives.  So you are getting a quality sausage, which in my mind, totally justifies the slightly higher FOOD BILL.  $8 or so for a combo, not too bad for the quality, this isn't your typical joint, this stuff is top quality and very worth the trip!  

Overall, I loved it a lot and plan to go back and try the dogs!!!  

Americana Submarine

Hot Dogs

My usual Hot Dog lunch joint in the Loop closed down, heart wrenching, I know after two years of devotion.  The Works on Franklin is no more ... [Moment of silence].

So my quest to find a new Dog joint is on!  Yes, I can default to Luke's, but it takes 20 minutes to get a dog in there at lunch time because it is so packed.  So, I decided to venture outside of my comfort zone and seek out a new spot.

I ran across Americana Submarine on Clark and van Buren, which at first looked like a bodega with subs and dogs.  Now, in my travels, I have learned that sometimes these places are surprising, so I gave it a try.

Well, the first thing I notices was the $6.99 price for 2 dogs, a tiny bag of chips and a small fountain drink.  Hmmm.....well, I'm in for the haul.  To say the least, I was disappointed. 

The Dog, a Red Hot Chicago sausage was good and cooked right.  The tomato and onion were fresh cut and everything else were good.  BUT!!!

The kicker was that the (non-poppy seed) buns were so stale the ends were hard.  Totally un-steamed, despite pulling them out of a steamer, which I determined was for show.

I really wanted to like these dogs, the fresh cut veggies and ample peppers, even had the celery salt.  I really did, I tried.  But in the end, the crappy buns killed it for me.  I can't say I recommend this place for a hot dog, but you never know, maybe the Subs are better.  They seemed to have some regulars ordering those!  But, Im not much of a sub sammich kind of guy. 

Brandy's

Hot Dogs

I am not a foodie, but I am a connoisseur of the Chicago favorite, Hot Dogs.  I have eaten them all over the world.  Numerous joints and stands all over Chicago land, so one feature of my blog will be devoted to the Chicago great, the Hot Dog.

My first review will be for Brandy's on Harlem.  I was with my 80 something year old aunt, who actually started my love for hot dogs when I was a kid.  She tells when I asked her if she wants to stop for a dog, "boy, do I".

Brandy's is on the way to where we were going.  It's at Avondale on Harlen on the NW side.  Their dogs are pretty standard, Vienna.  Not bad, not great.  The frank, has a good snap, but the buns need to be steamed and they don't use the traditional poppy seed buns.  They sort of skimped on the sport peppers, which was disappointing.  To end, no celery salt!

But they make up for it with the fries, frozen, but cut potato.  Crisp and flavorful as well as plentiful.  Aside from the dog, their other treats are awesome.  My aunt's grilled chicken sandwich was huge and the chicken was really good.  She totally enjoyed it and at 80 something, that is a tough thing to do.

So a grilled chicken combo and a 2 Vienna dog combo, $16 (tax included), a little on the high end, but the Chicken was good, tender and well worth the price.   This place used to be a regular stop when I worked at O'Hare, so I will always go back again!