I'm leaving for Chicago on Tuesday and find myself with an especially vexing problem: I don't know where to get the best hot dog.
I've actually been to Chicago quite a few times, but for some reason whenever I go there the people I'm with always take me for sushi. Which is weird, since I'm not really a huge sushi fan. Oh, sure, I'll eat it, but if I have any choice in the matter, I'm always going to go for cooked animal-based food over uncooked animal-based foods. I think it has something to do with being from California. People assume that if you're from California, you must want to eat sushi. Pretty much, I'd just like to have a steak. Or a hot dog.
Which brings me back to the question at hand: Where is the best hot dog in Chicago? Is it Superdawgs? I've seen that one on the Food Network several times, as well as in one of the documentaries on PBS where they go around to every state and eat junk food and film it and talk about it, which sounds to me like a great fucking job to have. People, I beg of you, give me the skinny. I need me some nitrites!
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Glad you asked. Wiener's Circle at 2622 N. Clark for the best combination of food and verbal abuse from the employees. Superdawg at 6363 N. Milwaukee for best combination of food (get the Whoopskidawg - a Polish sausage smothered in barbeque sauce - but make sure your health insurance is paid up first) and throwback aura. Portillo's if you need a nearby fallback option (the closest one to the Loop is in River North, at 100 W. Ontario). And if you have a car, the absolute best hotdog in Chicago is Paradise Pup in Des Plaines (on River Road just south of Oakton, about 10 minutes north of O'Hare). Happy gluttony!
Posted by: Pete | February 09, 2009 at 02:56 PM
Hot Doug's. Even if you get your chardog somewhere else, do yourself the favor.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hot-dougs-chicago
http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/read/tube-city
Posted by: Kyle | February 09, 2009 at 03:43 PM
Portillo is usually easy to find. But if you go there, I also recommend the Italian beef sandwhich with giardinera. Get one of each...but beware, the "beefs" (as the sandwhiches are commonly called) are addicting.
Posted by: Josie Dovidio | February 09, 2009 at 08:27 PM
I always loved Fluky's as a kid.
Posted by: gayle | February 10, 2009 at 01:22 AM
Oh man, this is depressing. I just looked up Fluky's; the original is closed and they're located inside a Wal-Mart now. Oy vey! It appears you can get them shipped, though...
http://www.flukys.com/html/history.html
Posted by: gayle | February 10, 2009 at 01:27 AM
Hey Tod ... Gold Coast Dogs on N. Wabash is excellent, but Josie is right about Portillo's and the beef sandwich. (Make sure you ask for it swiped, which means they dip the entire thing, bun and all, into the juice before wrapping it. Also, go with the sweet peppers.) You can get a completely serviceable hot dog there, and great fries.
Posted by: The Countess | February 10, 2009 at 10:04 PM
Okay I know you are wanting hot dogs but if you are going to Chicago you HAVE to get Italian Beef! To be exact you need Al's #1 Beef. Double Dipped. Amazing. It's at 1079 West Taylor Street.
Posted by: Meredith Taylor | February 10, 2009 at 10:23 PM
My favorite hot dog place is most likely not there anymore. It was a little hole in the wall shop off South Wabash near the Sheet Music store on Wabash and not far from the old DeVry Tech campus. It was West of Wabash on something like 3rd or 4th and had a little courtyard in front. It was literally squeezed between two buildings in what may once have been an alley. They had the best slaw dogs and cheese & slaw dogs around. Their beef dip and polish sausage were also good I was told, but I went there for the plump, juicy mouth watering slaw dogs.
The place is likely not there though as I ate there in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At that time there was also a place called Sabo's on Rt 83 in Mt. Prospect that had great dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. Someone told me that guy moved to Florida somewhere, but I never found him listed here either. We do have a Szabo's nearby, but it is not the same. I checked.
One note about Chicago: if you want to get the very best of any kind of ethnic food, find out where in Chicagoland that ethnic group is gathered and go eat in the Mom & Pop places in that neighborhood. You will find real gems --- Ask the cabbies or get a coupon book or guide at a motel or at O'Hare. (Incidently, the O'Hare Restaurant used to have the best blintzes around, cheesecake too.) For bagels, head for Skokie. There you will even have a chance to get real, fresh, Nova Lox to go with them.
Next to San Francisco, I think Chicago has about the best ethnic food of any city in the U.S.A. (Don't flame me, New Yorkers. I find most of your stuff overpriced and many of your chefs have a problem called attitude and yes, I was born in upstate New York so like most things about that state and city.) Peace and happy hot doggin' in the windy city!
Posted by: Ellen Johnson | February 10, 2009 at 11:36 PM
i'd also recommend hot doug's.
Posted by: newfry | February 11, 2009 at 03:48 AM
I've got to add my vote for Portillo's. And, I've got to second - or third - the suggestion for the Italian Beef. None better anywhere! Get the peppers on both the beef and the hotdog. Actually, let them load the dog with everything. YUM!
When I go home, Portillo's is top on my list. Enjoy! (And let us know which one you had!)
Posted by: Charmi | February 11, 2009 at 08:58 AM
How about if I use or something crazy like that to keep my frackin' comments from disappearing?? ::grrr::
Posted by: Yvonne Navarro | February 12, 2009 at 07:54 PM
Okay, I'm usually a patient and fairly tech-savvy person (and I can even spell), but this disappearing comment thing is really starting to tick me off.
Posted by: Yvonne Navarro | February 12, 2009 at 07:55 PM
Fluky's! With everything on it. Oh shit, I'm salivating.
Posted by: Paul Kupperberg | February 13, 2009 at 01:50 PM