We waited on a 40 minute (roughly) line to eat at Hot Doug’s Hot Doug’s, a kitschy place with a pretty impressive menu. Doug’s offers lots of different meats (one vegetarian dog) and several toppings and a wide range of prices. Of course we wanted to try the Chicago-style Dog with “everything” (pickle, relish, mustard, tomato, caramelized onions). We didn’t realize that the relish (you can see a bit on the right side) would be radioactive green, which means food coloring, so I couldn’t eat it. I took a bite from the other side though and I wasn’t missing much. Other than the poppy seed bun being really soft and fluffy, the rest was just very regular. Lon didn’t think this was a good representation of Chicago dogs.
We also ordered The Marty Allen, made of beef, pork, and garlic, and your choice of toppings. This one was pretty tasty (it was Lon’s favorite), tasting as described, but not something I’d wait 40 minutes for again.
The Bagel Dogs were terrible, wrapped in chewy, flavorless dough. The taters were good though.
My favorite was the Three Chili Wild Boar Sausage. The chilis were stuffed with creamy dip-like stuff, sitting in some type of remoulade, and the meat was extra flavorful pork.
The Duck Fat Fries were sadly nothing special, not even that great for regular fries. Only a few pieces were crispy.
With two drinks, this meal was $21, not bad, but not great. It certainly doesn’t deserve the line that moves rather slowly.
1. It drives me crazy that they felt the need to dye their relish.
2. I had duck fat fries in France, they tasted like foie gras fries—just amazing, but those looked a little weak.
3. I heard that chicago dogs also come with sport peppers. Is this a myth?
sucks to wait so long to end up being disappointed. 40 minutes for hotdogs? Yeah Chicago-style dogs traditionally have the GREEN relish, even at Weinerschnitzels. I find the best dogs are always at the street vendors they count on you coming back. Big places just don’t care.
Manger la ville, yea, the prevalence of artificial food coloring irks me.. Ooh, the thought of foie gras fries…We did see sport peppers as an option but it isn’t part of what they called “everything”
The Davis’, we haven’t seen any street vendors here yet and we’re out of time anyway, just a few more hours left here.
I forgot that you can’t consume food coloring! The strict ingredients for a “Chicago Dog” must include the neon-green relish, which according to my dad, is supposed to distinguish the sweetness of the relish from the savory sour of the pickle spear (kind of a feast for the eyes and the mouth). This is news to me since I always assumed we Chicagoans just dyed everything neon green…like the Chicago River on St. Patty’s Day. Sport peppers absolutely must be on a Chicago dog, and I’m wish the davis’, the street vendors really make the best.
If it’s made properly, you should taste every ingredient on the dog each time you take a bite.
Dr. Food, so interesting. I really wish we had more time here, still so much I didn’t get to try!