The Chicago Food Whores ventured out to find out what it takes to satisfy the hot dog cravings of a food whore. As neither one of us is originally from Chicago (thus no ties as to how a “proper” hot dog should be), we were able to take an objective look at each dog we ate. Note: we could not have done this just by ourselves as there were too many dogs to eat – so we brought along a few friends to help us (all Chicago transplants) and offer their stomach space and opinions on where to find Chicago’s Best Wiener!
We learned through this adventure that this is the ONLY way to truly understand what you like in a Hot Dog. Tasting dogs side by side truly helped us appreciate the different serving styles of all the places we visited. We made our choice on where to go based on the company’s reputation. Yes, we missed Hot Doug’s (your loss Doug) because they were closed. And we also missed Jim’s Original on Maxwell when our stomach’s could no longer accept any more nitrates.
What is a Chicago Style Hot Dog?
Traditionally, a Chicago Style Hot Dog wiener is always steamed. In addition, the golden rule is NO KETCHUP – which is to my disappointment since I love ketchup on my hot dog. However, I followed this rule and still managed to enjoy each and every bite today. Secondly, a Chicago Style Hot Dog is not complete without the following: onions, mustard, radioactive green relish, pickle, sport peppers, tomatoes and celery salt. Our goal today was to try as many Chicago Style sausages we could stomach and try the best that the restaurant could offer for this category. We learned that the polish dog has all the same ingredients as a regular hot dog, but the difference is that the polish has significantly more of the same spices making it a great choice for anyone looking for a peppery finish.
Here is our recommended list of places to go to check out Chicago's Best Hot Dogs!
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