Best Hot Dogs

I linked to their basic menu.

Here are their more outrageous dogs: http://www.hotdougs.com/specials.htm

Today: May 28, 2011

The Game of the Week
Pear and Port Wine Elk Sausage with Foie Gras Aioli and Aged Centenol Cheese
$7.00

The Jack and Alec Krienen (Today's Celebrity Sausage)
Smoked Crayfish and Pork Sausage with Shrimp Remoulade and Caraway Havarti Cheese
$8.50

Other Specials
Bacon Sausage with Roasted Black Garlic Mayonnaise, Caramelized Onions and Herb-Garlic Eurocreme
$8.00

Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage with Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce and Maple-Smoked Cheddar Cheese
$7.50

Bacon and Jalapeno Duck Sausage with Blood Orange Mustard, Goat Cheese and Lemon Sea Salt
$7.50

Mole Chicken Sausage with Chipotle Dijonnaise and Chihuahua Cheese
$7.50

Three-Chili Wild Boar Sausage with Chili-Garlic Mayonnaise, Raw Milk-Cheddar Cheese Spread and Crispy Fried Onions
$7.00

Cognac-Infused Pheasant Sausage with Chive-Dijon Goat's Butter and Duck Rillettes
$7.00

Cherry and Apple Pork Sausage with Sir William Pear Mustard and Vosges Bacon Chocolate
$8.00

Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Fleur de Sel
$9.00

The Sonoran Dog: Jalapeno and Cheddar Beef Hot Dog with Jalapeno Mayonnaise, Jalapeno Bacon, Pinto Beans, Tomatoes and Onions
$6.00

Smoked Yak Sausage with Bacon-Garlic Mayonnaise and Smoked Cumin Gouda Cheese
$8.50

 

I just don't consider those hot dogs. But I'm sure they are good.

What about the place in Chicago that "won" the bracket for the best hot dog in America in some national magazine (Rachael Ray's mag, maybe)?

Gene & Jude's in River Grove. Any experience there, YankeeFan?

 

Haven't been out there. There's a million hot dog joints here, and other than my hometown place, I don't go out for hot dogs often.

This place was also featured on either Food Network or Travel Channel.

http://www.superdawg.com/

A couple of years ago, when my parents visited, my dad wanted to go to two places, Super Dawg and Charlie Trotters (which has two Michelin stars and was long considered the best restaurant in Chicago).

We went to Super Dawg, but couldn't get reservations at Trotter's.

There's also a Super Dawg outlet at Midway.

 

I've done Superdawg and a bunch of the little hole-in-the-wall neighborhood places in the various suburbs, but stopped hitting the different places once I tried Portillo's and found it to be much more to my liking than any of the rest.

Gene & Jude's looks good, but also kind of gimmicky, adding fries right on their dog itself. If you have a good dog, you don't have to get "edgy" with it and add things like fries, cole slaw, etc., in my view.

 

Wow, what a name from the past! I remember going there on family vacations in Florida way, way back in the day.

 

That is a serious blast from the past. We had one that went bye-bye probably when I was about 5, and I haven't thought about it since.

 

Agree 100 percent.

On a hot dog (Vienna Beef would be my favorite), onions and mustard do it for me. Put the pickle on the side, and the ketchup on the fries.

Favorite Chicagoland spot growing up was in the western burbs, The Doggie Diner in Woodridge. These days, Portillo's is a favorite stop when we get back to Chicago.

On a music-related note, always enjoyed grabbing a dog or two at Demon Dogs near DePaul, under the tracks at Fullerton. There was plenty of cool Chicago (the band) memorabilia to look at.

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerton_%28CTA_station%29) Demon Dogs has been closed since 2005.

 

I never realized that there were regional differences among hot dogs until I came to Chicago. Then I went to Hot Doug's. Best hot dog I've ever had. Franks n' Dawgs is also quite good, but Hot Doug's is sublime. There are only two problems with that place: It's in a not-very-convenient location, and there's almost always a long line (despite the fact that it's in a not-very-convenient location).

 

http://www.jimmysredhots.com/

 

Why would you order anything but the Ollieburger at Lum's (although the roast beef sandwich was also quite good).

 

Sadly we don't have the great hot dog places in Toronto that you Yanks seem to have everywhere. All we have are innumerable street vendors flogging the same hot dogs and sausages with unimaginative - and sometimes barely edible - condiments.

 

Super Dawg is overrated.

And the turn this thread has taken reminds me of the Denis Leary bit on coffee. I don't want any fucking oysters or lobster. Just gimme a hot-dog flavored hot dog.