Chicago Dog

[Schwyy]

As a lifelong New Englander, who has only had a Chicago dog twice, I have to ask, how do you eat the sport pepper? do you eat it with the dog, stem and all? do you eat it separately and discard the stem? do you de-stem and reapply to the dog?

let me know windy city pitmasters!!!

[Jfrosty27]

As I am right down the road, I have had maybe 1,000 or more Chicago dogs. Ya think I like them? Bottom line on the peppers: Any way you like. The peps are considered optional. Personally, i eat them on the doggy, as served by the vendor. Yum.

[Red Man]

I’ve had a bunch and don’t remember ever having a stem I had to remove. I just eat them as served, on the hot dog.

[HouseHomey]

I discard all peppers on any cured meats.

[texastweeter]

Ask for extra, and pop one in your mouth with every bite.

[ssandy_561]

In my opinion Chicago has ruined two foods I love.

Pizza and Hot Dogs

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

😝

[Schwyy]

Thanks to the Midwesterners for helping this Northeasterner out!

P.S.

Not that anybody asked, but....Flat top griddled, saurkraut, and spicy brown mustard!!!

[FireMan]

A Chicago Dog is a Chicago Dog. There is no such thing as a “any way ya like it” thing. I once went to a street vendor in Milwaukee. He had his little stand & there was a sign listing his offerings. One of the listed items was a Chicago Dog, so, I ordered one. He looked at me & asked me what I wanted on it? Silence proceeded, a few seconds went by & I repeated, very slowly, “I....would....like.... a....Chicago.....Dog..... in my best Jim Ignatowski impression. The little guy speedily chirped back once again ”what a ya want in it”? I walked away.

[Troutman]

Well for those of you uniformed dolts, a Chicago Dog, a proper Chicago Dog that is, must contain Vienna all beef dogs. It must also be on a Rosen poppy seed bun. After you drag it through the garden you must eat as much of every ingredient as you can in each bite. That includes the banana pepper, stem ain't gonna hurt ya cuz its pickled too.

Oh and one last thing, if you every, I mean EVER, put ketchup on a Chicago Dog you will be charged with a felony and suitably strung up.

All of this from a Texan who grew up on the Southside of Chitown whose uncle was an executive at Vienna and who has consumed copious amounts of the best packaged meal on earth; a Chicago Dog and greasy fries wrapped in newspaper !!

[Arsenlael]

As one of the uninformed dolts, I have to ask if the pickle is a necessary component of the Chicago Dog...?

[Potkettleblack]

As a newbie to Chicago (only 12 years here), the idea that you must have the whole dog dragged through the garden is an outdated myth. You can have it with as much or as little of the full garden as you like. The only rule is no ketchup, you heathens.

The full Chicago dog is mostly sold to tourists now. The relish is still neon green, the sport peppers are still pickled, you can still get the full magilluh, but you don't have to have anything you don't want on it.

You can't serve it on one of those top split buns you guys like back east. I think it's a better way to go, but hard to find locally.

[troymeister]

As a life long Chicagoan, I study Hot dogs, Pizza and Italian Beefs. My family has had and still has generations of almost heated arguments over who has a better beef, hot dog etc...My whole family has been a regular customer of a particular pizza place for over 50 years.

The sport peppers are kind of a strange condiment. A whole one can be overpowering and it can be difficult to get the right size bite while eating the hot dog. What I do is remove them, get a perfect mouthful of hot dog, bun, relish etc...then bite off about 1/3 of the pepper. Chew it all together and you get all the flavors. So that's 3 bites. For the second pepper, (there is usually 2), I just eat the pepper whole maybe with a french fry and eat the rest of the dog with out any sport peppers. You can also squeeze the juice and the seeds from the sport pepper on the fries. That's good too.

I think this is the over all best Hot Dog stand in Chicago. Jimmy's on Grand and Pulaski.

[Schwyy]

Troutman with all the information on this post, i think it's safe to say i have graduated to INFORMED DOLT!!!!!!

[barelfly]

Fun read....from a guy in the southwest that has only made a version of Chicago Dogs.

[Huskee]

I'm an uninformed dolt. Never had a Chicago dog, would try it but I won't go out of my way. But I made a killer chili cheese dog the other night if anyone cares:

bottom of warmed up bun - chili w/ onions
then Koegel skinless vienna, plumped up on the pellet grill just right
queso cheese on top of dog (my son's idea, and way better in this application than shredded cheese)
more chili
crumbled up nacho cheese doritos
diced onions

The kids raved. They were outstanding, like something you'd order out and be happy paying for.