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.

[FireMan]

Yup, it’s a piece of what makes it a Chicago dog.

[Schwyy]

Ok, so just eat them whole. Got it!

[bbqLuv]

eat the stem for more ruffage.

[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]

RichieB if i told you the story of why i am cursed as a jets fan, Meathead would ban me for violating terms of service by depressing the entire club. its the worst!

[Dewesq55]

Schwyy - Imagine my horror when my daughter married a J-E-T-S: Jets, Jets, Jets fan!! Even worse, he's going to raise my granddaughter to be eternally disappointed. Go Big Blue!!

[bardsleyque]

ssandy,have you bumped your head?!

[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!!!

[Bkhuna]

Each one a viable option. I've eaten dogs in many regions (including the PI, but let's not go there right now) and there's something to be said for almost all of them.

[barelfly]

Better not be any of that canned sauerkraut either!

[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.

[troymeister]

There is no such thing as a Chicago Hot Dog in Milwaukee. It is fake.

[FireMan]

Sammy’s! He’s been doin it fer over 25 years. He imports em from Bear country.

[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 !!

[barelfly]

732am and this topic drew me in....the photo has me wanting a Chicago dawg for breakfast!

[Jared49]

Yup, yup, yup!!

[bbqLuv]

Ketchup, Mother's Raw, Heinz, Banana Ketchup, Woodstock foods, Del Monte, Portland Organic and the list goes on, and on, and on.
Ketchup goes with everything.
All tomato based BBQ sauce is actually based off of . . . you guessed it Ketchup.
And by the way if you dry, bleach and grind tomatoes into a powder then add vinegar and yellow food coloring you just produced Mustard.

[Arsenlael]

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

[FireMan]

Yes, you are an uninformed dolt. A Chicago Dog is a Chicago Dog. Ya don’t take away anything or add anything, especially, as the Trout Dude says, cat soup!

[Arsenlael]

I'm saying that straight-up looks like a rogue pickle. It looks like it doesn't belong. An interloper, I say!

[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.

[barelfly]

Who puts ketchup on anything but French fries, anyways???

[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.

[Arsenlael]

SEE!!! NO PICKLE!!!

[troymeister]

@Arsenial Gene and Judes(one of the Chicago area's oldest Hot Dog joints) doesn't serve with a pickle either.

Regarding Pickles, The theory is: Back in the day...The Hot Dog stands that had Italian influence did not serve with pickles. The Hot dog stands with Jewish influence did....Keep in mind the Jewish and Italian influence often overlapped....So go figure...lol

I'm thinking most people eat the pickle separately anyway.

[Troutman]

See how crazy this is, depending on the neighborhood even Chicagoans don’t agree on what to put on a dog. Where’s the neon relish? I gotta have mine all the way, drug thru the garden or it ain’t my true version.

[Schwyy]

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

[FireMan]

Yes, crazy is informed! Aren’t you glad ya started this. You are now a better person for it. 🕶

[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.

[barelfly]

I could see my 15yo son putting away 3 or 4 of those in a sitting. Right up is alley with the nacho cheese Doritos crumbled on top!

I know you don’t list mustard, but I’ve always wondered how many others add yellow mustard to their chili dawgs? I wondered if i was a little out there on that, but a few here do, from another post recently.

[Huskee]

Mustard is usually a requirement for my chili cheese dogs barelfly but I skipped it this time and wasn't disappointed.

[Dewesq55]

I always put mustard on a hot dog UNLESS it's a chili cheese dog. For the cheese, I actually like Cheez Whiz heated up in the microwave and poured on top. Yum!