Hot Doug’s

Posted by Edmund in Chicago, Fast Food, Featured Articles, Restaurants | 0 comments

Oct 28, 10

Cuisine: American, Fast Food Hot Dog.
Location: 3324 North California Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618-5848.
Price: $1.75 for the basic hot dog, but gourmet hot dogs can go all the way up to $9.

Ah, the land of hot dogs, Chicago. You’ve just got to love a place that takes something as simple as a hot dog and turns it into something so much more. The hot dog isn’t just cheap fast food, here. Rather, it’s a cultural symbol, meant to be eaten by everyone from the most common man to the richest corporate exec.

Not surprisingly, Chicago has taken the hot dog to new heights not just by cooking it better, but by adding on countless toppings, seasonings, and meats. Nowhere is that better seen than at Hot Doug’s, probably Chicago’s most famous, most popular, and most delicious hot dog specialist.

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While countless shops in the city will serve up the traditional Chicago and Polish dogs piled high with toppings like relish, tomatoes, pickles, and maybe even whiz cheese, very few will innovate beyond that. At Hot Doug’s, though, innovation doesn’t even begin to describe how unique and untraditional the hot dogs can get. I’m talking about every type of gourmet ingredient you can imagine, from foie gras to mango mayonnaise to bleu cheese. Even better, expect sausages you’d never even think to eat: rattlesnake, antelope, crayfish and pork, duck, Wagyu beef, etc. Every week Hot Doug’s even features a different Game of the Week hot dog, giving you a chance to try some of the most exotic hot dogs you will ever taste in your life.

You might be questioning the whole idea of combining hot dogs and the gourmet. I, too, typically don’t like to tack on gourmet ingredients needlessly, since it undermines the whole point of eating such a simple, cheap treat. Hot Doug’s, though, doesn’t needlessly stack on toppings, instead integrating them always into a well-balanced, unique combination—one that stands as a creature all its own, without relying on the typical hot dog base, flavors, or ingredients to compensate.

Even I was immediately hooked after a quick glance at the menu, since the gourmet ingredients seemed to serve a purpose. I didn’t just see foie gras on a hot dog, for example. Instead, it was a duck sausage with truffle aioli and fleur de sel, topped with foie gras. A few more examples: the John Bradbury, a dog with a crayfish and pork sausage, Cajun shrimp remoulade, and goat cheese; the Atomic Bomb, with a spicy pork sausage, spicy mango mayonnaise, and coolea cheese; and the Spicy Thai Chicken Sausage, with sriracha mustard and seaweed-sesame salad. Every single dog is a set combination, crafted in such a way that the meat and the ingredients always complement each other. Combine that with an ever-changing menu, and you have the makings for greatness.

Needless to say, I had to see for myself whether those combinations tasted as good as they sounded, and I finally got the chance at noon on the Friday of my trip to Chicago. I wasn’t the only one with the same idea, though, as I found myself waiting in an hour-long line. That’s right—one hour for fast food!

Once I got inside, though, I immediately began to feel that the wait was worth it. Surprisingly, while Hot Doug’s is about as fast as fast food gets, that doesn’t mean it’s a hole in the wall. Instead, it’s the type of place you really can sit down, alone or with some friends, to have an enjoyable meal.

On the more negative side, you do have the gimmicky touristy stuff on the walls: celebs, posters, hot dog symbols, etc. And when I say touristy, I mean damn touristy—you can even buy Hot Doug’s T-shirts! As though I really want to adorn myself with hot dog paraphernalia, right? But hey, I’m sure some people buy that stuff.

The interior, though, is relatively colorful for a fast food joint, with a lot of bright colors like yellows, and you have really quick service cleaning up all the tables as fast as people leave so that more can sit down. It’s quite an efficient machine, and though it’s just a bit nicer than a McDonald’s, that’s all that can be expected of a place like this.

In all seriousness, though, you don’t really come to a fast food joint and wait for an hour to look at the yellow walls. You come for the food, and I am glad to say that Hot Doug’s doesn’t disappoint. Everything from the normal Chicago dog to the gourmet dogs is delicious, having that near perfect balance I spoke of earlier. The sausages are always cooked just right, having that incredibly satisfying snap to them that makes any hot dog taste better. The bread, while not the most delicious, always holds up under the weight of all the ingredients. Best of all, the seasoning is always just right. The classic gives a bit of a spiced kick from the celery salt, the antelope dog has an intense chili sweetness from the use of curry in the mustard, and the foie gras dog packs just enough truffle in the aioli for a very aromatic, savory punch. In fact, the only thing that didn’t knock my socks off was the duck fat fries, which are too oily for my taste, but you don’t come for the fries, regardless.

Nothing, though, quite compares to the price. Where else in the whole city can you get a $1.75 hot dog that actually tastes like a quality, fresh hot dog. And my foie gras dog? $9 for literally a mountain of foie gras, truffle aioli, and duck sausage—that’s a bargain if I’ve ever seen one. Just try to find those prices anywhere else. It’s impossible.

This, my friends, is one of the absolute best fast food experiences I’ve ever had in my life. Not only does Hot Doug’s produce the most unique hot dogs I’ve ever seen anywhere, but they are also easily the best. In doing so, Hot Doug’s doesn’t just elevate the art of the hot dog, it elevates fast food as we know it. You owe it to yourself to make it out if you ever get the chance.

What I Tasted

1. Duck Fat Fries: Really, nothing much to note. They’re on the thinner, crispier side, and the interior isn’t mushy at all, which is all really nice. The duck fat helps the fries get a nice crunch that you don’t see otherwise—even moreso than usual. They also have a thick oiliness that hits the palate a little more strongly and goes down very smoothly. They’re salted a bit too much, though. Still, the potatoes have very little seasoning and are rather bland. Really, the duck fat adds little in terms of the flavor (in this case), since it doesn’t help with the blandness. 2.5/5.0
2. “The Dog,” a classic Chicago-Style Dog (served w/ the works except for mustard: relish, caramelized onions, tomatoes, pickle, celery salt): Finally a hot dog worth eating. The casing is perfect, with a satisfying snap on the top and a great chewiness in the interior. The beef is a beef salty, but it is rather succulent, and the chewiness allows it to blend with all the other toppings (you can eat them all together without a harsh change in textures). Also, the bread, while just plain white bread, is large enough and thick enough to hold everything together, which is great because this dog is massive. And the toppings are great, too. You get some tomato freshness, the sweetness of the onions and relish, and especially the spiced kick from the celery salt that you taste at the very end. All of them add nuance and don’t detract from the beef at all. 4.5+/5.0
3. Game of the Week Dog—Antelope with Curry Mustard and Grand Cru Gruyere: This sounds disgusting or at least absurd for a hot dog, yet it’s just as delightful as the last, if not more so. The antelope meat is a lot tougher, with an even louder snap on the end and a firmness and gaminess that are oddly nice for a hot dog. The bun is again very sturdy, holding everything together nicely. And because the toppings aren’t so overstacked, it’s easier to eat than the last, even though the sausage is so much bigger and more flavorful. The big charm of this dog, though, is in the cheese and curry mustard, which really help to tame the tough gaminess nicely. The curry mustard has an intense chili sweetness in the beginning which turns into a great mustard tang, and the cheese adds a soft, crumbly balancing bitter kick at the end. The flavors are all very bold, and this dog is admittedly too sweet for some, but I find it both delicious and one of the most unique takes on a hot dog I’ve ever seen. 4.7+/5.0. Brilliant concept, great execution.
4. Foie Gras with Duck Sausage Dog (Truffle Aioli, Crumbled Foie Gras, Mustard, and Fleur de Sel): You know, I honestly hate any street food that tries to go gourmet by adding foie gras, since it’s typically just a gimmicky excuse to waste a premium ingredient. This hot dog, however, is the exception, as the foie gras and truffle aioli add an intense, aromatic, fatty savoriness to the dish that just gives a whole burst of flavor to the palate. The foie gras is crumbled all over the top in a heap, meaning it’s perfectly distributed and you get it in every bite with no problem whatsoever. And because foie gras is so naturally flavorful, that means every bite gets a big flavor boost. My one problem is that it can get very salty, as the fleur de sel is sprinkled straight over the foie gras. Luckily, if you bite everything all at once, the very fluffy, neutral bread, along with the creamy, zesty truffle aioli help to counteract that salt a bit, though it’s still far too powerful. The duck sausage is also the perfect variety, not only going with the idea of foie gras (duck meat with duck liver seems a natural fit), but also adding that high fattiness and slight gaminess to the mix. Best of all, this dog has a smoothness/creaminess you won’t find in the others, as the foie gras and truffle aioli practically go down like a gel and help to take a bit of the edge off the meat. I do, however, have to say that foie gras still seems odd on a hot dog, and I don’t think I prefer the creamy fattiness it adds to the fresh veggies of a typical Chicago-style dog. 4.3/5.0

Scores

Ambience: 2.5/5.0 (not formally factored in).
Service: N/A
Taste: 4.2/5.0. 4.5+/5.0 for just the hot dogs.
Value: 4.9/5.0.
Verdict: 4.5+/5.0. 4.7+/5.0 for just the hot dogs.