This is a genuine Chicago-style hot dog. And it’s goooood. Savory and sharp, crunchy and soft, fresh and hot doggy.
The Chicago-style hot dog is all-beef, steamed or boiled, and served with mustard, relish, chopped onion, a pickle spear, tomato slices, sport peppers and a sprinkle of celery salt, all on a poppy seed bun.
But no ketchup. Apparently it’s sacrilege. Something about overpowering the hot dog or being redundant with the sweet relish. The dog of choice is made by Vienna Beef.
I’m used to buying hot dogs from street vendors. But here, it seems you can only get them from proper places with doors and counters.
We stopped at a tiny place in Wicker Park called Swank Frank. I’m a sucker for retro rhymes. The hot dog combo with fries and a drink was $4.95 US I think.
I wanted to get a deep-fried twinkie too (did you know the Twinkie factory is in Chicago??) but my boyfriend talked me out of it. Darn.
He did however convince me to try the city’s famous deep dish pizza. I wasn’t really in a mood for cheese, but hey, it’s gotta be famous for a reason right?
We went to the new original location of Gino’s East downtown. Two taxi drivers mad at rush hour traffic opened it in 1966. But I guess they moved and then just recently opened a location back where it all started.
Happily, we didn’t have to wait for a table. There’s a big sign encouraging everyone to write on the walls. Handy if you happen to have a Sharpie burning a hole in your pocket or purse. I only had some Kleenex and gum.
The waitress kindly warned us any deep dish would take 45 minutes. We got the small cheese and traditional patty-style sausage deep dish ($13.75 US for about 4 slices). Normally we’d order a medium but she assured us that would be too much.
I was grateful for the intervention. The pizza was thick. Thick with sausage patty that covers the whole bottom, then cheese, and then crushed tomatoes on top.
Gino’s East is famous for its deep golden yellow crust – a supposed secret recipe. It’s crunchy more than chewy and surely has cornmeal in it.
The deep dish was tasty but not phenomenal. The hot dogs I’d move here for.
Swank Frank, 1589 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, (773) 862-4000. Open Tues-Sun 11 am-5 am, Sun-Mon 11 am-midnight.
Gino’s East, 162 E. Superior, Chicago, (312) 266-DEEP.
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