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Quintessential Chicago Minimalist dog. Great Fries. Perfect dog joint atmosphere. Real casings. NO KETCHUP. Renew.

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Today I caught that fish again, that lovely silver prince of fishes,
And once again he offered me, if I would only set him free—
Any one of a number of wonderful wishes... He was delicious! - Shel Silverstein

Like Gene & Judes, Jimmy's is one of the few remaining standard bearers of a truly great minimalist style dog. It's not for everyone, but for lovers of that style of dog, it's a Mecca. Of course it should be renewed.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Never had less than stellar dogs here in the half dozen times or more I've hit it up. Love that hot sauce for dipping perfect fries I might add. Renew.

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blog E-Dogz

On behalf of those of us who have never had a "good" Jimmy's red hot, I cannot add to the sentiments for renewal. I have never thought there was substantive, diverse discussion about this place, other than jingoistic feelings about its resemblance to the idealized hot dogs of yore in one's home turf. The original nomination is tongue-in-cheek, and contains the following observations:





Since presumably the original nominator hasn't revisited and cannot offer an update, community comments are what we're going off of. I value (and will value) the endorsements of Steve, Jefe, Mel, and RAB in this renewal thread, which is likely more of a record than will build in some other threads. I simply want to offer the counterpoint that several longtime posters (including myself) have not even been able to tell if the dogs are natural-casinged or not due to the sodden condition in which they are served, in stale buns accompanied by undersalted fries.

Like many of you, I grew up in Chicagoland and have my favorite stands. Gene's and Jude's is an example of a place I learned to love through LTH. I now crave it, even though it is a variant style to those of my upbringing. The discussion is rich and sensible. Superdawg is another - pickled green tomatoes, ever-surviving owners, awesome packaging graphics, wonderful memories from a wide range of posters. I am in the community's debt for these conversations and insights.

From the start, the Jimmy's nomination and discussion has been nonsensical; more meta-thread than actual reports. I don't get the nomination, or the product. I still respect those who do, and hope to share their experiences at some point, since I will keep giving it the occasional try (you won't even have to drag me).

I love Jimmy's, take out of town visitors there, go out of my way for late night dogs, lunch dogs and, on rare occasion, breakfast dogs. I am a fan of the minimalist style natural casing hot dog that Jimmy's does all so well. I also love the no nonsense atmosphere, old school dogs, old school ambiance, 24/7 hours and the french fries, the perfect hot dog joint.

As to inconsistency issues, even the hot dog place you love has the occasional consistency issue. I quote foodie about town and noted locavore Vital Information speaking about Gene & Judes, which I agree is a damn good hot dog. "Maybe I can say this 'cause I'm such a G&J homer, but you think a place with one thing on its menu would be 100% solid, all the time, never waver, consistently constant. I can, however, vouch for the fact that it is not."

Jimmy's, count me a fan!

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I will never go to Jimmy's again (unless I'm caught in some kind of gun-to-head scenario)...and I support its renewal as a GNR.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I get so disappointed each time I read of a bad experience at Jimmy's. I would say 4 out of 5 times I receive a killer dog and 9 out of 10 out of this world fries. I think they absolutely deserve a renewal for a GNR.

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Greater transformation? Collagen to Gelatin or Water into Wine

I went to Jimmy's a couple months ago. It had been a while and I was curious to try it again after a couple years. The hot dog was fine, as good as most I've had at Gene and Judes which is my personal gold standard. The fries were limp and soggy. I ended up tossing a lot of them. A fight broke out between a customer and one of the servers when I was there. Some may see that as charming, but I was pretty uncomfortable with the whole thing, particularly since I dragged a friend out there (with a killer stop at Cemitas Puebla to make up for it).

Jimmy's is certainly an authentic Chicago hot dog stand. They make a solid hot dog, and I've had great fries there in the past. But for me, it's the little things that make a hot dog stand great. The atmosphere, the attention to detail, the joy of a classic American food done well. For me, Jimmy's falls short of that mark.

In an age when ancient Italian bakeries add outdoor seating areas and start serving subs, it's pretty telling that nothing's changed at Jimmy's. I also went a few months ago, dragging my wife as I'm one of a number of crazy people who don't mind going to a restaurant with bullet holes in its signage. Fortunately, the only fight that broke out while I was there was between a man and his delicious skin-on wiener. (The man won.) My hot dog and fries were just as they always were, perfectly executed in the minimalist style.

I hope nothing changes at Jimmy's, including its GNR status. In conclusion, Jimmy's Red Hots is the best hot dog stand where you don't have to wait 30 minutes to buy a minimalist hot dog and fries.

Although I don't visit Jimmy's as often as I one did mostly due to the fact that GNR Redhot Ranch has opened and is slightly closer to me, I still enjoy a visit to Jimmy's on a regular basis. It remains one of the last bastions of the true Chicago Style Minimalist Hot Dog and hasn't fallen of its game one bit. It's kind of hard to post about a place like Jimmy's every time you go because nothing ever changes and there's nothing new to report, but if I did make such posts, the Jimmy's thread would be many pages longer than it already is.

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes for Jimmy's renewal.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child