I like Hot Dougs a lot. Forty pounds ago and with a lot less coronary artery disease I used to frequent Dougs. Now Im trying to eat a healthier diet so I dont get there as often as I'd like. A craving for a good old fashion dog had me return to Dougs this week for lunch after at least 10 mos absence. I ordered a dog with all the trimmings expecting the "classic" chicago dog experience. mustard, raw onion, sweet pickle relish, a pickle spear, tomato slices, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. In return I received all of the above with grilled onions instead of chopped raw. It got me thinking. What place do grilled onions have on a "chicago style" hot dog?
I am by no means an expert on what constitutes Chicago Style...but I have eaten a lot of hot dogs in and around chicago and the suburbs and have a decent idea that when i order a dog with everything and do not specify grilled onions 99 times out of 100 I will get raw. Am I crazy? I think Doug even calls his set up with grilled onions chicago style.
Needless to say, I started thinking about all of the great Hot Dogs I've ordered and how they were dressed so i made a few phone calls. I realize that this survey does not exactly withstand the scientific method statistically but Poochies on Dempster in Skokie says everything Chicago Style means raw not grilled. Mustard's Last Stand on Central in Evanston...again raw not grilled. Michael's in Highland Park....also Raw. Superdawg....Raw. Doug's seems to be the only place I can think of that has grilled onions as part of the regular set up.
I mentioned this to a co-worker who reminded me that Mike Royko wrote an excellent article before his death about what constitutes a "chicago" style hot dog in his guise as grand protector of all things chicago. I found it online
www.chicagohamburger.com/html/royko7.htm (reprinted with his estates permission apparently.) Royko mentions chopped onions which I assume means raw. Wikipedia's definition also mentions onion but doesnt specify chopped raw or grilled (they also have a picture of a bunny hutch hot dog so rely on wikipedia as a source at your own discretion)
Anyway, since I personally dont like grilled onions on my dog I didnt really care for the version i recieved on my return to dougs. shame on me for not specifying raw onions. He does list grilled as part of the set up right there in black and white on his menu board. I guess I never really thought about it before because ive never had to. BTW the corned beef dog with grilled "innards" (as doug refers to the grilled liver) was phenomenal.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this topic. Or has this been discussed to death and I just simply cant find it using search?
Last edited by
iblock9 on November 8th, 2007, 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.