Friday, October 3, 2014

Visit #11 - October 3rd, 2014



Well, today's the day. 

Ever since that Tuesday in May when Doug made his announcement, this is the day that we've all be anticipating, or dreading - the day where Doug would say "Yeah, right where the lemonade is" for the last time - the day that Hot Doug's closed its doors for good. 

Naturally, we had a whole plan of attack to be there overnight, but given the weather conditions and our lack of preparations (people had brought tents - those people were smart!), we held off on making the trek until the weather died down a bit.  We got to Doug's a little after 7:00am, only to start hearing people saying, "Yeah, he closed the line at 6:30."  Sure enough, we walked to the back and saw the sign. 

Of course, I could use this space to talk about I never got to say "Thanks" to the main guy and all of the other employees, but screw that!  I joked often about this being a "sad" blog, but it wasn't.  It was a celebration!  Every damn meal that I ate at Doug's was amazing, and each trip reaffirmed that Doug was going out on top.  Every line was absolutely worth it and I don't regret it one bit. 


To the staff of Hot Doug's - you folks really made that restaurant run as smoothly as it did.  You kicked ass in every possible regard.  I hope that your tip jar is overflowing by the end of the day today because you guys and gals deserve it. 

Doug - you did everything right.  Kudos to you.  Thanks for never having salad on the menu.

In lieu of a usual sausage picture, here's one I dug up today from mine and Beth's first visit to Doug's a few years ago.  Garret was also there. 



I had the thuringer, fries, and the Atomic Bomb.  I remember Beth had some other one (buffalo, maybe?) that I accidentally ate half of because I thought it was the Atomic Bomb.  I'm still apologizing for doing that to this day...

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Visit #10 - September 19th, 2014

Close to the Edge...or End...

We're almost there.  We're now less than two weeks away until the closing of Hot Doug's.  

After deciding on Wednesday to go again, I was checking emails and saw this pop up on my Facebook feed -

"While we totally understand there are only a few days left to enjoy a Hot Doug's sausage and be "entertained" by the Scotch-fueled cashier, we have an obligation to respect the neighbors and neighborhood. Therefore, Hot Doug's may have to stop customers from entering the line before 4:00pm. We're going to play this one by ear. We thank you for your understanding."

Damn, now it's getting serious.  And sure enough, by the time we got there just after 9, the line was already past the alley.  DAMN.

I also noticed that there were some camera folks walking around and sure enough, we saw pieces of paper that said, "NOTICE:  HOT DOUG'S THE MOVIE IS BEING FILMED" or something.  So there's apparently a movie tape in the works about Hot Doug's.

Surprisingly, none of these corndogs became "pocket corndogs."

This week had that new Butcher & Larder sausage that people were going crazy about.  For some reason, I didn't get it.  Maybe because of something?  Who knows.  All I know is that Friday's meal was delicious, and it was the second-to-last time that I'll eat there.

Due to awesome things beyond my control next week, I doubt I'll be able to make it then.  I will be there the last day though.  With bells on.  And with donuts or something.  Seriously, come find me and I'll have the donuts for you.  You see the guy with the donuts? That's me.  Got it?

Here's the tally:
Me - Andouille, uber garlic, corndog, fries.
Beth - Thai chicken, thuringer.
C/Dr. J - Corndogs, Butcher & Larder guy, Chicago dog, buffalo chicken, others?  Probably.


Visit #9 - September 12th, 2014

Where we get pelted with rain and then get dumplings afterwards.

Well, if last Friday's weather was any indication, summer is over.

Beth and I stood in the cold, wind and rain for a while.  I think we got in line at...9:15 and weren't inside for maybe 2 hours or so. Usually I wouldn't mind that wait but standing in the rain made it slightly more difficult, but also made the sausages ultimately more rewarding (even though Beth forgot Doug's opened at 10:30am and not 10:00am, which made me the chooch who crushed her dreams for a brief moment there.)

At some point we got a text from Andrew that said something like, "Dougin'?", so we told him to hurry on over and that he did.  We all ate together and were warm, filled with sausage, and generally happy to be alive. 


Double photo as I couldn't get the whole table in one shot for some reason.  Action Doug's.


Afterwards, Andrew drove us to Joong Boo where we bought groceries and these giant $2 dumplings that were insanely good.  We did not need to eat all of that food.

Here's the tally:
Me - thuringer, bacon cheeseburger sausage, corn dog, cheese fries.
Beth - veal sausage, bison sausage.
Andrew - Hot dog (steamed), veal sausage, duck fat fries.

Visit #8 - August 23rd, 2014

Watching someone take their first bite of a Thuringer is a beautiful thing...


I have been waiting for that moment for years.  YEARS.  John finally goes with me to Hot Doug's.

You see, John's got a wicked pissah dairy allergy that makes him a nuisance to take restaurants to.  Every time we go somewhere, it's "So there's no dairy in that, right?" and "Can you please use clean gloves and knives in preparation of my food so I don't die?" and it's been like this ever since I've known John (jeez, 7 years? 8 years?), and probably like this John's whole life.  Ever since I started going to Doug's a few years ago, I've tried to get John to go.  However, given his allergy, he was always (rightfully) skeptical about waiting in a two-hour line and then not being able to eat anything.  Now, months ago, I asked Doug about the dairy thing and I told John what Doug told me - "Buns are fine, hot dogs are fine, and any sausage that doesn't have cheese in it is totally fine, but there is butter in the caramelized onions."  So I told John this and apparently all he heard was "Hot dogs are fine," and then got all pissy at me when he emailed Doug directly and Doug told him what I had told him months ago.

So yeah, I get in line, Lee shows up and John's a chooch and saunters up to us at 10:10 or something because he "slept in" or whatever.  OH! And other buds Esme and Zoe show up.  So BAM!  Look at that.  People standing in a line.  I think that might've also been the day I finished Pink Noises (end of an era!)  I'm having trouble remembering more details as this was almost a month ago...



Also, man, that linguiça is a damn JAM, son.  

Oh, but so the five of us are sitting and starting to eat and out of the corner of my eye I see John take a bite of his thuringer and immediately, his eyes light up and all he can say is, "Damn." 

Here's the tally:
Me - thuringer,
linguiça, fries, corn dog.
John - italian, thuringer, duck fat fries.
Lee - Don't remember, duck fat fries.
Zoe and Esme - BLT sausage, 3 or 4 corn dogs, Chicago dog, one or two others, chili-cheese fries.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Visit #7 - July 19th, 2014

The Sounds...of Sausage...

As I had mentioned in a previous post, when I was looking for apartments to live in when I moved here, one serious consideration was the walking distance from Hot Doug's.  What I neglected to mention was that I moved back to Chicago for graduate school and over the course of the year, I kept meaning to get all of us first-year grads together for some encased meat funtimes.  Unfortunately, due to other commitments (like graduate school), it was difficult to get the four of us together at the same time.  However, with one of them moving back to fuggin' Brookylns at the end of July, we had to act quickly!

So us sound grads trekked out to Doug's on a warm, Saturday morning.  Coming from various corners of the city (Edgewater, Pilsen, Logan and Ukranian Village-ish), we were all there bright and early.  I got only minimal reading of Pink Noises done as Ned showed up pretty soon after, but it was actually a topic of a brief conversation during the lunch.  Other conversation topics included graduate school (stock), John Cage (even more stock?) and JESUS CHRIST THIS FOOD IS SO DAMN GOOD (stock when you eat at Hot Doug's.) 

Look at that! Pink Noises makes its pictorial debut on here!


If I remember correctly, Mike said he'd been there a long time ago, like, 6 years ago (like me, he's from around here.)   Austen and Ned had never been, but I feel like everyone was satisfied.  I think Austen had some comment that was like, "Yeah, you really can't get that anywhere else."  I think he said that.  I don't remember.


Here's the tally:
Thuringer, uber-garlic pork sausage, corn dog, fries.  Mike had a hot dog, corn dog and fries.  I can't remember what Austen and Ned had, but they enjoyed it!

Visit #6 - July 7th, 2014

Shellac and summer sausage, what two things go better together than that?

When Beth announced that she'd be visiting in July, I knew we'd have to hit up Hot Doug's at some point because, well, that's what you do.  Coincidentally, Shellac had announced a show on July 6th in Chicago after their July 7th show sold out, so bam! It was settled! Beth would come here and her main motives for the trip were to go to Hot Doug's and see Shellac.  Fine by me!

After a few days of other Chicago culinary delights (Johnnie's italian beef, lots of hamburgers, bbq, etc.) and a fantastic Shellac show, Beth and I met with friends Bob (who got there a little earlier than we did) and Andrew (who got there at the last possible second) to partake in the meats.

What do I remember about that day over three weeks ago?  It was warm.  It was a Monday, so the line wasn't bad.  The sausages were great.  The company was great.  I learned that Doug will swap out a veggie dog for any sausage but still put all the toppings on it (pro tip from Bob), so that's cool!

I didn't take a picture, unfortunately, nor do I remember what any of us had.  I was pretty hungry that day and we didn't walk there because I had access to a car.  This post is merely here to remember the good times we had in our lives and to not point out my shortcomings as I attempt to remember what I ate three weeks ago without a pictorial aid.

Here's the tally:
I bet there was a thuringer in there?  Maybe some corn dog action.  There were absolutely a ton of fries.  Maybe a chicken sausage?  


Visit #5 - June 21st, 2014

While I've often eaten at Hot Doug's on my own, there's nothing like sharing the experience of high quality encased meats with others.  This visit, when myself and fifteen or sixteen others descended on Hot Doug's on a mild June 20th, was pretty fantastic.

All of us were in town as we were all attending (and in some cases, performing) during the PRF BBQ*.  The PRF BBQ was a five day, multi-venue blowout of music, food and good times which you can read more about here.  Since there were a bunch of folks who came in from out of town for this gathering, it was decided early on that a bunch of us would make a visit to Hot Doug's, especially considering that this would be the last PRF BBQ held in Chicago while Doug's was still open. 

So Friday morning, groggy and already sore from two nights of music in some cases (and gearing up for three more), we made our descent onto Doug's.  We got there early and waited because that's what you do.  Pink Noises got little time out this time around as introductions were made and there was general catching up happening.  Before I knew it, I was in Doug's, pushing tables together (after we all ordered, of course), trying to accommodate some 15 people from all over the world, and I mean it!  Folks from Toronto, British Columbia, Australia, England (even though Sam didn't find us in line - sorry Sam!), Pittsburgh, Michigan, Colorado, Seattle and more places that I can't remember right now because this was over a month ago and, c'mon, I'm trying here!

 Sausages.  Missing are the other sausages other people ate.


So all of us chooches, together at a table, eating sausage after sausage, totally content.  After we finished, some folks took a tour of Electrical Audio, a recording studio who've developed a long-lasting friendly relationship with Hot Doug's over the years.  Other folks and myself split to start moving gear for the BBQ. 

As we were moving gear, we drove back by Doug's around 12pm or so and noticed the huge line.  It also happened that Chris had put an extra corn dog in his pocket, so naturally, I took a picture of him eating the extra corn dog while driving his van in front of Doug's.  I like to think of it as our version of the Double Nickels on the Dime cover...


Here's the tally:
Wild rice and bison sausage, chicken chorizo sausage, corn dog and fries.  I can't remember everything that came on them, nor can I remember what the other dozen+ folks got as well.  So it goes...

*Read D.J. Hostettler's excellent post about the PRF BBQ here!

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Visit #4 - June 7th, 2014

Summer breeze, makes me feel like getting more sausages...

A few days late, but here nonetheless.

Visit #4 was an exciting one!  Albert has lived in Chicago for over a year now and somehow still had never been to Hot Doug's.  You see, Albert and I go way back to the year of...2009.  In the spring of 2009, I went on a tour of NEC and my tour guide was this Albert fellow.  See, Albert was a composer as well, so I talked his ear off, trying to figure out if NEC was the place for me (it was, more on that later.)  After our tour, I took the 1 bus to Bartley's in Harvard Square and contemplated life while eating a burger.  Anyways, Albert had never been to Doug's and also, Albert is engaged and I had never met the future Mrs. Albert before, so we said, "Well, that sounds like a great reason to go to Hot Doug's!"

Waiting in line (I got there at 9:15am, was roughly the 13th person in line), I started recognizing more of the regulars - folks that I've seen during my last few journeys there.  Right before opening, some chooch Cubs fan was walking past the line going "YEAH! YOU GUYS KNOW WHY YOU'RE HERE! HOT DOUG'S ALL RIGGHHHHTTTHTTTTT!!!!!" and yeah, could've done without that.  Also, I gotta say, I'm confused about the people who bring dogs to wait in line with them (canines, not sausages) to then put them back in the car when they go inside and then leave them in the car with the windows down while they eat.  I've gotten pretty good at sitting on the sidewalk reading Pink Noises and just "digging the scene."  Also, at that early in the morning, you're in the shade on the sidewalk - all in all, a pretty sweet deal.

Anyways, here's a sausage picture -

                                      Look at that feast!

Since Albert hadn't been here before, he went a little crazy and got three sausages and a corn dog.  The future Mrs. Albert (her name is not Mrs. Albert, but I'll use that for now as I'm not sure she knows about the blog) keeps Kosher, so she didn't get too crazy but was mightily impressed with the Chicago dog (minus onions and...mustard, I think?)  I forwent my battle with the Chicago dog this week because there was something special about the Game of the Week - we had us a damn ELK SAUSAGE.

Now, game meat is a mystery world to me.  I grew up in the midwest, but in a special part of the midwest that doesn't really hunt or partake in the mystery world of game meat.  I think I remember my dad hunting pheasant once when I was really young, but I don't remember us eating that.  My first game experience was actually at Doug's.  One day on one of my solo runs a few months ago (long before the closing was announced) I felt particularly adventurous and asked Doug some game-related questions (there was not a huge line, so I didn't feel too bad wasn't Doug's time) before deciding on elk.  And man, elk was good.  This elk sausage was a little different I think (a bacon and cheese elk sausage), but still great.

For Albert and Mrs. Albert, I hope their first visit with a good one.  Doug joked with Mrs. Albert, ignored Albert and I just stood there and watched the hurricane of sausage-related camaraderie unfold before my eyes.  Then Albert wouldn't let me pay for my meal as I'm "still a student."  Needless to say, I'm extremely grateful and will make sure to return the favor someday.

Here's the tally (if I can remember - this WAS five days ago):
Mrs. Albert - Hot dog, char grilled, everything but no onions or mustard.
Albert - Atomic Bomb, Sonoran Dog (with everything), Fire Dog (?, maybe??) with everything, corn dog.
Myself - Thuringer with caramelized onions, Bacon and Cheddar Smoked Elk sausage with white cheddar cheese curds and smoky bacon sauce, corn dog.
Two large fries were split between the three of us.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Visit #3 - May 31st, 2014

It can be hard to tell when summer really begins in Chicago.  The pools don't open until June, but usually as early as mid-May, you can have temps reaching into the mid 80s and when you live in an apartment without A/C, you can feel it.  Some people like to view Memorial Day as the "unofficial" beginning of summer and wear the white pants to prove it; and others feel that summer in Chicago begins once the numerous street festivals start popping up (such as Do Division, which is this weekend*.)  For me, summer begins when you see people outside Hot Doug's selling bottles of water for a dollar as others wait in line.  Sometimes there's even a dude selling ice cream.  I've never bought water or ice cream from these folks, but it's a reminder that a) yeah, it's pretty warm out and, b) it's pretty warm out and you're standing in a line for 2 hours to eat some sausage.

Today, I started waking up around 6:45am for some godforsaken reason and after running some errands, I made the walk to Doug's.  Before I knew it, it was 9:02am and I was fourth in line.  A solid 90 minutes before opening and there were already three folks in front of me, including someone I saw during my last visit.  Naturally I propped up against the wall, opened up my copy of Pink Noises, and waited.  While listening to a guy who was entertaining his mother-in-law as she visited the city this weekend, buds Chris and Jordana showed up.  Talk quickly turned to sausage, going over the menu a few times and verifying that the steak sausage was still available (it was, thank goodness.)

  I think there might be at least one more sausage that didn't make it in this picture.

One thing about Chris and (now) Dr. Jordana (yay!) is that, even though they aren't originally from the midwest, they take their sausage seriously.  Granted, I doubt either of them have had polish sausage from E & J down in Burbank, but, you know, they mean business when it comes to this stuff.  Therefore, I wasn't surprised when they ordered 5 sausages and 2 corndogs to be split between the two of them.  While the patio was open, we opted to stay inside in the beautifully chilled confines of Doug's.  As we ate, I mentioned how Doug's is the best restaurant in Chicago, which led to some questions like "Do you really think that?" and "Why?" from Dr. Jordana.  While I'm not a doctor, I'd like to think that I held my ground just fine.

Today, I continued my battle with the Chicago-style hot dog.  I forwent the ketchup and had the following toppings - pickle, onions, relish and celery salt.  It was pretty good, but I'm still not sure if I prefer it to my main man Heinz over there.  The steak au poivre sausage was pretty wild.  While I don't drink, I'm very much a fan of cooking with bourbon (undoubtedly influenced by Beth as she spent a few years living in "Bourbon Country"), so when I saw "Four Roses bourbon mustard", I got a little too excited.  According to wikipedia, steak au poivre is some sort of steak, usually filet mignon, that is coated with cracked peppercorns.  I've never had it, but the sausage form of it was delicious.  There was also a corn dog and fries to round everything out.  Those had plenty of ketchup on them.

I didn't get a chance to get a glimpse of the line as we left around 11:10, but before the door opened the line was already stretching past the alley.  As we walked out and I noticed the bottles of water being sold and that the temperature was easily 15-20 degrees warmer outside than it was inside Doug's, I knew summer was here, and that I should probably look into buying a window unit sooner rather than later.


Here's the tally:
Chris & Dr. Jordana - Sonoran Dog (jalapeño polish sausage with jalapeño mayonnaise, jalapeño bacon, pinto beans, tomatoes and onions), escargot and guanciale sausage with parsley-garlic goat butter and double crème brie cheese, smoked and spicy alligator sausage with cajun shrimp remoulade and goat cheese, fire dog with everything**, steak au poivre sausage with Four Roses bourbon mustard, emmental cheese and crispy fried onions, two corn dogs.
Myself - Steak au Poivre sausage with Four Roses bourbon mustard, emmental cheese and crispy fried onions, hot dog (charred) with caramelized onions, pickle, celery salt, relish, corn dog and fries.

*Did anyone else catch High on Fire last night? 
**For those playing at home, "everything" at Hot Doug's means "caramelized onions, relish, tomatoes, pickle, celery salt and mustard."

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Visit #2 - May 17th, 2014

The walk to Hot Doug's from my apartment is just under 1.5 miles according to google maps.  When I was looking at apartments in Chicago before moving back here, I had two criteria when it came to location: 1)  Must be less than a mile (preferably half a mile) from a blue line stop and, 2) Must be within walking distance from Hot Doug's.  1.5 miles is a totally doable walking distance for me, so there was no question that I found my dream location.

Last week, I decided that if I was going to be going to Doug's on a weekly/bi-weekly basis and eating 2-3 sausages with fries, I should probably walk there.  Now I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, but I'm pretty sure that 3 miles of walking is enough to offset 3 sausages (there's some sort of sausage to mile ratio there that I should figure out, but this will do.)

Since I had gone on Friday last week and had seen the carnage that awaited me if I didn't get there before 10, I made it a point to get there by 9:30 today.  Of course, I arrived at 9:30 and saw there were maybe a dozen people in front of me in line (which became 20 by the time the door opened) and within two minutes, there were another 6 folks behind me.  By the time the door opened, the line stretched pass the alley, almost to the end of the block.  I stood there reading Pink Noises and waited. There was also some guy walking around with a field recorder interviewing people in line and lots of camera phones taking photos and video of the line.  

Doors open, and it's the usual thing.  People file in, place orders and jawjack with Doug and wait.  I ordered sometime after 10:40 and had sausages in hand by 10:50.

                                Vietnamese chicken, thuringer, hot dog, fries.  

Keeping with my "always try to get new things every time you visit Doug's" philosophy, I made it a point to go crazy (but not too crazy) and to try this insane Vietnamese chicken sausage, complete with sweet chili aioli, cheese-stuffed hot peppers and fried rice noodles, and boy, it was utterly fantastic. I had also realized while walking to Doug's that I never had a standard hot dog from Hot Doug's.  

That's right, I'd never had a hot dog from Hot Doug's.  I don't know what it is, maybe I just figured that I could get a hot dog anywhere and that if I was making a point to go to Doug's, I should get some kick ass sausage I couldn't get anywhere else.  Then again, the hot dog is pretty much the flagship menu item at Doug's.  If Doug's had everything they have now but had a terrible standard hot dog, they would probably be out of business by now.  So it was time...

I then ordered the hot dog, charred and fried, but NOT Chicago-style.  That's right, not Chicago-style. Why?  Because Chicago-style hot dogs are bullshit.  I don't know why Chicago-style dogs became a thing and I don't care to look it up right now but here's the deal - I don't like yellow mustard or tomatoes.  Why the hell would I put them on a hot dog?  Also, I like ketchup on hot dogs.  The whole Chicago mentality of "Never put ketchup on a hot dog" doesn't make any sense to me (never has) and I've never heard a successful anti-ketchup argument in all my time of living around or in Chicago.  So, sorry Doug, but I totally put ketchup on your hot dog this morning and it was delicious.  

While finishing up at Doug's, I was thinking about some of my other visits and how I've never left Doug's disappointed.  The food and service are always consistently great and every meal I've left (over)satisfied.  That's rare.  Very rare...

Here's the tally:
Thuringer with caramelized onions, Vietnamese chicken sausage* with sweet chili aioli, cheese-stuffed peppers and fried rice noodles, hot dog with caramelized onions and pickle, occasionally dipped in ketchup and fries.

*Not entirely sure what all was in the Vietnamese chicken sausage, but DAMN! UPDATE - There might have been some cabbage in there!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Visit #1 - May 9th, 2014

Before the word had gotten around that Hot Doug's would be closing, I had been planning on visiting today for a few weeks.  It was probably three weeks ago or so when I realized that the semester would be done for me on Thursday night and, by golly, after this semester, I deserved some sausage.  So plans were set in place back then that there'd be a Hot Doug's visit today.

                               Garret sneaks in, thuringer just out of the frame.

                                                             

Joining me this morning was my good friend Garret.  Garret and I have known each other since we were 15 and 14, respectively, and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Garret came with me when I first went to Doug's a few years ago when Beth was visiting.  If I remember correctly, I had a thuringer, an atomic dog; Garret had two hot dogs; Beth had one sausage I can't remember and one sausage I accidentally almost ate half of because I thought it was one of mine (I think that one was a buffalo sausage); cheese fries were shared between us.  I want to say that was in January, 2011*.  Then there was the time Garret and I had Hot Doug's while recording the Shikata Ga Nai record at EA.  I don't remember what Garret got that time, but I had my trusty thuringer along with some crazy bacon sausage that was pretty insane.  So, I guess it was fitting that Garret came along this morning.

After rain threatened the possibility of walking, it cleared up and we got there around 9:50.  The line was already about 10-12 people deep.  40 minutes before opening.  ON A WEEKDAY.  Still, we waited, as you do, because it's worth it. I've said this before and I really mean it - Hot Doug's is the best restaurant in Chicago, period.  It's nothing to wait in line for 40 minutes for Doug's.  We ordered and we dined like kings at just before 11am.

Here's the tally:

Garret - Andouille with everything, corn dog, duck fat fries, root beer.
Myself - Andouille with caramelized onions, pickle and dark mustard**, thuringer with caramelized onions, corndog***, fries, water.

As we walked to the bus, a woman came up to us and said, "Hey! Did you come from that Doug's place? IS THAT THE LINE??"  and after we responded in the affirmative, she ran across the street and got a place in line.  I'd like to think she got her food in less than two hours, but I'm not convinced...


*I know, I'm just as surprised as you are that I didn't get here until 2011, but between living out east or in the suburbs, it seemed hard to justify a 60 minute drive to get sausage back then.  Now I know better.
**Not really a mustard guy, but in the spirit of trying out different things, it seemed appropriate.
***I like to cap myself at two sausages, but it was Beth's birthday today so when she said, "Get a corndog for me," I did.  And then I ate it.  Sorry, Beth...

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

About Summer of Doug's

It's May 6th, 2014.  Shortly after 9:30am, word starts circulating that Hot Doug's is going on "permanent vacation" on October 4th, 2014.  This is a blog chronicling the last summer (and early fall) that Hot Doug's will be open.