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.