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 -
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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.
