Here Is Your Optimal Time To Visit Hot Doug's

By Lisa White in Food on May 20, 2014 9:30PM

Fellow encased meat and data lovers over at marketing agency FCB’s Chicago office have come up with some handy bit of information for those rationing out their vacation days and long lunches to visit Hot Doug’s a few more precious times before they close in October.

We’ve been all about Hot Doug’s lately, even if it pissed off a few readers, while also on a statistics and human observation streak when it comes to food so FCB is laying out something close to our heart. Let’s just say we like to relish the finer things Chicago has to offer while we still can.

FCB set out to find the best time to visit Hot Doug’s, that sweet spot when you’ll encounter the shortest line possible. They took various forms of data from last year during mid-May up until October 3, the closing date set for Hot Doug’s this year. The three main factors they looked at were weather patterns, number of daily social media check-ins and average amounts of tweets from the line in relation to time of day. What they found, and for many Doug’s fans it isn’t new news, is the best time to visit is Tuesday and Thursday either at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. and to avoid going on Friday and Saturday.

We can attest to the visit on a weekday suggestion, since we generally hit up Hot Doug’s Monday through Thursday like FCB suggests. We’ve found the best bet is to head over a little early before they open and you’ll likely have only a small line. You’d usually have no line on, say, a Wednesday right when they opened during the winter, which was perfect, but obviously that option is no longer. If anything, we more want to wag our fingers at the cheaters checking-in at Hot Doug’s on Sunday. Fake check-ins should be shunned appropriately.

So go forth and plan your line strategy for the rest of the summer but know that even in the most optimal situation to expect a longer wait now that the end is in sight. Hopefully all those Hot Doug procrastinators didn’t get this memo and opt to wait in the sun on Saturdays so the rest of us can breeze right through on a Tuesday afternoon.

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