Chicagoist Goes To The Dogs

By Kevin Grzyb in Food on May 20, 2005 4:33PM

Chicagoist is excited. This weekend is going to be great. We’re looking forward to a Saturday afternoon with some friends over on the porch cooking up a big batch of Chicago Style Hot Dogs with all the fixin’s & drinking some frosty cold beers. It’s only proper, with the Cubs/Sox cross-town classic all weekend.

Ahhh, the Chicago Style Dog, for some of us it is the taste of summer (well, that and Rainbow Cone). There are many variations to what a Chicago Style Dog should have on it, so Chicagoist went to the definitive source of Chicago hot dogs, Vienna Beef, located on the north side at Fullerton and Damen. Firstly, you start with a Vienna Beef hot dog, boiled; the dog goes on a steamed Rosen poppy seed bun. The condiments are: yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport peppers, shake of celery salt. And never, ever ketchup, don’t start. Ketchup does not go on a Chicago Style Hot Dog. Chicagoist does allow for some variations to the Chicago Style Hot Dog: the hot dog can be boiled, steamed or grilled, but if it is grilled, char ours black, the bright green relish can be replace with plain relish (or the next day there can be a surprise of bright green poop!), grilled onions are okay if you’re grilling the dogs, and there are days that we can live without sport peppers. Additionally it’s become relatively common to see the cucumber wedge opposite the tomato wedge. No ketchup.

Now where did this gastronomical sausage and salad combo come from? According to the Vienna Beef website, “The Chicago-style hot dog was discovered in 1893 at the Chicago World Fair where two young immigrants brought their frankfurter recipe from Austria-Hungary and started a whole new taste sensation. What they didn't know was that they were starting an empire. The new-fangled hot dog sandwich … quickly became Chicago's favorite treat. It wasn't long before the entire country discovered Vienna.” Chicagoist thinks the funniest line in the quote is that the Chicago Style hot dog was discovered, rather than invented or first conceived for, like the hot dog was wandering around the fair and some dude saw it out on the midway and planted a flag in it and claimed it for Vienna.
So, if you get all of the necessary accessories, what should you serve with the Chicago Style hot dogs to truly complete the experience? Chicagoist suggests a big bag of Jays potato chips and a tall, cold Goose Island beer (or RC cola, if beer isn’t your thing) to complete the Chicago trifecta.

Enjoy!

Images via: viennabeef.com