Sheltered Girl Meets World

Eaten: Deep Dish Pizza @ Pizzeria Uno (Chicago, IL)

(The Numero Uno: extra cheese, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and green peppers)

We arrived in Chicago late on a Wednesday night.  We were so excited to try the world famous Chicago deep dish pizza that we neglected having dinner on the road in hopes of catching a pizzeria before it closed.  Several GPS re-programmings later we stopped in a less than stellar part of Chicago only to discover the pizzeria had closed and we had missed our opportunity.  With our stomachs disappointed we drove to the hotel in silence and ate from the cooler of goodies that we had collected on our trip - goat cheese from Colorado, deli meats from whichever Whole Foods we visited last and a loaf of bread from the Denver Bread Company.

(I'm not ashamed to say I probably could eat a whole pizza)

The next day Chicago was hot and humid, not exactly deep dish pizza weather but we were on a mission.  We opted to go to Pizzeria Uno where owner Ike Sewell and chef Rudy Malnati created in 1943 what would become a world famous style of pizza.  When we arrived at the Ohio St location we entered a small waiting room where we were given a menu and told to place our order before being seated because it would take an hour for the pizza to be cooked and 30 minutes for us to get a seat.  It didn't take too long before our names were called and we were seated at a small table a little too close to the side of the bar.

Eaten: A Kangaroo Hot Dog @ Hot Doug's (Chicago, IL)

(Hot Roo, Kang Dog, Kangaroo Hot Dog @ Hot Doug's in Chicago, IL)

How long are you willing to stand in line for a hot dog?  10, maybe 20 minutes?  How about over an hour?  At Hot Doug's in Chicago, Illinois an hour wait for a hot dog is to be expected but what isn't expected are the types of hot dogs on the menu.  It's menu items like The Cheesy Atomic (spicy Jack cheese stuffed pork sausage with spicy passion fruit mayo and habanero-Jack cheese) or the cognac-infused lamb and pork sausage with spinach raita and goat cheese that make both tourists and locals line up.  The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium has won several local Chicago awards for best hot dog and has been listed by Zagat as a Top Food pick and Best Buy.  Bon Appetit also listed it as one of the 50 best restaurants on the planet - not bad for a hot dog joint.

(Is THAT where the Cheesy Atomic comes from?)

On our last day in Chicago I managed to convince the boyfriend that going to Hot Doug's was necessary.  By some miracle the hot dog and sausage hater agreed, it might have been the duck sausage topped with foie gras that convinced him or maybe the duck fat fries that are only available Friday's and Saturday's.  Whatever it was, we were going to try Chicago's best hot dog and since we were going in the afternoon we'd totally miss the lunch hour rush.  Or so we thought..  When we got to the Avondale location it was clear that we weren't the only ones that wanted to try this gourmet hot dog.  We got in line around 2:00pm on Friday and placed our order with owner Doug Sohn at 3:15pm.

(When can we expect ball parks to serve duck sausage w/ foie gras mousse?)

Choosing what you want at Hot Doug's can be challenging  Do you want to have a simple Chicago steamed hot dog or do you want one of the special celebrity named creations, maybe you want the game of the week?  The boyfriend knew he was ordering the foie gras and duck sausage with truffle aioli, foie gras mousse and fleur de sel but I couldn't make up my mind.  When I got to the cash I looked to my right at the strange jackalope staring down at me and ordered the game of the week - a kangaroo sausage with anchovy goat butter, fromage au poivre vert and crispy fried onions.  Oh and The Dave Pound (corn dog) and a side of duck fat fries (how can you not?).

Were these hot dogs and fries worth waiting in line?