Hot Doug's, Chicago

I am a tease. Mentioning Hot Doug's in my Chicago post, but making you wait until now to read all about it. I'm sorry, but as you will see, The Encased Meats Emporium and Sausage Superstore really needs it's very own post. And this is it. Hold on to your buns!


When Kelly and I arrived, there was a line all along the side of the building! We had taken a cab from downtown Chicago, and were quite excited to eat there, so we had no problems waiting over an hour in this line to get our meat in tube form. Besides, the weather was lovely and we made new friends, Jay and Dave! (Hi guys! Hope you are reading this!)


Once inside, there is plenty to look at... the place is decorated in primary colors, with tons of hot dog memorabilia, including Oscar Meyer Weinermobile stuff, which cracked us up because we were *this* close to hitching a ride to Hot Doug's in the Weinermobile that was hanging out at BlogHer.


There was also this, which I NEED in my plate collection, so if you know where to get one....gimme!


Then there are the menus... they have a regular menu and a daily specials menu.


They also have a game of the week dog and a celebrity dog!


And who was there to take our order but Doug himself! He's a good sport. We are nerds.


Kelly and I ordered 3 dogs from the "Today's Special's" Menu to share. We tried to cover 3 different kinds of meat, poultry, beef and pork. Of course we got the foie gras dog! The other 2 we got were the brilliantly named "Teuben" and a pork sausage.


And OF COURSE the fries. They are fried in Duck Fat!!! Gorgeous!


I think Kelly would agree that the Teuben was our favorite surprise. Yeah, because of the name, but also because it was really darn tasty! And the Ginger Beer went really well with it!


Oh, didn't I mention we did soda pairings with each of our dogs? 'Cause we sure did. Again...nerds.


The Foie Dog. What can I say. It may be the most rich and luxurious thing I've ever put in my mouth. It was indeed my first Foie Gras experience, and I can see why people are so passionate about it. As if that wasn't fancy and delicious enough... truffle aioli!! There are no words. The Sel Gris was a fantastic touch, adding just a little bit of crunchy texture to some of the bites, and bringing out the other flavors. An epic hot dog if I've ever seen one. If you are not familiar with the story, Hot Doug's continued having these on the menu during the Chicago Foie Gras Ban. Rebels! The ban has since been lifted, which is a shame because I like breaking the rules.

It required a long line and a scary cab ride, but Hot Doug's is worth it! A fun and satisfying destination, tube-be sure!