Hot Doug’s

Bloomies gave us a list of places to eat in Chicago. We weren’t quite sure how they’d fit into our schedule, then looked up Hot Doug’s? and noticed that they were open at 10:30. There’s no real convenient Burger King for a meatnormous, so hot dogs for breakfast it is.

On the drive over, I got a little worried that it might not meet Catherine’s expectations. Or rather, I got worried that Catherine even had expectations. She hoped she could get her dog grilled. Well, we got to the place (3 street intersections in Chicago are just ridiculous…) and her eyes lit up. I haven’t see her smile like that in years. You see, you could get your dog grilled (default), steamed, deep fried, or…hold on to your seats now, this is what got Catherine smiling – you could get it grilled and fried.

I went with a Salsa special of the day. Don’t remember exactly what was on it, but it was damn tasty. Grilled. With everything on it. And then a Don Rickles – “beef, pork and garlic” – that might be my next tattoo.

She had a regular dog. She wanted to start basic. Fried and grilled though. With everything. The fries are good too. Duck fat fries on fridays and saturdays…is it good luck before a wedding to have duck fat fries? I think so.

For round two, I went with an italian. Two thumbs up as well. Catherine, not sure if we’d be back (schedule not desire), decided to have one more too – the Madonna. She dug it big time too. Too much for her, she packed some up to go. Car smells wonderful now (the Art Museum wasn’t a real big hit with Sal today). If El Sombrero was like Mexican Thanksgiving in October, this was definitely an All American Meat Christmas. If we go back, I’ll get a t-shirt.

When we saw a basket of cheese fries go by – Catherine slapped my arm. She normally doesn’t slap me. Cause she knows what happens next. But she was so moved that we didn’t think of getting cheese fries ourselves, she couldn’t resist.? If you ask her though, she’d say that Hot Doug’s was worth the black eye.