Food Coma 911

Hot Doug’s
3324 North California Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60618
(773) 279-9550

Sorry for the delay in updates, last weekend I went to the Mojave Desert. Awesome place, check out the Kelso Dunes or the Hole in the Wall Trail

Anyways, one of my favorite places I ate at in Chicago was Hot Doug’s. It was one of the places I was looking forward to check out and boy it did not disappoint. One of my favorite and BEST gourmet hot dog joints. Yes, hot dogs can be gourmet!

For someone visiting the area, it was kind of out of the way and a trek since it’s more inland. I had to take the train, bus and then walk quite a bit, but it’s worth it. I was hoping to make it out there before 10:30am to beat the long waits can get up to 2 hours. Unfortunately it took me longer and I didn’t arrive until 11:30am (sad face) so of course the line went out and all along the building. Thankfully, only a 45 minute wait for me.

The interior is designed with fast food colors, but with a modern edge. It was also really cool to see Doug working the register and even more shocking he’s super friendly and down to earth. Not annoyed with any of the questions I had and I loved that he didn’t just answer with, “everything is good” and gave some good advice on which hot dog to get. Awesome food and an awesome owner, it doesn’t get any better than that

They have 10 daily specials, a game of the week hot dog, a celebrity special, and some of the more typical hot dogs. I highly recommend getting the specials, and good luck trying to pick one or two out. They all just sound amazing.

Cognac-Infused Lamb and Pork Sausage with Spinach Raita and Goat Cheese $7.50

This one was a no-brainer for me because I love goat cheese and the spinach raita with lamb and pork sausage sounded amazing together. I remember being surprised to see it on a normal hot dog bun when this is a gourmet hot dog. But honestly, Doug kept it real and made sure it was one of the best abnormal hot dog buns I have had. You can tell it was fresh, and it was super soft and tasty, but still sturdy to hold everything.

The goat cheese was amazingly fresh and I loved how much they put on it. I just want goat cheese on all my hot dogs now. Honestly, I couldn’t taste much of the cognac in the hot dog, but I was glad since I am not a fan of it. The dog was nice and juicy, but I was really just focusing on the amazing toppings. Nom, nom!

Three-Chili Wild Boar Sausage $8
with sweet jalapeno mustard, garlic-cheddar cheese spread and crispy fried onions

This dog was completely different and had a nice kick to it, nothing crazy spicy though. My favorite thing topped with this sausage was the crispy fried onions. Mmm…so good! I love the texture of it with the hot dog. Of course the wild boar sausage was nice and juicy. However, I still think goat cheese wins it because it just an amazing discovery for me.

FYI: They offer duck fat fries on Friday and Saturday; however, I couldn’t make it out there those days ;( So please, go on a Friday or Saturday and have some for me please

Double FYI: CASH ONLY!