HOt Dogs - Wolfy's versus Flukey's

Today my son and I continued our ongoing chowscience hot dog studies. We had business in Chicago and decided on hot dogs for lunch at both Wolfy's and at Flukey's.

I get my dogs Chicago salad-style with mustard, relish, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and celery salt, while my son likes the pure hot dog essence and gets his absolutely plain.

Wolfy's hot dogs are definitely quite good with nice flavor and pop in the usual poppy seed bun. The crisp McDonald's style fries were pretty good.

The Fluky's dogs were good too, though seemed to fall just a tad short of Wolfy's. I thought the crinkle-cut fries were nothing special. It may be because I've never cared for crinkle-cut fries. My son thought they were the equal of the fries at Wolfy's.

How do these compare with the Dempster Street trio of Hot Dog Island, Poochie's and Herm's? Based on memory alone, I think that we probably would prefer Poochie's (our Dempster favorite), but memory is fallible and further comment will have to wait until we run another chowscience lab test.

Here's a thread about Dempster Street from May, 2004 on that other site.

http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards/chicago/messages/47320.html

Fluky's
6821 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60645
773-274-3652

Wolfy's
2734 W. Peterson Ave.
773-743-0207
M-Sa: 10-10; Su: 10-8

George,

I concur with your findings and also agree that Poochie's is the better dog (and better fries), although currently, Wolfie's Polish is the non plus ultra of Polishes in Chicago (with appologies to the Jim's Polish fans).

Can you provide me the one critical detail? Which of those eateries has the radioactive green relish?

For me, that's a necessity. I know Fluky's has it, I don't know about the others, although the old Morton Grove (or is that Gleview) HDI didn't, and my gaping memory says Poochie's doesn't either.

Joel

Am I incorrect or does Poochies strictly serve char-dogs? If so, I think comparing them to Wolfy's/Fluky's boiled dogs is an apples-to-oranges situation. I'm not a fan of the char-dog, and I am physically incapable of reading beyond the words char-salami on Poochie's menu.

I grew up equidistant to both Wolfy's and Fluky's and I always considered Wolfy's to be the poor-man's Fluky's, not because of price, but because it always seemed like a knock-off. Today I consider their dogs comparable, and I cannot abide by the terrible flavorless crinkle cut fries at Fluky's.

Herm's serves a tasty, snappy dog, but their fries are McD's style and not much tastier.

Best,
Michael / EC

eatchicago wrote:Am I incorrect or does Poochies strictly serve char-dogs?

Yes, you are incorrect. You can get your dog prepared either way, although a visit to Poochie's without getting a grilled salami is a wasted visit. A salami & dog combo...now you're talking!

stevez wrote:A salami & dog combo...now you're talking!

I think you just wrote my wish list for the weekend.

For my hot dog dollar, neither Wolfy's nor Fluky's can hold a candle to my neighborhood fave, Byron's. Their relish is as green as anybody's and their fries are superb. The Polish sausages are uncomfortably large and the brats are good too.

I only know the original, but there are other locations on Halsted and Lawrence.

Byron's Hot Dog Haus
1017 West Irving Park Road
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 281-7474

Grew up 4 blocks from Wolfy's, 8 from Flukey's. Wolfy's always had a better dog, more fresh. Flukey's has fallen down through the years IMO. Wolfy's always had a decent burger too.

stevez wrote:

eatchicago wrote:Am I incorrect or does Poochies strictly serve char-dogs?

Yes, you are incorrect. You can get your dog prepared either way, although a visit to Poochie's without getting a grilled salami is a wasted visit. A salami & dog combo...now you're talking!

Yes, specifically asked them tjhe last time I was there - they do do a "normal" dog.
Everything on the menu is "char" - char-burgers, char-cheeseburgers, char-dogs
and char-salami. But the dog is the one thing they also serve "un-char", they
said.

Me, I just went with the char-burger the last time (decent, not great on the day).
I quite like their char-dogs usually, however.

c8w

This week business in the city allowed us to run another chowscience lab experiment. First a hot dog & fries at Wolfy's followed by the same at Poochie's.

It was really close, but my son and I agreed that Poochie's had a slight edge. I thought their dog had a touch more pop when you bit into it.

The fries at both are good, depends on which style you like: Wolfy's crisp McDonaldesque or Poochies slightly thicker skin-on. My son thought they were about even, while I preferred Poochie's "fresh out of the grease."

No question though that Wolfy's is a worthy competitor to the Dempster Street trio.

I must try Byron's some time, but that will have to wait for another trip.

George R wrote:This week business in the city allowed us to run another chowscience lab experiment. First a hot dog & fries at Wolfy's followed by the same at Poochie's.

It was really close, but my son and I agreed that Poochie's had a slight edge. I thought their dog had a touch more pop when you bit into it.

The fries at both are good, depends on which style you like: Wolfy's crisp McDonaldesque or Poochies slightly thicker skin-on. My son thought they were about even, while I preferred Poochie's "fresh out of the grease."

No question though that Wolfy's is a worthy competitor to the Dempster Street trio.

I must try Byron's some time, but that will have to wait for another trip.

George,

I agree with your assesment 100%. The real star at Wolfie's, though is the Polish Sausage, which is the grilled on a griddle kind. It gets my best in class award for its great snap and well rounded flavor. Ask for the Grilled onions extra well done.

Thanks Steve,

I'll have to try the Polish next time I'm at Wolfy's.

Wolfy's fans take note: they are celebrating their 40th anniversary this Saturday and Sunday (8/11-12).

Turn back the clock prices (maybe not turned back 40 years, but turned back enough to make a nice cheap meal).

From a quick drive-by I noticed $1.50 dog & fries, $1.75 polish & fries, and similar cheeseburger, drink, and ice cream specials.

Now, the only question is, how many meals am I going to eat there?

Enjoy.

Thanks Waiks. I had meant to post this and forgot.

According to Wolfy's ad in this week's Evanston Review (page B11) prices August 11 & 12 will be:

Hot dog w/fries $1.00
Polish w/fries $1.50
Hamburger w/fries $1.50
Fountain drinks 50 cents
Ice cream cones 50 cents

Also free hot dog bubble gum!

cowdery wrote:For my hot dog dollar, neither Wolfy's nor Fluky's can hold a candle to my neighborhood fave, Byron's.

I second - we terribly miss the Byron's space-port drive-thru on Clark, where you could also get a beer with your dog.