So I finally went in February (but haven't posted here in awhile). Didn't bring a good cam, just used my phone. Good stuff, had the Mountain Man and duck fat fries!

Hi,

This will probably extend the wait at Hot Doug's: On Bon Appetit's List of Top Ten Hot Dogs in the United States.

Being on vacation I have been taking advantage of going to all the places that I can't usually get into otherwise ....

I just went to Hot Doug's on Monday....only about 20 min wait about 1pm as I was totally surprised. Like other posters, I usually see a line down the block and keep driving. Had the tequila and black bean chicken sausage w/queso fresca....delicious. I find the fries just ok without the duck fat (I'm not really a big fry person anyway).

As for Kuma's ...went there last week on Monday about 2pm....lots of people waiting for a table (quoted 45 min for a table) but we were able to get a seat at the bar in about 10 minutes. Didn't feel rushed at all by anyone and we enjoyed our burgers thoroughly.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

This will probably extend the wait at Hot Doug's: On Bon Appetit's List of Top Ten Hot Dogs in the United States.

Hank's Haute Dogs is also on the list. This is the place started by Hank Adaniya, owner of the late Trio in Evanston.

So, after 8 years of living in Chicago and 4 years of posting on LTHForum I finally made it to Hot Doug's today.

The foie gras and duck sausage nearly made me weep it was so good. The spicy pork and apple sausage was a powerful follow-up.

I detest standing in lines. At 11:15am, the wait was just shy of an hour and a half to order. It was worth every single second.

jesteinf wrote:So, after 8 years of living in Chicago and 4 years of posting on LTHForum I finally made it to Hot Doug's today.

The foie gras and duck sausage nearly made me weep it was so good. The spicy pork and apple sausage was a powerful follow-up.

I detest standing in lines. At 11:15am, the wait was just shy of an hour and a half to order. It was worth every single second.

Did you also go to Patty's for breakfast this morning? Because, if so, you are a god (especially after the GCM BBQ Festival last night)!

=R=

Unfortunately Patty's did not happen. We decided to be good and went to the gym.

1.5 hours on a Friday. Wow.

Can anyone give an estimate on the summer weekend line waits these days? Got some friends coming in next weekend. I haven't been since we had a baby, who's now 16 months old. Don't mind the wait, just want to know what to expect.

jesteinf wrote:Unfortunately Patty's did not happen. We decided to be good and went to the gym.

Ok, I still love you, though.

=R=

Every time someone comes on this board and complains and/or makes remarks about waiting times and lines I always think in my head "stop being such a wuss - some things are worth a little wait." Lines have never bothered me, waits are typically worth it if you know a really good place to eat.

....but i've been humbled on that opinion lately. I have realized that there is a breaking point for every person - and while my breaking point is pretty high - Hot Doug's has utterly and definitively gone beyond it.

I just drove past Doug's - and yes i understand it's a friday afternoon - but the line went PAST the alley. Thats ludicrous. I drive by there on my way home from school and yesterday i got so fed up with my involuntary Hot Doug's hiatus that I called in an order and excused my way all the way to the front of the line.

Doug was delighted to see me back and I shot the shit with a certain employee for awhile and he talked about how unfortunate it is that they never see their regulars anymore.

The food was as good as it has always been - got a double dog, jalapeño pork sausage and fries. Even when confronted in front of thousands of eager people, Doug can churn out inarguably perfect french fries - which is every "stands" problem when dealing with fresh cut (Gene and Jude's isn't even an exception to this).

I love that Doug is successful and i couldn't be happier for a local business owner to just be killing it right now in this economy. I wouldn't trade that for my own comfort, but i miss the good old days

djenks,

A few months ago, Doug advised that real estate listings feature proximity to his restaurant as a feature. You seem to live nearby, but it still doesn't make it an easy go.

The last time I was there was in April, I came at 3:30 on a Wednesday. I had less than 15 minute wait. Are these off-hours still busy, too?

Regards,

djenks,

who exactly is complaining?

Oh no one in particular. It's just been a topic that's come up regularly about kumas, smoque, hot dougs, etc in the past. It was just on my
mind today driving by that's all.

Cathy2 wrote:djenks,
Are these off-hours still busy, too?

Regards,

sadly, ad I've seen it over the past
month or so - yes. Working in the bar industry and EMS I get to enjoy very odd hours, but the payoff is that usually I can hit places like kumas and hot dogs during "off" hours. Dougs has been the only place lately that has been immune to any off hours

djenks wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:djenks,
Are these off-hours still busy, too?

Regards,

sadly, ad I've seen it over the past
month or so - yes. Working in the bar industry and EMS I get to enjoy very odd hours, but the payoff is that usually I can hit places like kumas and hot dogs during "off" hours. Dougs has been the only place lately that has been immune to any off hours

I can confirm that. Your only real option for a quick line or no line is to go very early, early in the week. Before 11:30 or so on a Monday/Tuesday. And even that's a crapshoot.

I used to be a regular, but I just can't wait in line 30 minutes on my lunch break.

The Onion's localized 'Decider' entertainment e-newsletter now has a rather valuable service, which tells you the current wait time at various places around town, as well as advising that the next current opening for a reasonably early Saturday reservation at Alinea is now well into September, and that Chef GEB dined at the Yolk River North location earlier today.

If you frequent Twitter at all, you may well want to check this out. It really allows you to plan on the fly - or give up ever going to Frontera Grill again!

WaitWatcher!

sundevilpeg wrote:The Onion's localized 'Decider' entertainment e-newsletter now has a rather valuable service, which tells you the current wait time at various places around town, as well as advising that the next current opening for a reasonably early Saturday reservation at Alinea is now well into September, and that Chef GEB dined at the Yolk River North location earlier today.

If you frequent Twitter at all, you may well want to check this out. It really allows you to plan on the fly - or give up ever going to Frontera Grill again!

WaitWatcher!

That is insanely useful, thanks for posting!

My pleasure - that's what I thought, too. I loved the action shot of the line at Doug's at around lunchtime today, accompanied by a hopeless Tweet.

Additionlly, Doug is a Twitterphile; he sends out notices of oddball holiday closings, the Game of the Week, and the Celebrity Sausage, regular as clockwork. This - combined with WaitWatcher - takes all the guesswork (or potential disappointment) out of enjoying lunch. Doug is The Man.

sundevilpeg wrote:My pleasure - that's what I thought, too. I loved the action shot of the line at Doug's at around lunchtime today, accompanied by a hopeless Tweet.

Additionlly, Doug is a Twttephile; he sends out notices of oddball holiday closings, the Game of the Week, and the Celebrity Sausage, regular as clockwork. This - combined with WaitWatcher - takes all the guesswork (or potential disappointment) out of enjoying lunch. Doug is The Man.

Ha ha, the funny thing is, that isn't Doug tweeting, it's just a fan.

As long as the person tweeting as him doesn't do anything offensive or troublesome, Doug is just letting it slide.

No kidding? That takes dedication. I tip my hat to the person, if that is indeed the case!

sundevilpeg wrote:No kidding? That takes dedication. I tip my hat to the person, if that is indeed the case!

C'est vrai, confirmed with Mr. Sohn himself. He seems very entertained by it.

I think it's very sweet, as well as being a mitzvah - the person takes no credit, and isn't making a dime; he just posts good, accurate info.

Re this whole Twitter deal, it is really funny how often some chefs post, like Rick Bayless - I feel like I know where he is and everything he's doing - and eating - during every waking hour of the day (with bonus recipes!). Somewhat surprisingly, Grant Achatz does, too; Homaro Cantu does in fits and starts, and invariably sounds like the mad scientist that he is. GEB and Alpana Singh should go on the road - born comedians. Pretty entertaining, and an offbeat window into the pro culinary world.

David Yow was sporting a Hot Doug's shirt at last night's Jesus Lizard reunion show (when he was sporting a shirt at all). Expect the traffic at the place to increase by, I dunno, ten or so.

Got there Saturday at 11:15AM (I know, stupid of me as a regular to go at that time, but I brought out-of-town family and we were on a schedule). Line was well past the alley, and we finally placed our order at 1:35PM, a staggering two hours and twenty minutes after arriving. Was a bit crabby after all that time, but after a nice chat with Doug, hello's from a couple of the staff, a jerk pork sausage, a duck sausage, and a tray of duck-fat fries, all was well again.

At 10:45 this morning, I walked in the door:



and right up to the counter. At 10:50, I was eating fantastic jamaican jerk pork sausage with a nice, coarse grind , a pineapple-ey spicy sauce and a sweet grilled plantains.





By the time I left at 11, the line had just reached the door.

Kennyz wrote:
fantastic jamaican jerk pork sausage with a nice, coarse grind , a pineapple-ey spicy sauce and a sweet grilled plantains.

that looks like and awesome pork sausage Kenny. thanks for posting the pic, at least I can think of having something good for lunch..

I had the Jamaican jerk sausage today, as a matter of fact, and it was quite the treat. Waiting maybe 20 minutes, starting around 11:10. Line had nearly doubled by the time I picked up my encased meats.

I had my first Hot Doug's experience this past weekend. Despite everything I'd read about the notorious lines, I still decided to show up at 12:20 on a Saturday morning to sample the encased meats and duck fat fries.

Two hours and twenty minutes later, I placed my order: 1 foie dog, 1 blueberry-infused venison sausage, an order of duck fat fries and a Green River. I also had the opportunity to sample my dining companion's spicy Thai chicken sausage and his spinach and feta loukaniko. Any report that I could provide here on the quality of those goods would likely fall tragically short of describing just how perfect they were. Everything was, in a word, transcendent. Suffice it to say, I too am a Hot Doug's believer.

An afterthought: the Good Humor truck seemed to be doing pretty brisk business the entire time I was there. I, like many of my fellow line-mates, am a fan of the occasional Chipwich, but I could not bring myself to sample any frozen treats knowing that there was a Hot Doug's lunch on the horizon.

jbertold wrote:1 foie dog, 1 blueberry-infused venison sausage, an order of duck fat fries and a Green River.

Wow, I almost had the same meal a couple of weeks ago. I walked up fully intending to order the venison sausage, but when I asked Doug what he'd order for his second sausage, he said, "well, the venison's pretty good, but dude, why order anything else when bacon sausage is on the menu?" I couldn't argue with logic that flawless, and did thoroughly enjoy "Doug's BLT".

But I'm still experiencing a significant amount of food envy about that venison sausage, especially after seeing Kenny's pic of it in the Shirt Killer thread.

That was also my first Green River. It was tasty enough, but a bit too sweet for my tastes. I think I'll be sticking to deli favorite Cel-Ray on future Hot Doug's visits.

djenks wrote:I called in an order and excused my way all the way to the front of the line.

you can do that?