STAY AWAY from Hot Dog Island on Dempster in Skokie

Teenage girl with horrible attitude gave us (my parents who are in their 60's, my newborn, and me) the finger. I kid you not.

As if you need to know more, food is below average to bad. Please do me and yourself a favor and don't go. Spread the word.

I emailed the owners to let them know about the apalling incident. No reply. I am so incredibly angry and don't know where to turn.

HotDiggety wrote:Teenage girl with horrible attitude gave us (my parents who are in their 60's, my newborn, and me) the finger. I kid you not.

As if you need to know more, food is below average to bad. Please do me and yourself a favor and don't go. Spread the word.

I emailed the owners to let them know about the apalling incident. No reply. I am so incredibly angry and don't know where to turn.

Just curious, why didn't you ask to see the manager right then and there?

In contrast I have gone there for years and had excellent service at all times. Sometimes it was a bit slow, but that was when it was packed. Good dogs, a bit overpriced but hey, it's Skokie.

And to be only mildly snarky, if I gave the finger to every customer who deserved it, I'd have carpal tunnel syndrome:) I gotta wonder what prompted that (completely inappropriate, don't get me wrong) display.

wow... i thought they had great hot dogs and the service was good the last two times i was there. the kraut on the dog option tasted good... i haven't really tried their other stuff

here's a Hot Dog Island menu:

http://ylunch.com/ylunchschevasko/hotdo ... sland.html

Good hot dogs and sassy teenage girls? I'm getting in my car right now!

(For the record, HDI is a regular stop for me for a quick dog once in a while. I will not stay away.)

Best,
Michael

And how were the portions?

edited to say that I shouldn't start things

I hope to have your restraint and diplomacy skillz when I grow up, Flip

how did u get their email addy? i don't see it on the menu.

gp60004 wrote:how did u get their email addy? i don't see it on the menu.

Excellent question, especially since HotDiggety is a first time poster.

Me, I'm more in line with Michael M on the outrage thing.

All this attention . . . and I never even heard of the place. But now I really need to try it . . . Well HotDiggety!!!

BR, short answer re: HDI is as follows. They were first at the corner of Crawford and Central in NW Evanston on the island formed by Central, Hunter/Crawford and Ridge Rd. hence the name. They sold that place (now called The Little Island) and moved to the corner of Washington and Golf. That location was eventually raised for another Walgreens and they took over the hot dog place where they are now at the corner of Knox and Dempster. I forget the name of the place that was there before.

As for the food, I've always liked it in a classic hot dog stand sort of way. Good pizza puffs (truly one of my guiltiest pleasures!) Not such a fan of the polish as there are such better and cheaper (at the same time) places. A solid place and not deserving of an ill informed slam.

That said, I welcome HotDiggety back to explain the circumstances. Outside of South Park episodes, people just don't spontaneously flip customers the bird.

Octarine wrote:. . . Outside of South Park episodes, people just don't spontaneously flip customers the bird.

I do . . . of course, I'm ususally on the phone when it happens.

In all seriousness, I too, would be interested to hear the specifics. I once received the finger from a Wendy's employee (Touhy avenue store, near Crawford) and I was more bemused by it than anything else (and I don't feel I did anything to legitimately provoke it).

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: I once received the finger from a Wendy's employee
=R=

was it in your chili?

gp60004 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: I once received the finger from a Wendy's employee
=R=

was it in your chili?

LMAO!

No it was still attached to the employee's hand.

=R=

Octarine wrote:I forget the name of the place that was there before.

Mage's.

I liked their cheeseburgers.

HotDiggety wrote:Teenage girl with horrible attitude gave us (my parents who are in their 60's, my newborn, and me) the finger.

Sounds like a former Wiener's Circle employee.

Hey Diggety, did you edit your post since you originally posted it? First only you were given the finger, now its you, your family and your newborn?!? It is considered VERY bad form to edit a post after the fact in order to change your message or how it is perceived.

And seriously, if you have an issue with a small mom and pop place, why are you emailing them? You think they are like Ebay or Paypal and have dedicated Customer Service Reps sitting around waiting for emails? No, they're probably doing bun counts or placing their order for the rest of the week. Pick up the phone if you are so offended that you feel the need to vent in such a public manner or better yet, go in person. You still haven't said why you waited till you left the place to email them (unless you did it from you Blackberry from the table which I doubt highly).

I'm going to come out and say it, your story is implausible. You post under a hot dog related pseudonym with no history only to slam a place that many people have eatend at and while they may not agree on it's food quality are pretty consistent in judging the service to be good. To be more blunt, do you have any business interest that would conflict with theirs or do you have a personal relationship with the cashier you are libeling? (my guess)

Octarine wrote:Hey Diggety, did you edit your post since you originally posted it?

Doesn't the board usually indicate when posts have been edited? e.g. (from another thread)

Last edited by xxx on Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:18 pm; edited 6 times in total

I'll admit that it doesn't always seem to come up when it should; one of the many mysteries of phpBB, perhaps...

Last edited by xxx on Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:18 pm; edited 6 times in total

I'll admit that it doesn't always seem to come up when it should; one of the many mysteries of phpBB, perhaps...

It's been my observation, the edit notice does not pop up until someone posted a subsequent post. Until then, you can edit to your heart's content without an automatic edit notice showing up.

Regards,

Mike G, is that you???

Cathy2 wrote:It's been my observation, the edit notice does not pop up until someone posted a subsequent post. Until then, you can edit to your heart's content without an automatic edit notice showing up.

That is correct.

Octarine wrote:I hope to have your restraint and diplomacy skillz when I grow up, Flip

OK, I'll fold. The OPs's name is very similar to the name of a recently closed hot dog stand in Oakbrook Terrace.

There, I said it!!

Octarine wrote:BR, short answer re: HDI is as follows. They were first at the corner of Crawford and Central in NW Evanston on the island formed by Central, Hunter/Crawford and Ridge Rd. hence the name. They sold that place (now called The Little Island) and moved to the corner of Washington and Golf. That location was eventually raised for another Walgreens and they took over the hot dog place where they are now at the corner of Knox and Dempster. I forget the name of the place that was there before.

Octarine, thanks for the quick HDI history. The name's floated in my head for years, and I just thought I was really confused (a regular occurrence) in thinking that I was seeing HDI in multiple locations that then wouldn't be there when I returned. I've been trying to convince my boss to join me in a cheese fries tour of Dempster St. What inspired me was HDI's sign announcing fries with Merkts, which I've never tried.

HotDiggety also posted the same review on yelp.com where she has other reviews.

HotDiggety wrote:Teenage girl with horrible attitude gave us (my parents who are in their 60's, my newborn, and me) the finger. I kid you not.

I am so incredibly angry and don't know where to turn.

I say just treat it like a wake-up-call.

"Birds" are like roaches -
for every one you see,
you can bet there are
many more that you don't.

"Check yo-self!"

chainey wrote:HotDiggety also posted the same review on yelp.com where she has other reviews.

What do you expect? It is your typical internet dump and run.

I read through her reviews on Yelp.com, and in most of them (even places she gives good reviews to) she makes some kind of disparaging remark about the service staff. As the waiter principle tells us, you can tell a lot about the character of a person by how the act toward those they feel are below them. My guess is that the bird was well deserved.

HotDiggety wrote:Teenage girl with horrible attitude gave us (my parents who are in their 60's, my newborn, and me) the finger. I kid you not.

When you give, you shall receive and what you give you do receive.

LabRat wrote:I read through her reviews on Yelp.com, and in most of them (even places she gives good reviews to) she makes some kind of disparaging remark about the service staff.

Man, you weren't kidding about that. I'm amazed that one person can have so many service problems.

Weird.