stevez wrote:I'm pretty sure he just uses plain, garden variety Vienna corn dogs.

It's been reported on the board here that Doug uses purchased, frozen corn dogs, unlike GNR nominee Wiener and Still Champion.

nr706 wrote:It's been reported on the board here that Doug uses purchased, frozen corn dogs...

In Doug's defense, he has never claimed otherwise.

Doug has his corn dogs in his defense. frozen or not, it's the second best kicker in chicago.

nr706 wrote:It's been reported on the board here that Doug uses purchased, frozen corn dogs, unlike GNR nominee Wiener and Still Champion.

Tom,

Not sure of the relevance of this post. Yes, Hot Doug uses frozen corn dogs, he never said any different, and they are pretty damn good. Yes, Wiener and Still Champion hand crafts his corn dogs and they are very damn good.

Lots of room for corn dog love on LTH.

Enjoy,
Gary

I agree - just providing a data point. Not trying to knock Doug's corn dogs (which I haven't tried). I think I was just reacting to the term "best Corn Dog," and trying to provide a different point of view.

Smoked Debreziner with Bacon-Garlic Mayonnaise and Goat Cheese
$5.00

This is a very good sausage, in a somewhat strange combination. The thin, smoky, salty sausage (amplified by the bacon) goes very well with the creamy aioli and goat cheese.

I like it a lot.

the scene: corner of roscoe & california

when: coldest day of the year (so far), january 19th, 11:15 am

what: people still lining up outside in front of doug's to satisfy their encased meat cravings

just thought i would share my observation. as i drove down california on the way home from the gym, all i could do was marvel in the sheer will of doug's groupies, who all probably thought they were the only ones brave enough to battle mother nature.

happy eating,
miss ellen

Did anyone catch Doug on Sound Opinions NPR's music talk show?

I made my inaugural trek to Hot Dougs on MLK day and was not disappointed. I arrived 2 minutes after he opened and was about the 5th person through the door.

Feeling a little pressure ordering for the first time I accidentally asked for a large soda and true to form Doug convinced me to get the smaller size, "better value" and helped me decide on an atomic dog, and a regular grilled dog with a large fry.

To try and make up for lost time I actually ordered a third dog, the beer brat. Everything was great.

I will be back for the duck fat fries soon and the great food often.

Thanks Doug!

With regard to your signature, for years beef and dairy cattle have been artificially inseminated. For all intents and purposes, "cows stopped f***ing" a LOOOOOOOONG time ago. One grand champion bull has enough semen for a lot of cows.

there are still a lot of bulls out there. a lot of people run a bull with heifers.

Am I ever going to be able to here here?

I have driven by many times and the line is always out the door.

I should of stopped in the summer.

Soon, soon...

Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door. It does move fairly quickly, and you can always plan to get your order to go and eat it in the car. Try getting there during good weather right when it opens and you won't wait long...otherwise, wear your Anorak and snowshoes...

Mhays wrote:Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door.

On Saturdays, starting at about 11am.

On weekdays, it's a different story. Many, many times I've shown up to have either absolutely no line or one or two people ahead of me.

Just a matter of timing. I like to go early in the week, after about 1pm.

gleam wrote:

Mhays wrote:Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door.

On Saturdays, starting at about 11am.

On weekdays, it's a different story. Many, many times I've shown up to have either absolutely no line or one or two people ahead of me.

Just a matter of timing. I like to go early in the week, after about 1pm.

Also a great time for a Kuma's visit -Tuesday around 1PM.

I can vouch for that, too. Unfortunately, my office is a bit too far and Kuma's service is a bit too slow for me to make it there and back in an hour.

gleam wrote:I can vouch for that, too. Unfortunately, my office is a bit too far and Kuma's service is a bit too slow for me to make it there and back in an hour.

The joy of self employment...

YoYoPedro wrote:

gleam wrote:

Mhays wrote:Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door.

On Saturdays, starting at about 11am.

On weekdays, it's a different story. Many, many times I've shown up to have either absolutely no line or one or two people ahead of me.

Just a matter of timing. I like to go early in the week, after about 1pm.

Also a great time for a Kuma's visit -Tuesday around 1PM.

all this is true. I won't go to Doug's or Kuma's on fridays or saturdays. You hit either of those places up at 1 pm (and i do so much that doug doesn't have to ask my name anymore ) mon-thurs. and you're golden.

fridays and saturdays i cook for myself a lot.

gleam wrote:

On weekdays, it's a different story. Many, many times I've shown up to have either absolutely no line or one or two people ahead of me.

Same here. I've never been more than 4th in line at Doug's. I also usually go at around 2 p.m. on weekdays. I thought stories of the lines were exaggerations until I drove by on a Saturday last month. The line must have been over 50 people deep! Luckily, I was on my way to Kuma's for lunch, where it was only half full.

Mhays wrote:Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door. It does move fairly quickly, and you can always plan to get your order to go and eat it in the car. Try getting there during good weather right when it opens and you won't wait long...otherwise, wear your Anorak and snowshoes...

Please Remeber that Dougs is CASH ONLY

I was one of the chumps waiting in line on a very cold saturday 2 weeks ago just to finally get to the front of the line and see the ONE SIGN saying "cash only"

Come on Doug, put a sign on the door or window, something. You know people often have to wait 20 minutes or more to order food.

I am still pretty upset about the incident and have given up Hot Dougs for Lent (Take That!)

The whole thing wouldn't have been so distressing if I could have just run off to schmoe hot dog stand to get my alligator sausage and duck fat fries.

If I worked at an amusement park with the newest greatest roller coaster in the world and I saw Doug ready to board after waiting in line for 2 hours - I would send him to the back of the line.

Yeah, what kind of a hot dog stand doesn't take plastic?

Maybe one that charges $7.00 for a sausage?

third coast foodie wrote:
Please Remeber that Dougs is CASH ONLY

OK, this is good to know. We still haven't made it to Hot Doug's, and we overwhelmingly pay for things with the debit card, so, yeah, good to know!

The absence of a Visa/MC sticker on the door is one telling sign.

Sorry this happened to you, third coast foodie.

third coast foodie wrote:

Mhays wrote:Word of warning - the line is ALWAYS out the door. It does move fairly quickly, and you can always plan to get your order to go and eat it in the car. Try getting there during good weather right when it opens and you won't wait long...otherwise, wear your Anorak and snowshoes...

Please Remeber that Dougs is CASH ONLY

I was one of the chumps waiting in line on a very cold saturday 2 weeks ago just to finally get to the front of the line and see the ONE SIGN saying "cash only"

Come on Doug, put a sign on the door or window, something. You know people often have to wait 20 minutes or more to order food.

I am still pretty upset about the incident and have given up Hot Dougs for Lent (Take That!)

The whole thing wouldn't have been so distressing if I could have just run off to schmoe hot dog stand to get my alligator sausage and duck fat fries.

If I worked at an amusement park with the newest greatest roller coaster in the world and I saw Doug ready to board after waiting in line for 2 hours - I would send him to the back of the line.

I don't know what the dialogue was like between you and Doug when you got to the front of the line - or perhaps you were so PO's that you just turned around and walked out - but I will note that the one time this happened to me, Doug said "No problem, man, you'll just pay me next time." This was my first visit to the place, and I was so amazed by his gesture that even if the sausage had been less than the nirvana it was, I'd certainly have become a regular anyway.

I don't care how long the wait gets, or how one defines the award - Doug's is the epitome of a GNR in my book.

Kennyz wrote:I don't know what the dialogue was like between you and Doug when you got to the front of the line - or perhaps you were so PO's that you just turned around and walked out - but I will note that the one time this happened to me, Doug said "No problem, man, you'll just pay me next time."

Kenny,

I thought the same thing, they must have simply left and not told Doug as I am 'bout 99% sure he would have said 'no problem, pay me next time'

Enjoy,
Gary

So that's how he does it - the first one's free my friend. The next thing you know, you're shivering on a street corner begging for a fix.

Louisa Chu wrote:So that's how he does it - the first one's free my friend. The next thing you know, you're shivering on a street corner begging for a fix.

And as we all know, he's well-experienced in selling contraband

Dmnkly wrote:

Louisa Chu wrote:So that's how he does it - the first one's free my friend. The next thing you know, you're shivering on a street corner begging for a fix.

And as we all know, he's well-experienced in selling contraband

As we know, that's "was", my friend - lest any busybody wants to try to report him again. Maybe he'll make a cuy dog.
http://www.skilletdoux.com/2008/02/cuy.html

Louisa Chu wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:

Louisa Chu wrote:So that's how he does it - the first one's free my friend. The next thing you know, you're shivering on a street corner begging for a fix.

And as we all know, he's well-experienced in selling contraband

As we know, that's "was", my friend - lest any busybody wants to try to report him again. Maybe he'll make a cuy dog.
http://www.skilletdoux.com/2008/02/cuy.html

I loved cuy in Ecuador & Peru, but haven't seen it available in these parts. I clicked the link in your post, but wasn't able to ascertain from the blog where the cuy is/was served. Was it in Chicago?

YoYoPedro wrote:

Louisa Chu wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:

Louisa Chu wrote:So that's how he does it - the first one's free my friend. The next thing you know, you're shivering on a street corner begging for a fix.

And as we all know, he's well-experienced in selling contraband

As we know, that's "was", my friend - lest any busybody wants to try to report him again. Maybe he'll make a cuy dog.
http://www.skilletdoux.com/2008/02/cuy.html

I loved cuy in Ecuador & Peru, but haven't seen it available in these parts. I clicked the link in your post, but wasn't able to ascertain from the blog where the cuy is/was served. Was it in Chicago?

Nope. Baltimore. Great little joint around the corner (post forthcoming).

Cuy isn't illegal, is it, Louisa? (Seems like that's what you were implying, but I've never heard of it)

Dmnkly wrote:Cuy isn't illegal, is it, Louisa? (Seems like that's what you were implying, but I've never heard of it)

No, I've seen them being sold openly at Petco & PetSmart. But at $25-$30 apiece (and small ones at that), I'll have to settle for rabbit or the occasional squirrel for my rodent fix.