gp60004 wrote:oh, next time they are here, they are gonna tape one of the customes eating the 3lb triple undisputed cheeseburger from start to finish and play it back sped up for the segment. He has eaten the 2lb burger before so it shold be interesting.

You could really go whole hog and do it Luther style. I could get the SteveZ suggested apple fritter, if need be. Otherwise we will save that for next year's corn dog day celebrations.

Regards,

I went there a few weeks back to try the place out after reading about it here.
Small little hole in the wall place, but had the best food there. (it seems like the hole in the wall places have the best food)
Dragged the roommate with me. She had the 2 dipping dogs combo, I had the 2 dog special with a dipping dog, and I ordered a single dog combo with a dipping dog for my girlfriend. I later added the country fried bacon and the fried pickles to this order.
Everything was spot on. I will NEVER look at those plain corn dogs that the other places have again. Great corn meal mix.
Ive tried making my own country fried bacon but it doesnt compare to the stuff Gus has.
And the pickles.....I went to Memphis hoping to try the fried pickles but was really disappointed I couldnt find them (one place had them, Marlowes, and was extremey disappointed with everything Marlowes did, but that is for another thead). Now I know that I dont have to go all the way to memphis for some great pickle chips.
I live in Northfield and would travel all the way to Gene and Jude's for their dogs. Now I know I dont have to travel that far for some good food.

Talking about it now is making me hungry for W&SC. YUM!!

Explains the Guy sighting at the Cub game tonight.

Gus mentioned 7 restaurants, Kumas also, any thoughts on the others? I submitted Sarkis after I saw my first episode because there is a true "dive".

The crew on Monday was talking about going to the Cubs game Wednesday night.

fearlessfitz wrote:Explains the Guy sighting at the Cub game tonight.

Gus mentioned 7 restaurants, Kumas also, any thoughts on the others? I submitted Sarkis after I saw my first episode because there is a true "dive".

most of em are posted on other threads but here is the list minus the last one:


WSC, Glenns Diner. Vitos and Nicks, Cemitas, Kumas, Dell rheas chix and the last one began with a T and sounded like Trevola.

I'm not positive, but it sounded to me like the last one was Tufano's Vernon Park Tap, in Little Italy.

I can't take it anymore!

Haven't been there yet and I love all of the things mentioned.

Gonna go tonight. Godda go!

Quite the crowd of LTHers showed up this afternoon to watch the taping - and also see that poor guy eat the triple undisputed (why is it that the marathon-eaters are always so skinny? It's patently unfair!) He got a ride in Guy's car afterwards, looking a bit green. They also made one of the crew guys freebase a whole order of country-fried bacon with ketchup for the camera.

In attendance (sorry if I missed you, please speak up if so!) were Brotine, George R and progeny, Nr706, fastfoodsnob, HungryZ (who was the backup guy for the triple undisputed) and Heather22 working behind the counter and keeping everybody fed. Guy came out after shooting and kindly did a nice bit of crowd sucking-up at the end, offering the somewhat starstruck Sparky an autographed picture and some promotional tattoos.

I enjoyed hearing Gus talk about his background in food science, which I'd guessed at but didn't know - can't wait to see the show to learn more about it. Fun was had by all - undisputeds were selling at an alarming rate (the 'spouse and HungryZ each had one) and I think we're all going to take a nap, now...

Mhays wrote:Quite the crowd of LTHers showed up this afternoon to watch the taping - and also see that poor guy eat the triple undisputed (why is it that the marathon-eaters are always so skinny? It's patently unfair!) He got a ride in Guy's car afterwards, looking a bit green. They also made one of the crew guys freebase a whole order of country-fried bacon with ketchup for the camera.

In attendance (sorry if I missed you, please speak up if so!) were Brotine, George R and progeny, Nr706, fastfoodsnob, HungryZ (who was the backup guy for the triple undisputed) and Heather22 working behind the counter and keeping everybody fed. Guy came out after shooting and kindly did a nice bit of crowd sucking-up at the end, offering the somewhat starstruck Sparky an autographed picture and some promotional tattoos.

I enjoyed hearing Gus talk about his background in food science, which I'd guessed at but didn't know - can't wait to see the show to learn more about it. Fun was had by all - undisputeds were selling at an alarming rate (the 'spouse and HungryZ each had one) and I think we're all going to take a nap, now...

Very sorry that I could not make it. Things went absolutely insane at my office today and an irrationally angry customer kept me on the phone for nearly an hour this morning, effectively harpooning my entire day.

Congrats again, Gus!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Very sorry that I could not make it. Things went absolutely insane at my office today and an irrationally angry customer kept me on the phone for nearly an hour this morning, effectively harpooning my entire day.

Congrats again, Gus!

=R=

Ah I am not alone in having people problems today!

I dressed in my Vienna Chicago Hot Dog t-shirt since the early morning. I did everything I thought was possible to get out except there were these unexpected people issues. It's a little tough to put someone on hold while you go to an emergency hot dog tasting. Somehow that excuse just doesn't fly in the world beyond LTHforum.

Fortunately the likelihood I can make the world television premier is very strong!

Congratulations.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote: It's a little tough to put someone on hold while you go to an emergency hot dog tasting. Somehow that excuse just doesn't fly in the world beyond LTHforum.

You'd be happy to know, C, that the staff were all wearing their nice red WASC t-shirts, sporting the champion dog on the front.

I stumbled upon Wiener and Still Champion by pure coincidence at about 12:50 today. Although I live reasonably close, I had never been there before. I got into line ( 10 people in front of me ) and I was treated to Guy Fieri holding court on the street. He was very friendly to all that approached him.

I had a ringside "seat" watching the kid eating the six-burger at the corner table. I can't comment on the food, because I didn't get any. In the half hour that I was in line, the line decreased in size by only 2 people. Being the impatient person that I am ( and not wanting to eat lunch at 3:30 ) I hopped into the car and made a beeline for Poochie's.

I will cut the place some slack this time, but I wonder--With a full complement of people behind the counter, how can it possibly take so much time to service 10 customers?

cito wrote:I stumbled upon Wiener and Still Champion by pure coincidence at about 12:50 today. Although I live reasonably close, I had never been there before. I got into line ( 10 people in front of me ) and I was treated to Guy Fierri holding court on the street. He was very friendly to all that approached him.

I had a ringside "seat" watching the kid eating the six-burger at the corner table. I can't comment on the food, because I didn't get any. In the half hour that I was in line, the line decreased in size by only 2 people. Being the impatient person that I am ( and not wanting to eat lunch at 3:30 ) I hopped into the car and made a beeline for Poochie's.

I will cut the place some slack this time, but I wonder--With a full complement of people behind the counter, how can it possibly take so much time to service 10 customers?

Sorry about that Cito but the reason why nothing was being served was because Food Network didn't want us to serve anyone until they knew what they wanted to do next.

gp60004 wrote:
Sorry about that Cito but the reason why nothing was being served was because Food Network didn't want us to serve anyone until they knew what they wanted to do next.

I knew it had to be something like that.

I look forward to trying your place--The food that I did see looked terrific.

Best wishes--

It was a hectic, amazing day at Wiener and Still Champion.

It started with Guy Fieri, host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, sampling a Dipping Dog™ with each of the dipping sauces. Then he started mixing dipping sauces. And he commented on the lightness and crispiness of the batter.


Then Gus taught him how to make one himself.


On to sampling Country Fried Bacon


And encouraging the sound guy to inhale mass quantities of Country Fried Bacon


Guy also sampled the small (1 lb.) Undisputed


Which, of course, is wimpy compared to the Triple Undisputed (3 lbs of meat)


Which Juan finished off on camera


Producer Mike kept everything almost under control. Here, in the monitor, Guy is telling the very laid back Gus "You gotta cut back on the caffeine, man." Note Gus' hand-operated French Fry cutter in the background.


Between takes, Guy was friendly and generous with his time, acknowledging cars driving by and waving, and taking photos with anyone who asked.

He shows off his tatoo to the Mhays family.


HungryZ and friend were there.


As was fastfoodsnob


As taping wound down, Producer Mike took Gus, Heather22, and a rather over-stuffed Juan for a spin in Guy's trademark red Camaro.




What a fun day. I even got a signed cap.

cito wrote:

gp60004 wrote:
Sorry about that Cito but the reason why nothing was being served was because Food Network didn't want us to serve anyone until they knew what they wanted to do next.

I knew it had to be something like that.

I look forward to trying your place--The food that I did see looked terrific.

Best wishes--

Yea, there were some issues going on behind the scenes and they were trying to get Guy's flight changed, i believe. The end result was that he ran out of time and i didn't get the chance to cook anything with him. Which might be for the best cause they like to show every ingredient.

cito wrote:

gp60004 wrote:
Sorry about that Cito but the reason why nothing was being served was because Food Network didn't want us to serve anyone until they knew what they wanted to do next.

I knew it had to be something like that.

I look forward to trying your place--The food that I did see looked terrific.

Best wishes--

It didn't help that so many people ( our party included) ordered an undisputed - I'm curious, Gus - how many beef patties did you cook up today? While there was, indeed, a long wait, I'm always tickled when Tom hollers out my order along with my name...

I saw considerably more than 10 customers; in fact, I've never seen so many people at WASC at one time, not even at the GNR dinner...

From the photos I now know who Hungry Z is, and he needs to broaden his food horizon as I saw him a WASC today.

Mhays wrote:I saw considerably more than 10 customers; in fact, I've never seen so many people at WASC at one time, not even at the GNR dinner...

Gus will now need to learn crowd control. In my opinion, Hot Doug is very well versed in this topic.

Regards,

Thanks for posting the pics, Tom -- and placing a lot of names to faces. I can now confirm that it was indeed HungryZ who contributed the rest of his fried pickle slices to me after he was done eating! (Thanks, man. ) But, yeah... it was a great day for non-metered parking (it actually took over two hours to get in and out from 11:15 or so) and made me wonder what I'd do once the post-Food Network traffic starts streaming in. Congrats on landing the spot, Gus!

Here's a few other things I picked up from talking to the crew whenever I had a free moment:

nr706 wrote:Producer Mike kept everything almost under control. Here, in the monitor, Guy is telling the very laid back Gus "You gotta cut back on the caffeine, man." Note Gus' hand-operated French Fry cutter in the background.

Ah, that's his name! Producer Mike also let me know that he's a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, so he can teach in New York City. Professional demeanor, this guy seemed to know how to run a show.

The gentleman with the cap who handled the convertible outside is named Ron Gabaldon, and he's a driver/PA (production assistant) who told me that the car's transported in a trailer to wherever it's needed next in the country. Great guy to talk to.

nr706 wrote:What a fun day. I even got a signed cap.

It's a little hard for me to make out one of the words there on the cap, but I'm sure someone here'll help me out soon enough. (Edit: ah, that's "cookin"! Ha, ha...) I'll post links to more pics... soon!

Had a great time,
Dan

fastfoodsnob wrote:I'll post links to more pics... soon!

All right, here's that link as promised:
http://picasaweb.google.com/FastFoodSno ... ndGuyFieri

Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the pics!

Cheers,
Dan

I work about two blocks from Weiner and it quickly ended up in my rotation for lunch- incredible burgers, and fresh cut fries are always hard to resist. Honestly if you live or work in the area and haven't been in yet (recent business notwithstanding), you're missing out.

Gus, you've got a brand new fan, too, I think- my coworker's wife just had their first baby last night, and yesterday afternoon she was all about a burger from you guys while she was still counting contractions. Figure the little fellah wanted one for the road until he, you know, has teeth.

Incidentally, Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins (or whatever the show is called), was also in town to tape at Vito and Nick's. I'm looking forward to seeing both places on the show!

... also Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket...

Binko wrote:Incidentally, Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins (or whatever the show is called), was also in town to tape at Vito and Nick's. I'm looking forward to seeing both places on the show!

And it looks like the sound guy was wearing a Kuma's Corner T-shirt.

I certainly hope none of Guy's spray-on tan got into any of the food around town.

That's the most orange man I've ever seen.

Ouch! The fine threads in this forum will help broaden my horizons, thanks. At least we agree on WASC!

scottsol wrote:From the photos I now know who Hungry Z is, and he needs to broaden his food horizon as I saw him a WASC today.

whiskeybent wrote:I certainly hope none of Guy's spray-on tan got into any of the food around town.

That's the most orange man I've ever seen.

Blame "autolevels" in Photoshop.

I don't know, I've seen the show. The dude is pretty orange.

But that's besides the point. Did Guy enjoy a falafelburger?

Being there in person gave me a whole new appreciation for Guy Fieri. Really nice dude, and I've worked with enough celebrity a-holes in my TV production days to know the difference. It's still far from my favorite Food Network show, but I'll certainly be watching for Gus and the other Chicago spots.
>>Brent