jimwdavis wrote:e2d2--

For some tasty gyros and a different style of fries, try Cross-Rhodes -- 1/2 mile away at Main & Chicago Avenue. Try the fries wet or dry. They have a BBQ sauce and a tzatziki that make good dipping.

This is not to argue that the above is better that WASC, just different and tasty, too.

Owowowow! Oh, Jim...

(As I believe they're the closest gyros, at least I agree there. The fries, however, are the finger-size frozen type - my distain for which is only slightly mitigated by the fact that you can drown them in a good Greek dressing, which is what he means by "wet.")

Seriously. Argentine sauce, viniagrette style. I don't know, but I bet Gus could whip up a tasty Greek viniagrette, too.

For Cross Rhodes, what you need to do is get the gyros platter to go and take the scenic way home. By the time you get to the table the gyros juices have melded with the lemon/garlic/oregano and the fries to make something special.

Disclaimer; Jeff the owner is a pretty good acquaintance of mine. He has tried to replicate the Greek Fries recipe for home production to no avail. Something about it just doesn't transfer to small scale use.

I'm with Octarine on this. Normally, I don't care for thick "steak fries" at all, but Cross-Rhodes is the exception to the rule.

If you have them at the restaurant, the fries are nicely crisp with a good lemony flavor. Or, if you have them later "a la Octarine" the gyros juices transform the fries.

Mhays--

In the interest of doing a mini South-Evanston-Fries-A-Thon, perhaps we could beg Gus to come up with a dipping sauce for the sweet-potato fries at Lucky Platter.

Only if we would not be insulting him, of course. After all, as wonderful as his WASC fries are, they are not made with sweets.

Are you game for a taste-off?

jimwdavis wrote:Mhays--

In the interest of doing a mini South-Evanston-Fries-A-Thon, perhaps we could beg Gus to come up with a dipping sauce for the sweet-potato fries at Lucky Platter.

Only if we would not be insulting him, of course. After all, as wonderful as his WASC fries are, they are not made with sweets.

Are you game for a taste-off?

let me know what flavor profile u r looking for.

Lemon verbena-wasabi.

Oh dear....my belly is currently chock-full of WASC fries, and now y'all give me a hankering for those fine sweets at LP! Not fair! Lemon verbena-wasabi sounds delicious!

I'd also go garam masala - little sweet, little spicy. Mmmmm....

I'm game for a fry-off. What contenders do we have in mind, other than the aforementioned?

Mhays wrote:I'm game for a fry-off. What contenders do we have in mind, other than the aforementioned?

I suggest you consider a fry-athon instead. Fries don't travel well, while Cross Rhodes may be an exception, so you may need to visit each place to taste it fresh from the grease.

Have fun!

Regards,

jimwdavis wrote:Mhays--

In the interest of doing a mini South-Evanston-Fries-A-Thon, perhaps we could beg Gus to come up with a dipping sauce for the sweet-potato fries at Lucky Platter.

Only if we would not be insulting him, of course. After all, as wonderful as his WASC fries are, they are not made with sweets.

Are you game for a taste-off?

Of course, Gus could always engineer the sweet potato fries and add them to his menu.

gastro gnome wrote:

Of course, Gus could always engineer the sweet potato fries and add them to his menu.

i tried the sweet potato fries but they turn out not so good. I'll revisit them.

HungryZ wrote:

brotine wrote: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

We're all gonna have to wait a while. According to the crew, this will be for season 5 of the show, and probably won't air until possibly January 2009.

Thanks for the news on when it might air.

I was wondering...

That is probably when Dell Rhea's will air too.

We're all gonna have to wait a while. According to the crew, this will be for season 5 of the show, and probably won't air until possibly January 2009.


Thanks for the news on when it might air.

I was wondering...

That is probably when Dell Rhea's will air too.

Probably not. It's doubtful that two places in the Chicago area would appear on the same show, and the modus operandi of DD&D is to do theme-y shows - breakfasts, 24-hour places, all-burger joints, etc. Dell Rhea and the Wiener don't have much in common. Plus the Food Network moves in mysterious ways, to put it mildly....

With all the talk around here lately about chain burger places, I thought it might be worthwhile to remind people about the great mom & pop dog/burger places that made the Chicago food scene what it is. One of the places in the forefront of keeping the dream alive is GNR Winner Wiener & Still Champion.

I stopped in for lunch the other day, and Gus served up one of the better fast food burgers I've had in a while. His 1/3lb burgers are really good and cooked to your ordered temperature. While I once again discovered that I'm not partial to the goopy cheddar burger (a personal preference and nothing that ordering a slice of swiss can't cure next time), Gus turns out one of the best examples in town.

Wiener & Still Champion Char Cheddar Burger


Gus, a known culinary tinkerer, was working on a couple of new dippin sauces which I was able to try on my fresh-cut fries. I won't go into detail about the sauces I tried since they are still a work in progress and not yet on the menu, let me just say that both of them involved BACON.

stevez wrote:With all the talk around here lately about chain burger places, I thought it might be worthwhile to remind people about the great mom & pop dog/burger places that made the Chicago food scene what it is. One of the places in the forefront of keeping the dream alive is GNR Winner Wiener & Still Champion.

I agree, Steve. WaSC is what a Chicago-style burger and dog place should be. It's textbook, and better. Beautiful shot, btw.

=R=

Twice in the past month I've stopped at Wiener and Still Champion, introducing friends to the food/location. What started, each time, as a journey for a good Chicago-style hot dog ended with my ordering a hamburger/cheeseburger - both of which were excellent.

Gus has nothing to worry about. He will always remain king in Chicago. The best cheeseburgers and fries.

If he only started a chain! He could show those guys (or in this case, 5) a thing or two.

where do I start....

I woke up this morning thinking " where should I go eat? " I had a few places in mind including Kuma's, Urban Belly, Hot Doug's and other great restaurants I had been to time and time again and it hit me....WASC! I call my friend and the journey began....

My first impression was that WASC was much smaller than I had pictured...no biggie, I have nothing against smaller joints. I go to the register and order a dog w/ everything, dipping dog w/ texas ranch, and pickle fries. Upon asking about Heather's where-a-bouts Gus realizes who I am ( I was a little shocked because I'm not a very persistent poster here and had never been to WASC or even met an LTH member before...but it came as a good surprise).

When it came to the food I couldn't say much more than perfect. Gus also let us try the argentine and the spicy aioli which each had enough flavor to last me through next week. From the traditional chicago dog to the perfectly made dipping dog to THE BEST fries I've ever had...and no, I don't lie about this...they were the single best batch of fries I've ever experienced.


-here's just a little of our WASC tasting

Not only will I be back but I'll recommend everyone and anyone who asks about a good hot dog or burger in Chicago. Thank you Gus for the great experience and for personally addressing us at the table and sitting down to talk for a bit.

* as we ate/talked with Gus he mentioned "that Mhays up there at the counter" and it's a little embarrassing but I looked up as if he were Mickey Mantle standing in the restaurant ( since I see his posts all over the boards).

Jayz wrote:* as we ate/talked with Gus he mentioned "that Mhays up there at the counter" and it's a little embarrassing but I looked up as if he were Mickey Mantle standing in the restaurant ( since I see his posts all over the boards).

And I'm sure Michele will appreciate that.

Lest things get more confusing, Jayz, you ran into a mhays: Mr. Mhays, (I am the mhays: M for Michele, but now the poor guy's stuck with my initial) He snuck in I think with Sparky whilst I was out grocery shopping or otherwise engaged in housewifely servitude...and is now in the doghouse because he didn't bring me back any french fries - he's used to random LTHers saying hi, and would have been glad to meet you!

I'm going to take the generous Mickey Mantle compliment for myself, though! Thanks!

Mhays wrote:Lest things get more confusing, Jayz, you ran into a mhays: Mr. Mhays, (I am the mhays: M for Michele, but now the poor guy's stuck with my initial) He snuck in I think with Sparky whilst I was out grocery shopping or otherwise engaged in housewifely servitude...and is now in the doghouse because he didn't bring me back any french fries - he's used to random LTHers saying hi, and would have been glad to meet you!

I'm going to take the generous Mickey Mantle compliment for myself, though! Thanks!

well that clears up some confusion, either or...a great time

Went to Weiner and Still Champion for lunch today, it was our first trip. Right next to 2nd Hand Tunes, one of the few surviving record stores. Excellent all around, especially the fries, the best I've had this year and maybe ever. Awesome, hot crunchy potato perfection. Burger very good, terrific bun, and the dipping dog was a golden dog of corn treasure. The only problem, Mrs.Trpt had a hard time with the bun on the char dog, it kind of crumbled and didn't hold the dog or the toppings well. (And it was freezing inside, we kept our coats on and I could see my breath.) It will definitely be on our route for when we go to see flicks at the Evanston Century, we usually get off Sheridan at Davis but it'd be just as easy to go down Dempster. Did I mention the entire repast including tax was $12?

Every New Year's Day we drink some ginger ale and march stoically to Kabul House, a mere 4 1/2 miles away. This year our plans were foiled by it being closed, so we settled on WASC instead.

The walk was pleasant, not too cold or too vigorous, and at the end of the rainbow awaited dippin' dogs, a fine cheeseburger, terrific fries, fried pickles (love) and Gus's newest brainstorm, gratis: deep-fried chili. My husband suggested marrying the fired chili with a dippin' dog for maximum joy, and I really hope it happens.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:deep-fried chili

I think I need pictures to be able to wrap my head around that. Do you have any?

Gus, maybe?

deep-fried chili? I want to hear more from anyone willing to go into detail....and maybe include pictures and a scratch and sniff.

Prototype at the 2008 LTH Picnic, next to the fried bacon, about 2 pictures down in this post.

Mhays wrote:Prototype at the 2008 LTH Picnic, next to the fried bacon, about 2 pictures down in this post.

And let me just say that the deep-fried chili is truly inspired and stunningly delicious.

=R=

I still can't quite wrap my head around that one.

Guess I'll be seeing you Saturday, Gus!

Don't miss the Country Fried Gyros.

nr706 wrote:Don't miss the Country Fried Gyros.

Ok, please explain?

Regards,