I also was greatly disappointed in the beef when I ate there in July, but didn't think it worthy of mention in the relatively lukewarm GNR thread. However, the basic red hots, and the unusual condiments, are quite good, and I'm going back to try a few other menu items next weekend since I have relatives right around the corner.

Santander wrote:I also was greatly disappointed in the beef when I ate there in July, but didn't think it worthy of mention in the relatively lukewarm GNR thread. However, the basic red hots, and the unusual condiments, are quite good, and I'm going back to try a few other menu items next weekend since I have relatives right around the corner.

I haven't had the beef per se, but as I posted above, I did have a debris sandwich (on more than one occasion) and thought it was very tasty and quite moist.

=R=

I've had the beef, and posted about it near the top of this thread. I like it quite a bit. It doesn't fit a traditional Italian Beef profile. I'd call it more like a French Dip, but the sandwich topped with Fred's giardinara is quite good. Just don't go in with expectations of an Italian Beef ala Johnnie's or Al's.

stevez wrote:I've had the beef, and posted about it near the top of this thread. I like it quite a bit. It doesn't fit a traditional Italian Beef profile. I'd call it more like a French Dip, but the sandwich topped with Fred's giardinara is quite good. Just don't go in with expectations of an Italian Beef ala Johnnie's or Al's.

Bingo!

=R=

empirebuilder wrote:I went to fRedhots today - my first restaurant visit based on an LTHforum recommendation. First of all, if they want to emulate Hot Doug's they should try being a bit friendlier. Doug is always pleasant. At fRed's I was greeted with a snarl and then chastised for sitting outdoors (at the provided tables) without alerting the staff. The tables were five feet from the open front door and the entirely full tiny dining room - I was easy to find.

I'm not sure exactly what happened here or who it was that was delivering the food to you but, in my numerous experiences at fRed's, I have never been met by a more pleasant staff.... anywhere... I think most of the comments in this thread seem to indicate that my interactions with the crew are not unique in that even posters that did not think as highly of the food as I do tend to point out how dedicated Fred and the rest of his staff are to ensuring that all of his patrons have a pleasant experience. I would imagine that Fred himself does not have any idea what the words "snarl" and "chastise" mean as I doubt that they are in his vocabulary.

P.S. none of the aioli based sauces are from a jar in any way...all are made from scratch.

Work found me in Glenview again today, and I popped in around 1:20 to find the place utterly mobbed with soccer kids and their parents in waiting. It took over 20 minutes to be served, but the wait was worth it for a salmon dog (dressed with chopped tomatoes, horseradish creme fraiche and capers) and a duck sausage with foie gras and the sweetest-tasting sauteed onions I've ever tasted, which were an excellent foil for the salty sausage substrate. I skipped the fries, having had my fill of truffled frites Friday night at Sweets & Savories (although now, I regret the decision; how can one eat too many excellent fries?)

Went to fRedhot's for the first time this afternoon - the Sunday hours are perfect for crappy grey afternoons when Doug's isn't an option and game sausage or multi-aiolis are desired.

First off - Since it's December, the world-famous Reindeer sausage is back. At $8 it was a little too rich for my blood, so I gave the merguez lamb sausage a shot. Funny how I can justify the purchase of a $6 sausage, but not one two dollars more. Anyways, the "mint mojito pesto" was all right, if not a little too minty, but the sausage was good. The wife proclaimed her Polish sausage superior to Doug's and we both love the fries. Aiolis were great.

Nary a service issue as mentioned upthread to be seen, customers came and went and no complaints noticed from anyone. We'll most definitely be back, and I'm really looking forward to giving the debris sandwich, salmon dogs, the chipotle burger and the Scotch Bonnet aioli a shot.

Well, I read about it here and took your word for it. I love it.
I work in Deerfield and their is a sad lack of food around so I will now gladly drive the 10-15 min to get to fRedhots.

RUDOLOPH is in season!!!

My first meal here was the reindeer dog with fries and a side of garlic

I loved Rudolph. I ordered him like a Polish with grilled onions, mustard, and pickle(side). I honestly like Rudolph a lot. Very tasty. I could really eat reindeer often.
The fries were still good after a 14 min car ride, Which is more than I can say for 90 percent of the places out there. I liked the garlic side but thought it could be even more garlicky<-----garlic lover here.

So I will be returning, bringing friends and trying more stuff,
He has a Caribou Po' boy on special now with my name on it.

davecamaro1994 wrote:He has a Caribou Po' boy on special now with my name on it.

My roommate brought that home to me Monday after I told her order whatever the special was.

If I remember correctly its the fond (sp) that was sitting on the bottom of the pan when he braises the meat. On a hoagie bun with lettice, tomato, and I believe his garlic mayo. It has a shredded consistancy, nice and juicy.

Ive never been wronged when I've ordered fredhots specials.

Update: Just informed by my roommate that it was the meat debris Po'Boy, not the caribou.

Still good never the less........

I skimmed through the posts above and didn't find any reviews of fRedHots' veggie burgers... Well, my wife and I drove out there today (our first visit to a GNRA winner) to try out Fred's veggie offerings and were rather disappointed. When we got there we found out that the Grilled Veggies sandwich is not offered during the winter months... I guess that makes some sense, although if Fred can get reindeer meat flown in, I don't see why fresh veggies should be a problem...

But anyway, that left us with one choice: the veggie burger. Now, my wife and I have been vegetarians for over a decade but have continued to frequent meat-oriented restaurants, grills, bars, etc. so we have some experience with veggie burgers, veggie sandwiches, etc.

Both of us were disappointed with Fred's veggie burger and would rate it fairly low on our veggie burger "scale." The presentation was actually very nice. The burgers were brought out nicely wrapped and carefully "built," with not too much lettuce and not too much tomato on top of the veggie patty. However, as soon as we picked them up, they tended to fall apart. The patties turned out to be really soft and not at all cohesive. By the time I finished eating the burger, several large pieces of the patty had fallen on the plate and I had to resort to eating them on their own. If you can imagine the consistency of a falafel patty that's been cooked only half or a quarter of the way, you'll get an idea of Fred's veggie patties.

The taste was okay. We noticed several whole pieces of corn and peas in our patties, and the patties definitely felt light and fresh. But they seemed under-seasoned and we thought that they could have used at least a little bit more salt. Often, veggie burgers are held together and given consistency with black beans or soy products -- we didn't detect any of that in these patties. These seemed to be true veggie burgers.

So it was a fairly underwhelming outing for us -- not planning to return.

bobbem wrote:Now, my wife and I have been vegetarians for over a decade but have continued to frequent meat-oriented restaurants, grills, bars, etc. so we have some experience with veggie burgers, veggie sandwiches, etc.

Both of us were disappointed with Fred's veggie burger and would rate it fairly low on our veggie burger "scale."

I know I have a reputation for occasionally taking a "strident" tone round these parts, but there is not one whit of snarkiness in what I am about to say. I am sincerely interested in hearing from you, either on this thread or, ideally a new, dedicated thread, where you think the best prepared veggie burgers can be found here in the greater Chicagoland area. Based on your above statement, you clearly have some experience with this sandwich and can bring a well informed voice to the discussion.

Admittedly, veggie burgers are not high on my priority list, but every once in a while I want a burger-like sandwich without the meat. Like your experience at fRedhots, I have not found a veggie burger that compares satisfactorily with the real item. Maybe I need to use a different set of criteria to judge, or just severely lowered expectations, when biting into a veggie burger. I want to believe though, that somewhere there is a really good and satisfying veggie burger being served.

Anyway, your opinion would be valued by myself and I'm sure others in regard to stalking the perfect (should it exist) veggie burger.

Thanks,

Buddy

I do hear what you are saying about the veggie burger. I must say for the sake of fairness, however, that I have never had it myself. I do find myself divided on the subject thought. One one hand, the veggie burger probably does not occupy the top spot on the priority list at most dog and burger places. It is a bit like going into a seafood place and saying that the place is a dud because they don't cook a good steak. On the other hand, and I'm sure Fred and Sharon agree here, if you put something on your menu you should give it your all. I also know that having a good veggie option at a hot dog place is certainly not unheard of in these parts as Gus' Falafel Burger at Weiner and Still Champion has received wide acclaim here. I will say that, Fred and Sharon do read these boards and will certainly take your comments to heart and, if you are willing to give it your time are always welcome to all comments and suggestions on their food, both positive and negative.

Stagger wrote:I also know that having a good veggie option at a hot dog place is certainly not unheard of in these parts as Gus' Falafel Burger at Weiner and Still Champion has received wide acclaim here.

I love the falafel burger there, but Gus will make the point that it's meatless, not strictly vegetarian, due the oil it's fried in.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:I am sincerely interested in hearing from you, either on this thread or, ideally a new, dedicated thread, where you think the best prepared veggie burgers can be found here in the greater Chicagoland area.

Unfortunately, we've just moved to the Chicagoland area over the summer (from Vermont) so our knowledge of veggie burgers in the region is rather limited. Nevertheless, I think this would make for a great discussion in a new thread, so I'll start one right away.

Edit: I found a previous thread that addresses this topic, with some interesting-sounding (but not terribly in-depth reviewed) recommendations:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=12157

Had the carribou sandwich today. Great. My friends had the reindeer and Elk. They sail it was also excellent. Two new specials this week are Ostrich dog and Elk dog. Forgot what the toppings were since I have not tried em yet. But they both looked excellent.

I made my first trip to fredhots today as i happened to be in the area at lunch time.

The fries were excellent. perfectly crispy..spot on. I ordered one game sausage (pheasant) and a dog with everything. I always get a dog with everything the first time I try a new place because I have an idealized notion of what a dog with everything should mean within 50 miles north south or west of the intersection of state and madison. perfectly prepared snappy dog but one thing was missing...sport peppers. i took the time to ask if everything meant chicago style when i ordered and i was not dissapointed, poppyseed bun, mustard, onion, neon relish, tomato slices celery salt, pickle spear....but instead of what i know as sport peppers they had some other kind of sporty type peppers that were much fatter on the dog. they were perfectly good for what they were, i only mention this to note a deviation from what i consider to be the mean comparison, vis a vis dog to dog.

The game sausage was nice too, I will definitely return!

Stopped by today and lo and behold Fred is getting married. Make sure you wish him well.

I had the Elk sausage which was great. it was topped with pomengrade chutney, spicy brown mustard and grilled onions. I was going to go for the buffalo dogs but Fred said that is going to be a regular menu item now and that the elk would only be a round for a couple more days. With the fries I went with the Filipino banana pepper aioli. It was nice a nice zip. great as always.

davecamaro1994 wrote:Stopped by today and lo and behold Fred is getting married. Make sure you wish him well

Bout Time there Fred!

Hope all is well from N.C. I'll come up when I'm back in town!

Had an after-work event with some co-workers the other day, and I suggested we stop by. Someone ordered the Sweet Potato Fries, which were the best Sweet Potatoes I've had. Every other time I've had Sweet Potato fries, they have been limp and soggy. These were magnificently crispy, and were dusted with maple and cinnamon. Fred recommended the Wasabi aioli, which created a good contrast between sweet and hot. However, someone had the curry with their normal fries, and everyone was blown away with how well the curry went with the sweet potato fries. According to the website, though, the sweet potato fries are only available after three (http://fredhots.com/index.php?page=Specials).

Yea, thats too bad to. I am usually there on lunch and they are not offered. The fries are dynomite

I went there last night for dinner for the first time, and had a really great meal. I had one of the specials, which was smoked bratwurst on a pretzel bun with sauerkraut and curry aioli. The curry went with the smoked brat and sauerkraut perfectly. I liked the idea of the pretzel bun, but it was maybe a tad too tough/dry, although nothing like a true pretzel could have been. And the fries were very good, although they could have been a little crisper (the place was closing in 20 minutes). The filipino red banana pepper aioli was really, really good with it, both mildly spicy and sweet. I could eat that all day - well, maybe not all day, but certainly often. Too bad this place isn't around my neck of the woods. I would definitely like to try their sweet potato fries - maybe next time.

I had an early evening appointment in Glenview tonight, and made the most of it by cruising into fRedhots around 5:15. They were basically empty when I pulled in, which was a new experience for me there, although throughout my visit were doing a reasonable takeout business. I asked for a recommendation, and it was the buffalo burger, which I ordered with fries. I have an odd obsession with ground bison meat; I always seem capable of ordering it wherever it is served. Anyway, this ground buffalo was served on a pretzel bun that was close enough to what Kuma's Corner serves (maybe the same, I didn't think to ask). Topped with grilled onions and mustard, the meat was cooked medium rare. They actually didn't ask how I wanted it; that's just how it came, and I was pleased. Those who haven't tried bison meat burgers should know that the meat is generally very tasty, hard to distinguish from grass fed beef, but generally more firm-textured. I've had it many other places (e.g., Sidebar on LaSalle at Wacker) that were less than impressive and a bit dry, but the bison ("buffalo") Fred serves has a good, strong flavor and is plenty juicy (he told me it's intentionally a bit fattier than most bison meat). I also enjoyed the special curry aioli with the fries, although any condiment on Fred's french fries is going to be gilding the lily. So, this was a very nice buffalo meal, with the buffalo bill around $11. It was fun chatting with Fred on this otherwise quiet little evening about Anthony Bourdain, Fred's tenure running Due's kitchen in the mid-1990s, and a number of other topics. Fred mentioned the fact that there had not been many recent posts about his restaurant on LTH, and I assured him he's still a favorite here (and promised to correct the posting deficit). Notably, GNR-winner Fred also indicated that he is a regular user of the GNR list when selecting his own dining options; there is a lesson about community in that.

Ate there the other day. Cajun on the menu. I had the gator/pork sausage mix. Excellent and very filling. I have to go back for the crawfish dog.

As it's somewhat near our house, we've been hitting Fred's fairly often and it never fails to deliver. I love how unique the offerings are and how much Fred cares about his customers and his products. He's a friendly, hands-on owner, which is truly refreshing. Fredhot's really is a destination because no one does exactly what Fred does -- and he does it extremely well. I say yes on renewal!

=R=

Found myself hungry in Glenview this afternoon, so I ended up giving fRedhots a try. First off, Fred and his staff could not have been any nicer. I was at least as impressed with the terrific customer service as I was with the food. I told them that I was a first timer and that I needed a recommendation or two. They were more than happy to give me sample tastes of their "meat debris" and Italian beef, as well as a few dipping sauces. I ended up eating a gyro sausage (which was the specialty sausage of the day), a meat debris po' boy, and some fries.

The gyro sausage was split, grilled, and served on a standard hot dog bun with tzatziki, feta, and tomato. It tasted like, well, a sausage-shaped gyro on a hot dog bun. The meat was lamby and well-seasoned, but I think I'd rather have a traditional gyro on pita.

The debris po' boy, as pictured in ronnie_s' post above, was excellent. Served with garlic aioli, lettuce, and tomato. Although I might switch the soft roll out for something a bit more crusty, the meat is the star and the meat is delicious.

Fred's fries have been discussed to death in this thread, so I will just say that I agree that fRedhot's does them very well, and I really appreciate the sauces. I particularly enjoyed the Filipino bannana pepper aioli and chimichurri aioli.

I think that fRedhot's is a totally deserving GNR, and I hope to return to try more of the menu soon.

--Rich

I was curious how the cheddarburger here compares to other north-side joints like Poochie's, WASC, etc?

Ghazi wrote:I was curious how the cheddarburger here compares to other north-side joints like Poochie's, WASC, etc?

Funny you should ask. I had my inaugural fRedhots cheeseburger last week (not cheddar, but swiss, my cheese of choice for burgers). I really liked it. It's a similar 1/3 lb patty to what is served at Poochie's and WASC and the bun is the same type of egg bun that Gus uses at WASC. The burger itself was nicely cooked, just as you would expect from a GNR like fRedhots. I also had a small order of the frites, which were perfectly fried and not at all greasy, somewhat of a point of honor for Fred.

I was in glenview this weekend and gave fRedhot's a try. I had the Greek Gyro Suasage and a fRedhot with fries. I saw some earlier comments about the Gyro Suasge being just OK, but I really enjoyed it. Nice snap and great gryo flavor. But I may be biased as I'm a sucker for tzatziki sauce. The redhot was a very good rendition of the chicago dog. The fries were nice and crisp with a pillowly interior. I got a chance to talk with Fred and he is very nice and interested in his customer's experience. If in glenview it makes a pretty nice lunch. All in I spent around 12 bucks.

Finally made it to fRedhots yesterday. I went in knowing I wanted to try the Debris Po'boy, a sausage and of course the frites. Saddened by the lack of a special sausage on this day, I was delighted to find that he had a frites topped with Debris and BBQ sauce special. The offer was extended to top with Merkts, but I declined as fRed and I both thought it'd seem too rich. Thinking back, I think it'd been better with just Cheddar as opposed to the BBQ sauce. The sauce was a little too rich with the deeply flavored debris meat for my taste. The best part was the couple of layers of frites directly under the debris meat. The juices leaked down onto the frites to make the perfect flavor for fries. (his sauces not-withstanding, as I wouldn't know as I didn't have any.)

I also had the Buffalo burger and that was also delicious, but no different than your standard buffalo burger minus the pretzel roll.

Also while talking to fRed while he was taking my order, he made sure to mention that they had Diet Mountain Dew, stating that most guys seem to like it. He's definitely right on that part. Few non-boozy drinks are better than a fountain Diet Dew, and it's the first one I've had in a long time barring the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combo I used to hit when I worked in the culinary wasteland that was the Elk Grove Village industrial park.

So even though I didn't partake in the exotic sausage and the frites sauces that fRedhots is known for, I still had a delicious late lunch, and will make sure to try those the next time I go. Which fRed definitely encouraged me to do often (along with wife, friends and neighbors) as any good entrepreneur should.


(Side note, I also had the pleasure of listening (read: eavesdropping) on fRed and Gail Gand talking shop, which was enjoyable as well.)

apprehensively anticipating a visit to fRedhots this Saturday(not making a special trip up norht just for fRedhots, so Ill roll the dice). I dont know if its fair, but I am going to be comparing any specialty sausage I eat there to Hot Dougs.


Hoping for alligator to be on the menu(ive been looking at the specials page, not sure how often it is updated or if it sup to date), but will probably go for the Greek gyros sausage if none of the wild game offered Saturday interests me.

Polish, & the Debris sandwich look good.

The brat also looks good, but if I am hungry for a brat Saturday, I'll drive a little extra and hit the Brat Stop.

(1) Question:

I see the basic Chicago style dog offered with fries, can you just get the hot dog w/out fries? SInce we will be ordering some fries with Merkts cheddar.