The Dogout

Having lived in Highland Park most of my life, I would have thought that I would try a hot dog joint less than 5 minutes from home. I think I may have had The Dogout many years ago when it opened, but it must have not impressed me since I can't really remember it at all!

I was on the way home from O'Hare with my girlfiriend and brother and we decided we might as well give it try after my brother said he heard there might be a new owner. Who knows if we had a gem right under our noses. We each got a hot dog and my girlfriend got a corn dog. The corn dog was a standard Vienna one. As soon as we saw our hot dogs we knew our gem was flawed. The hot dogs didn't have a natural casing on them (yet were certainly priced as if they were!). The crinkle fries (think Brown's Chicken) were the frozen variety, so there wasn't really anything redeeming about this place in the hot dog dept. The owner was a nice guy and I asked him as we left why they didn't have natural casing hot dogs. He said a big part of his customer base are kids and he was concerned they might choke on the casing so he simply chose not to have it. That was an interesting answer. I figured he was going to say "The kids always take the skin off." I don't know if I buy this story. All of the main hot dog joints in the immediate area have natural casing hot dogs (Michael's, Stash's, Dear Franks, does Cooker's?) and certainly have a huge number of kids that eat there.

The Dogout
2567 Waukgean Rd (At Half Day Rd)
Bannockburn Green Shopping Center
Bannockburn IL
847-317-0347

Ram4 wrote: The hot dogs didn't have a natural casing on them (yet were certainly priced as if they were!).

So how much were they?

Ram4 wrote: I figured he was going to say "The kids always take the skin off."

Do people, or little people, actually do this? My kid can be picky and he doesnt mess with hot dog skin. It has been many years since I have wandered into the dogout. Thanks for the recon.

iblock9 wrote:

Ram4 wrote: I figured he was going to say "The kids always take the skin off."

Do people, or little people, actually do this? My kid can be picky and he doesnt mess with hot dog skin. It has been many years since I have wandered into the dogout. Thanks for the recon.

Many years ago, my younger sisters used to peel the skin off. Why? Who knows? One of them became vegetarian.

I accidentally went to The Dogout last year after shopping at Dominicks. From what I recall, it was nothing special. I'll stick to Michael's or Stash's for my local fix.

gp60004 wrote:

Ram4 wrote: The hot dogs didn't have a natural casing on them (yet were certainly priced as if they were!).

So how much were they?

Hey Gus, they were between $2.35 and $2.75. By comparison, you can go to Gina's in Bensenville or the new Nana's Hot Dogs in Addison where both carry 10 to 1 dogs with natural casing that come with excellent hand cut fries for around $2.50 including tax. Obviously North Shore rents come into play as well!

Dave148 wrote:

iblock9 wrote:

Ram4 wrote: I figured he was going to say "The kids always take the skin off."

Do people, or little people, actually do this? My kid can be picky and he doesnt mess with hot dog skin. It has been many years since I have wandered into the dogout. Thanks for the recon.

Many years ago, my younger sisters used to peel the skin off. Why? Who knows? One of them became vegetarian.

I accidentally went to The Dogout last year after shopping at Dominicks. From what I recall, it was nothing special. I'll stick to Michael's or Stash's for my local fix.

I have seen plenty of kids peeling off the skin, and I think my brother (or was it me?!! ) did it when we were little. I think they find it tough to chew sometimes or have become so used to the hot dogs from the grocery store without natural casing.