This is IMHO evidenced by how slow the service is at his joint. It isn't that hard to move these encased meats.

i think the fries are probably more time-consuming than the sausages. you can only fry so many fries at a time.

elakin wrote:i think the fries are probably more time-consuming than the sausages. you can only fry so many fries at a time.

Oh yeah? And what are you? Some kind of expert?

Oh, wait, nevermind.

Kennyz wrote:

Chitown B wrote:great review!

to which review are you referring?

sorry, P. Channon. I thought I was directly under him when I replied.

Kman wrote:

sr1329 wrote:
I'm with you on this. Also I think the place takes it too far. Sure it's good but its encased meat at the end of the day. People will think what I'm about to say is sacrilege, but honestly I think Doug gets a kick out of making people wait in snow for his food. He likes the press and the hype feeds on itself. This is IMHO evidenced by how slow the service is at his joint. It isn't that hard to move these encased meats. Just look at Smoque if you want an example of how a place moves crowds. Efficient and just plain good. I know people will hate me for saying so about this great Chicago institution of 9 years. In fact it didn't really get popular until 2006 when Doug Sohn had his public foie gras debate and got fined. All of a sudden he started getting press and accolades from everywhere. The power of marketing. Everyone should read the Grey Goose story to see how well it works: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/bizfinanc ... res/10816/

I can assure you Hot Doug's was popular long before the foie gras debate. He's an evil man, though, to be sure. Just look at the way he closes up for weeks at a time over major holidays when everyone else is serving food to the masses. No doubt all part of a product marketing strategy to create additional demand.

I agree. In some ways he's sort of like the "Sausage Nazi", but still being a nice guy

Chitown B wrote:

Kman wrote:

sr1329 wrote:
I'm with you on this. Also I think the place takes it too far. Sure it's good but its encased meat at the end of the day. People will think what I'm about to say is sacrilege, but honestly I think Doug gets a kick out of making people wait in snow for his food. He likes the press and the hype feeds on itself. This is IMHO evidenced by how slow the service is at his joint. It isn't that hard to move these encased meats. Just look at Smoque if you want an example of how a place moves crowds. Efficient and just plain good. I know people will hate me for saying so about this great Chicago institution of 9 years. In fact it didn't really get popular until 2006 when Doug Sohn had his public foie gras debate and got fined. All of a sudden he started getting press and accolades from everywhere. The power of marketing. Everyone should read the Grey Goose story to see how well it works: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/bizfinanc ... res/10816/

I can assure you Hot Doug's was popular long before the foie gras debate. He's an evil man, though, to be sure. Just look at the way he closes up for weeks at a time over major holidays when everyone else is serving food to the masses. No doubt all part of a product marketing strategy to create additional demand.

I agree. In some ways he's sort of like the "Sausage Nazi", but still being a nice guy

Hey, how can I blame a guy for doing what will best help his business?

We're planning to make a trip to Doug's sometime next week, but I cannot recall if they have high chairs or not. This is an important consideration, as if they don't, we will have to either use the bulky stroller or strap the kid to one of us (which doesn't mix so well with eating these days; he's all handsy).

They have chairs at the tables and stools at the counter along the windows.

Yes, chairs and stools, but I can't recall seeing any baby 'high chairs'.

Sorry, I didn't see the word "high" in front of chairs. I don't know if they have high chairs. Sorry for the mis-read.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:We're planning to make a trip to Doug's sometime next week, but I cannot recall if they have high chairs or not. This is an important consideration, as if they don't, we will have to either use the bulky stroller or strap the kid to one of us (which doesn't mix so well with eating these days; he's all handsy).

They did have high chairs last time I looked-- just ask Justin (or the other runner) and he will bring you one. Caveat: I haven't looked for some time now, as my kid is 6. The bulky stroller would be difficult if there is any sort of line. When my daughter was younger, I had good luck with toddling her on my left knee, which leaves my right hand free for eating-- reverse if you are a lefty. How old is your little one?

Jen

Given how start 'em young kid-friendly Doug and Hot Doug's are, I'd be surprised if there was no high chair.

Pie-love wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:We're planning to make a trip to Doug's sometime next week, but I cannot recall if they have high chairs or not. This is an important consideration, as if they don't, we will have to either use the bulky stroller or strap the kid to one of us (which doesn't mix so well with eating these days; he's all handsy).

They did have high chairs last time I looked-- just ask Justin (or the other runner) and he will bring you one. Caveat: I haven't looked for some time now, as my kid is 6. The bulky stroller would be difficult if there is any sort of line. When my daughter was younger, I had good luck with toddling her on my left knee, which leaves my right hand free for eating-- reverse if you are a lefty. How old is your little one?

Jen

8 1/2 months - old enough to be grabby and too young to get "no".

Vitesse98 wrote:Given how start 'em young kid-friendly Doug and Hot Doug's are, I'd be surprised if there was no high chair.

Agreed.
Suzy - ring them up right after they open on a weekday and ask to be sure, but I do seem to recall them having a couple stashed away that they bring out for the little ones upon request.

Visited Doug's this afternoon with baby in tow - turns out the high chairs are still a little big for my skinny kid (he hasn't had Hot Doug's yet, obviously). After waiting in a good-sized line, we were ready to indulge, and ordered yak sausage with cumin gouda, bacon sausage with black garlic mayo, eurocreme, and carmelized onions, the fire dog, a Chicago dog, and cheese fries. I reserved my stomach space for the fancy-Dan dogs, and can unreservedly recommend the bacon sausage. The yak was meh by comparison. Maybe I just don't like gouda.

Speaking of the line, my old rule of "show up after two in the middle of the week, voila, no line" no longer holds true. This is the third time in a row we've come by late to find a line, although it's the first time it was warm enough that we were willing to wait.

And this may have been discussed earlier in the thread, but I just found out that anyone who gets a Hot Doug's tattoo will get free meals for life. Specialty sausages, duck fat fries, whatever they want. I have to admit...I'm tempted.

Dunno what to tell you.. someone tweeted today at about 2pm that there was no line outside the door (but presumably a small one inside). Bad timing, I guess. Maybe all those people showed up after seeing the tweet

Crazy. We went after three, which has always been a golden time to arrive.

Before y'all line up to get inked, the details are as such: it must be the Hot Doug's logo, recognizable, anywhere on your body. But I'm pretty sure it's just free dogs for life, not anything/everything on the menu, and not all-you-can-eat. Anyway, as Doug pointed out in a Tribune article: "You get to eat here for free the rest of your life. But what I tell people is that tattoos are permanent, I am not. I eat a lot of bacon, that's all I'm saying."

Vitesse98 wrote:Before y'all line up to get inked, the details are as such: it must be the Hot Doug's logo, recognizable, anywhere on your body. But I'm pretty sure it's just free dogs for life, not anything/everything on the menu, and not all-you-can-eat. Anyway, as Doug pointed out in a Tribune article: "You get to eat here for free the rest of your life. But what I tell people is that tattoos are permanent, I am not. I eat a lot of bacon, that's all I'm saying."

That's not what Doug said.

What do you mean by free? If I came in with a friend, ordered two dogs, two duck-fat fries and two drinks, would I have to pay?

"No."

You read that right. Not just one free dog. Free meal. Gratis. So far, no one's taken advantage of Sohn by bringing in the Bears' defensive line for a Saturday lunch. It's an honor system. And no, you still can't cut to the front of the line. But still, think of how popular you'd be among friends!

Too bad. If I could line-jump I would totally do it.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:

Vitesse98 wrote:Before y'all line up to get inked, the details are as such: it must be the Hot Doug's logo, recognizable, anywhere on your body. But I'm pretty sure it's just free dogs for life, not anything/everything on the menu, and not all-you-can-eat. Anyway, as Doug pointed out in a Tribune article: "You get to eat here for free the rest of your life. But what I tell people is that tattoos are permanent, I am not. I eat a lot of bacon, that's all I'm saying."

That's not what Doug said.

What do you mean by free? If I came in with a friend, ordered two dogs, two duck-fat fries and two drinks, would I have to pay?

"No."

You read that right. Not just one free dog. Free meal. Gratis. So far, no one's taken advantage of Sohn by bringing in the Bears' defensive line for a Saturday lunch. It's an honor system. And no, you still can't cut to the front of the line. But still, think of how popular you'd be among friends!

Too bad. If I could line-jump I would totally do it.

Hmm, always looking for new ideas ... but the math doesn't really work out for me. When I eat, by myself, at Doug's, the tab is usually right around $20 (Two specials, small cheese fry, small drink). The cost of custom tattooing is relatively stable, somewhere around $100 an hour, the logo wouldn't take long to do, but if I am going to get it done, it would be done right, so figure at least an hour + tip ... call it $120.

So it would take me around six trips to Doug's to break even, since I usually only go once or twice a year, it would be at least three year before I start getting free food.

I guess I'll just keep paying.

SSDD

I only go twice a year due to the crowds and my distance from it, and I wouldn't be likely to go more anyway, so I think I'll pass too. Now, if Doug could be convinced to let people line-jump....

Ha, while I was skimming I must have missed the all-important context of Doug's "no."

all people complaining about the line, please realize that on Mon-Thursday you can call in your order. Then you can just go right to the front and Doug will take your money and hand you your sausages.

Just went here on tuesday, went with the triple sausage order. I got Smoked Yak Sausage with Bacon-Garlic Mayonnaise and Smoked Cumin Gouda Cheese, and Smoked Portuguese Linguica with Saffron Rouille and Olive Manchego Cheese, and finally the Cognac-Infused Pheasant Sausage with Chive-Dijon Goat's Butter and Duck Rillettes. I think I would rank them Pheasant > Linguica > Yak. The pheasant I liked the best because of the added Goat butter and duck rillettes, it really made it rich and delicious. The 2nd two sausages were very similar, both of them smoked, but I enjoyed the Linguica a bit more since it was less gamey than the yak. Both were still delicious.

Kevin Pang penned proper props to Hot Doug's for the ten-year anniversary.

The quintessential Chicago restaurant

Does anyone else think they tend to over-cheese here? I'm reluctant to complain because I love Doug's, and because of the variety and quality of said cheese, but my last few visits my sausages have been piled so high with cheese that it topples all over the place after the first bite and also risks overwhelming (rather than complementing) the dog. Lately I've had to at least partially de-cheese the delicious encased meat product before digging in.

I know, there are worst problems to have!

I had the Three-Chili Wild Boar Sausage with Chili-Garlic Mayonnaise, Raw Milk-Cheddar Cheese Spread and Crispy Fried Onions this weekend and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever had. It was perfect in every way.

G Wiv wrote:Kevin Pang penned proper props to Hot Doug's for the ten-year anniversary.

The quintessential Chicago restaurant

Two things in regards to that article. First, I agree that the duck fat fries are often soggy, and I tend to prefer the regular fries. Second, Doug is 49???? I had him pegged a fair bit younger; maybe it's the youthful exuberance.

Doug is 49???? I had him pegged a fair bit younger; maybe it's the youthful exuberance.

I think a great big part of it is that he's doing what he wants to do, is great at all aspects of it - and knows that what he's doing is 1) appreciated, and 2) makes people very happy. That in turn makes him a happy guy, and - bacon consumption level notwithstanding - makes for a healthy, exuberant, and perpetually youthful countenance.

Better living though encased meats and duck fat.

One other thing I'll say about the tattoo - the people who are devoted enough to HD to get a tattoo probably go there often enough to get a "friend of Doug" discount already. I know a couple people who always pay $5 per person, no matter what they order (full disclosure: I get a (much smaller) discount as well). So for them the math is probably even less effective. I think the people who are getting HD tattoos are probably motivated more by love than money

Suiname wrote:all people complaining about the line, please realize that on Mon-Thursday you can call in your order. Then you can just go right to the front and Doug will take your money and hand you your sausages.

This has long been my M.O. at Hot Doug's in warm weather when the lines are exaggerated, so I was surprised when I was halfway there and phoned in my order only to be told that there is a $25.00 minimum for carry-out now. I haven't ordered carry-out in a few months, so not sure when this was put into place, but there ya go.

I had dressed for a carry-out run and didn't want to brave line or the elements under dressed (my own fault), so I shot north and had a nice lunch at Salam instead. It all worked out in the end, but do be aware of the new policy at Doug's.

Thanks for that info, I was not aware of the 25$ minimum, but then again i usually order more than that anyways because I have a problem.