Where to purchase hot dogs to take home and which szech. res

Dear C. Gourmets:

I will be in Chicago for four days and, by the way thanks for the previous recs, I would like to take home some garlicky hot dogs. Where could I buy them?
OF the Szech. restaurants would you reccommend Little 3 Happines or Lao Szechuan?
Thank you,
Maria

Is LTH not cantonese?

sstaley wrote:Is LTH not cantonese?

sigh

yes

I mistakenly read that LTH was Szch somewhere in the threads; this makes my choice harder. If it is not too much of an inconvenience which would you suggest if you had to choose.
Thank you,
Maria

mariafranzese wrote:I mistakenly read that LTH was Szch somewhere in the threads; this makes my choice harder. If it is not too much of an inconvenience which would you suggest if you had to choose.
Thank you,
Maria

I prefer spicier food, so I tend to like Lao Sze Chuan better. However, I find myself going to LTH more and more as the line lately for Lao Sze Chuan has been impossibily long. LTH's salt-and-pepper shrimp (whole, shell-on) and crispy chicken is as good as anything at Lao Sze Chuan, so you really can't go wrong with either of these. Be sure to ask for Gary's Chili Oil if you do go to LTH.

Binko wrote:I prefer spicier food, so I tend to like Lao Sze Chuan better. However, I find myself going to LTH more and more as the line lately for Lao Sze Chuan has been impossibily long.

Weekdays before or around 6pm, if at all possible. Almost never a line.

search the forum for mucho discussion on LSC and ideas on what to order

also: never a line for lunch...I've heard tell of a lunch special, but I've never been offered it and only received blank looks the couple times I asked(a waitress...not Tony)...at lunch you get the full menu and, to iterate...never a line

and at dinner, if you bother to make reservations, you can whisk past the clamoring hoi polloi to your waiting table

As for the hot dogs, your best bet (to me) is to head up to the Vienna Beef factory store and pick up some of the 1/4 or 1/6th pound natural casing hot dogs they sell there.

They do have (or had) a lunch menu at LSC, but you usually have to ask for it. Sometimes you can just ask for "the other menu".

Egg rolls, soup, and a choice of about 40 meat/veg dishes, in the $6-7 range. When I go for lunch I'll usually order two of these, ignore the egg rolls (which they sometimes don't provide, anyway), and take the leftovers home.

gleam wrote:As for the hot dogs, your best bet (to me) is to head up to the Vienna Beef factory store and pick up some of the 1/4 or 1/6th pound natural casing hot dogs they sell there.

They do have (or had) a lunch menu at LSC, but you usually have to ask for it. Sometimes you can just ask for "the other menu".

Egg rolls, soup, and a choice of about 40 meat/veg dishes, in the $6-7 range. When I go for lunch I'll usually order two of these, ignore the egg rolls (which they sometimes don't provide, anyway), and take the leftovers home.

after two tries I've given up attempting to order the "lunch menu"

I first tried a couple years back after seeing it mentioned on the website and was told, "no lunch menu." At first I thought it was a language barrier, but...really...don't the words lunch, special, and menu translate fairly easily?

which just impressed upon me the need to always bring friends with me and order off the regular menu...more dishes, more leftovers

Back to the hotdogs...

I'm into natural casing dogs 'cause I love the snap that occurs when you bite into them.

Some of the Jewel foodstores carry Crawford Sausage, 'Daisy Brand' hotdogs. The fat, jumbo, natural casing ones are my favorites. I've yet to try the longer, skinnier ones with natural casings. I'm not too interested in the skinless variety. They also sometimes have 'Daisy Brand' Prasky, as well. The particular store that I know, for sure, has them... is the Downers Grove, 63rd & Main location. YMMV. Also, the dogs are not particularly cheap... a 1lb package will set you back $7 and change.
I think you can also by direct from Crawford... 2310 S. Pulaski... see their website for hours, etc: http://www.crawfordsausage.com/

Bobak's Sausage Co's natural casing dogs are also faves of mine. They have so many variants, I'll never work my way thru them... The ones I liked just said Jumbo Natural Casing.
For store locations, hours, etc... see: http://www.bobak.com/

=gordon=

I really need to disagree with the above post. Please...if you're coming to Chicago looking for hot dogs to take home, be sure to get Vienna.These are the Chicago dog. Do not go looking around south side Jewel stores for ( heaven forbid) Daisy dogs /Bobaks or anything else. Those may be fine but I assume that you're looking for something characteristically Chicago, and in that case Vienna is it.

kuhdo,

I have to agree that Vienna dogs are more 'characteristically Chicago'. When you consider the degree of Vienna's market penetration for HotDog Stands, as well as Supermarkets... well... like ChickenMan, 'They're everywhere'.

The guest can be advised to visit: http://www.viennabeef.com/ The site says they have a 'Factory Store' at 2501 N. Damen, and lists both skinless and natural casing dogs. However, I've not seen anything but the skinless variety in supermarkets. I will continue looking, though.

Regarding Crawford Sausage and Bobak's products... I was recommending them based on my opinion of product quality, only. I suggest you give them a try... or not. ;->

=gordon=

gordon_k wrote:kuhdo,

I have to agree that Vienna dogs are more 'characteristically Chicago'. When you consider the degree of Vienna's market penetration for HotDog Stands, as well as Supermarkets... well... like ChickenMan, 'They're everywhere'.

The guest can be advised to visit: http://www.viennabeef.com/ The site says they have a 'Factory Store' at 2501 N. Damen, and lists both skinless and natural casing dogs. However, I've not seen anything but the skinless variety in supermarkets. I will continue looking, though.

Regarding Crawford Sausage and Bobak's products... I was recommending them based on my opinion of product quality, only. I suggest you give them a try... or not. ;->

=gordon=

The, yes indeed, "factory store" is a well-known extrusion of the Vienna factory directly across from Midtown Tennis Club. No need to google.

Tipped off by stevez, I brought home hot dogs from the Romanian Kosher butcher at Clark and Touhy (the 6 to a pound kind--they also have a 4 to the pound), and found them approaching the Platonic ideal of the hot dog.

Romanian Kosher
7200 N. Clark
773 761 4141

Ahhh... there is truth in what you say. Romanian Kosher is indeed another enlightened path not just to hot dog nirvana but also for corned beef ,pastrami and other delicacies (tho I must say I find the Romanian expierience much more sensual than Platonic). In fact , my dear wife was there this very day,picking up some of their outstanding kishke in preparation for the holiday this weekend (and got two excellent kosher chickens which we had for dinner tonite as well). I also find the place much more pleasant now that it's no longer staffed exclusively by persons who seem to have been part of some sort of work release program.

Some may actually find their hot dogs a bit too garlicky (I am not one), but there is no doubt our visiting friend could certainly get a nice bunch of tubular delights there if she wished. I still think Vienna would be the most traditional option but I could never argue with Romanian.

In case anyone cares or has this dietary concern, Romanian Kosher is now offering nitrite-free dogs. They are about 7-8 to the pound. Just as delicious as the regular dogs - salty, garlicy, peppery goodness.

Personally, I love the hot dogs at Paulina Meat Market, on Cornelia and Lincoln. I grew up down the block from it, but the quality of the meat here is always outstanding in my opinion. They're my favorite take-home hot dogs.

Love,
John

kuhdo wrote:Please...if you're coming to Chicago looking for hot dogs to take home, be sure to get Vienna.These are the Chicago dog. Do not go looking around south side Jewel stores for (heaven forbid) Daisy dogs /Bobaks or anything else. Those may be fine but I assume that you're looking for something characteristically Chicago, and in that case Vienna is it.

I have no problem agreeing with the fact that Vienna Beef is an amazing Chicago Dog. In fact, It's easily my favorite large-volume hot dog producer.

I would however, have a problem saying that Vienna Beef is characteristically the best hotdog (no fixin's, just the weenie) in the city of Chicago and that it is the only true representation of a Chicago dog.

And yes I know that Vienna Beef has been around for 114 yrs (since 1893). But you can't look down your nose at Bobaks which have been around since 1967 (40yrs!). And you definitely can't be talking smack about Crawford's (Daisy Brand) who have been around since 1925 (82yrs!).

Hell, if you wanna go by number of years in business in Chicago Oscar Ferdinand Mayer was making and selling dogs on the north-side back in 1883 (124yrs!).

So I guess what I'm saying is if anyone wants a true representation of a Chicago dog you gotta get at least 5 different brands to even scratch the surface.

A few other Chicago based Dogs / Sausage Companies:

David Berg & Company, L.P.
Fabbri Sausage Company
Randolph Packing Company
Red Hot Chicago
Sausages by Amy - Slotkowski Sausages Company - Leon’s Sausages
Sparrer Sausage Company

~GS