I just picked up some Ball Park Deli Style dogs at the store. Not bad at all. Nicely seasoned and they have a “snap” that most store-bought dogs don’t have.
G&J’s always have a really good snap when I get them.
The wait is just awful though. I can’t bring the kids there because of the line. Since it’s only about 10 min. from my house every once in a while I’ll get a bunch and try to rush home with them for the kids before the fries go all cold. It’s worth the effort.
Ya know, I have never had Koegel’s natural casing Frankfurters, but all of their other meat prducts I have sampled are decidely sub-par and mass marketed. They suck. Rather have Eckrich over that shit. All they ever done as a corpoorate legacy has undercut quality meats.
This is my favorite place to eat hot dogs http://www.superdawg.com/
I live a hop, skip, and jump (or, alternately, five minute drive) from Hot Doug’s and just a little further from Franks N’ Dawgs. Both places produce absolutely magical dogs. Doug’s is famous for their foie gras topped dawg (worth every penny), but they do a great standard dog as well. FND is an up-and-comer, but they do very, very well using all made-in-house sausage. I basically live in hot dog heaven.
For nationally-available stuff, I’m gonna be a traitor to my city and say that I like Nathan’s. They come out better at home than anything else.
You’re a quick trip from the Vienna Beef factory store where you can get natural casing dogs like the ones at most really good dog shacks and which are almost impossible to find in retail stores. Grab a lb. of these and see how they stack up against Nathan’s.
Excuse me, and I’m trying to be on my best behavior on my return ;), but Portillos is for tourists. OTOH, I’m seeking a decent dog, but I keep getting distracted by their fries. I’m pretty sure Steve’s, on Roosevelt in Lombard, has generic dogs, but GREAT fries.
In fact, from Jimmie’s in Arlington Heights to Superdawg, I’m wondering if a decent Chicago dog ever existed. But if it did, kosher, natural casing, and not boiled. One must have his standards.
OTOH, Oscar Meyer makes “hot dogs” that are long, thin bologna, so ketchup works on them.
Hebrew National Reduced Fat. They’re actually better than the “regular-fat” variety.
I like a Hebrew National or a Sabrett’s if I can get them. However, my super special hot dog is the kind you get on the hot dog carts in Iceland: lamb, natural casing, with “everything” (semi-sweet brown mustard, remolaði, röstad lök, chopped regular onion, and, depending on the cart, a wee bit of ketchup). It is heaven onna bun.
:dubious:
Nah. It may be a chain, but it’s better than about 80-90% of the ma & pops out there because it at least starts with a proper natural casing dog. Portillos is as much “for tourists” as Lou Malnati’s is–they’re both local chains with above-average-to-excellent renditions of their specialties. There may be individual hot dog stands and deep dish pizza places I may rank higher than Portillo’s and Malnati’s, respectively, but to dismiss them as being “for tourists” is just silliness.
Feh. Lou Malnatti’s makes pizza-flavored pudding, but that’s a different thread. 
Their web site says Portillo’s upgraded their trailer in Villa Park to something more permanent in '67. I could swear they moved the trailer to Grand just east of County Line, where I bought an okay dog in the later 70s, but I could be wrong.
Dick Portillo’s brother, Frank, makes some good chicken but I haven’t been able to bring myself to try one of his dogs. Sibling rivalry can go too far.
I grew up in Villa Park. I remember the trailer.
Anyone else remember the Ovaltine factory? 
Back when I jogged I would take the Prairie Path past it. When you are a big guy on a 1200 calorie a day diet it was hellish. And I didn’t even like Ovaltine because it tasted, and smelled, like vitamins. And chocolate. I concentrated on the chocolate because that was as close to chocolate I could get except for Canfield’s diet chocolate soda. Which was disgusting.
We should probably cancel this hijack and start a thread on Chicago cuisine.
So do you even like hot dogs? I’m a bit confused. Sounds like you don’t like any hot dogs in Chicago (which, to me is, is craziness). Are there any other kinds you like?
I’m chasing an impossible dream on a poppyseed bun, I fear. Had a pretty good one at the joint around the corner, though. No indoor seating and then it started to rain so I had to eat the last two bites at once without savoring them. (thinking) Coulda used more onions.
I ran into a previous owner at a PTA meeting and couldn’t recall immediately why I had such warm feelings for her. High school? A drunken college party? No, it was simpler than that: she fed me hot dogs. With regular green relish, not that teal shit.
Teal? Fucking TEAL?
NEON GREEN motherfucker!
We really need our own thread. 
Yeah, count me in on the anti-neon green relish, too. WTF is that shit? Condiments are not supposed to glow. Even Portillo’s knows that.
Oh that’s it!
We’re having a Chicago dopefest - theme: “the perfect hot dog”
All commers welcome!
No holds barred!
Bring us your Cony dogs, your Sanoran dogs, your New York dogs, your Dodger dogs, your Okie dogs, your Ripper dogs, and of course you best Chicago dogs (apologies to those I forgot)!
If we get enough takers I’ll scout a location on the lakefront and we’ll eat copious amounts of tubular meat. I’ll start a new thread to gauge interest.
If you’re game see here.