By Kevin Finch on July 11, 2010
From down the street, it looked like the line waiting for a hot dog or sausage at Hot Doug’s spilled out the front door.
Talk about an understatement.
The full line not only spilled out the front door but twisted out of sight to snake back alongside of Hot Doug’s for half a city block. If it had been a little shorter I would have given up, but a line this long in the middle of a residential neighborhood usually means something epic. There was even a guy in line who had brought his own folding lawn chair… apparently the line was a normal part of the experience.
Then there is the fact that Hot Doug’s actually has a theme song with three separate mixes: rock, techno, and a hybrid. And the full name: Hot Doug’s: The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium. I’ll stand in line to meet a guy who opens an encased meat emporium and hires a band to sing about jonesing for a hot dog.
One hour and 15 minutes later we get a glimpse of the line INSIDE and after a little over an hour and a half we are seated on stools along one wall with our hot dogs and hand-cut duck fat fries (a specialty Doug only offers on Fridays and Saturdays).
Was it worth the wait? Yes.
I ordered the basic hot dog ($1.75) and the duck fat fries. The dog was a classic Chicago dog with essentially a salad on top. I skipped the pickle (which I think overpowers the dog) and I tried Doug’s grilled onions rather than opting for the more common raw.
The verdict? A decent dog.
Yet it wasn’t life-changing. There are plenty of other spots around Chicago for a good basic dog. Next time I’ll spring for something you can only get at Doug’s… something like the “Game of the Week” sausage made that this week was made out of alligator.
I’d certainly get the duck fat fries again. I was braced for more ‘duck’ that there actually was. Yet after a moment of disappointment, I tucked into what turned out to be a great basket of hand-cut shoestring fries with just a hint of the exotic every few bites. I wasn’t expecting subtlety after Doug’s garish decor, but here it was in the last place I expected it: in the fries.
Doug is obviously doing something very right. I’ve never been in line this long where everyone seemed expectant and hopeful rather than angry or resentful. Doug also managed to get my daughter Megan and her friend Alyx to eat something clearly not vegetarian: encased meat and duck fat fries.
The Sausage Superstore and
Encased Meat Emporium
Posted in culture, dining, kitsch, travel | Tagged best Chicago dog, best hot dog, Chicago dog, Chicago IL, Chicago restaurants, duck fat fries, encased meat, fries, hot dog, Hot Doug's, Hot Doug's Encased Meat Emporium, Illinois restaurants, Red Hot, waiting |
By Kevin Finch on July 8, 2010
Twenty years ago on a trip back to school in New Jersey I pulled off Interstate 90 and headed into the heart of Chicago for one reason: pizza. A friend had suggested that the sausage pie at the original Gino’s East on Superior Street was life-changing.
That pizza remains one of the most wonderful meals in my memory.
But rather than attempt a repeat of it today, I instead decided to try the original deep dish pie: Ike Sewell’s pie at Pizzeria Uno. How would it compare to the pizza I remembered from grad school?
The result was quite good. Not life-changing, but good. I probably wouldn’t stand in line too many times for only ‘quite good’ but an hour once was fine.
I ordered two house signature pies: a Numero Uno and a Spinach and Mushroom. The crust reminds me of a cross between a buttery cracker and slightly savory shortbread. The sauce is both tangy and sweet and both pies are every bit as thick as remembered.
Unfortunately, the sum of all the parts didn’t live up to my memory of my first Gino’s pie, but I’m aware memories can be a bit tricky. I might have been disappointed at Gino’s East tonight as well. This said, I need to go back to Superior Street and see. And I’m also hearing rumors about a third spot that might be a real contender: Giordano’s.
Posted in dining, travel | Tagged Chicago IL, Chicago restaurants, Chicago style pizza, deep dish pizza, Gino's East, Giordano's, Illinois restaurants, midwest, pizza, Pizzeria Uno |
By Kevin Finch on July 7, 2010
Given a few more days in Kansas City, I might have managed an exhaustive BBQ survey. Given just one day and two vegetarians for travel companions, I opted for a solo progressive lunch that set two popular BBQ destinations up for showdown: Rosedale Barbecue and Oklahoma Joe’s.
Local insiders independently suggested both: Rosedale with 3/4 of a century of BBQ experience in the city and relative upstart Oklahoma Joe’s with only 14 years of operation out of a gas station in the south end of town.
Rosedale has only been in their current location since 1990, but it somehow managed to pack quite a few more of its distinguished history into the space. It feels like BBQ whereas Oklahoma Joe’s feels more like a cafeteria at a truck stop (which isn’t all that far from the truth). Ambiance goes to Rosedale.
Both serve up tasty pulled pork sandwiches. Rosedale’s is bigger with a great bun and good smoke, but Oklahoma Joe’s was the better sandwich. It’s meat was moist and smokey while Rosedale’s larger portion was on the dry side. I also preferred Joe’s two sauces (one sweet and one hot) to Rosedale’s single signature tangy sauce. Locals claim you either love or hate Rosedale’s sauce. I liked it. I just liked Joe’s more.
In addition to the pulled port I ordered at both places, I also tried one additional meat at each. At Rosedale I ordered Burnt Ends: good flavor again, but also too dry. At Joe’s: a single rib which turned out to be fall-off-the-bone tender and brilliant slathered in either of their sauces.
Yet possibly even more memorable than anything else I tried were the unexpectedly wonderful “corn nuggets” that come as an optional side at Rosedale. I expected something along the lines of a deep-fried cornmeal hush puppy only to be surprised by biting into one to discover a sweet creamed corn inside a crunchy shell. Like their sauce, I expect you will either love the nuggets or find them bizarre. I loved them.
I also appreciated the service at Rosedale. Joe’s is a machine with a line sometimes stretching like a snake through the restaurant out the door onto the gas station asphalt. Rosedale is slower, steadier with a single woman waiting under the “Order Here” sign at the end of the bar. Without out the pressure of Joe’s line, she had the time to talk me through their menu and suggested I try the corn nuggets. I would have missed them on my own and life without having tasted one of those nuggets would be a less wonderous thing.
Here then would be the showdown winners by category:
Ambiance: Rosedale
Best Pulled Pork Sandwich: Oklahoma Joe’s
Best Sauce: Oklahoma Joe’s
Best Side: Rosedale
Service: Rosedale
By unweighted totals, Rosedale wins, but Joe’s meats and sauces (the heart of barbecue in my estimation) were superior. I believe I’m going to have to call it a draw and come back to try them both again. Tough duty that.
When I do I plan to replace the vegetarians with other omnivores so we can and take our run at legendary barbecue as a team. And if we do this, it would be unforgivable not to expand the field to include other storied spots. You are welcome to suggest who should be on the list for round two and any critical categories we must include.
Posted in dining, travel | Tagged barbecue, BBQ, corn nuggets, Kansas City, Kansas City barbecue, midwest restaurants, Missouri restaurants, Oklahoma Joe's, Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, pulled pork, restaurants, Rosedale Barbecue |
By Kevin Finch on July 6, 2010
Of the hundreds of billboards along Interstate 90 for Wall Drug, I think my favorite driving east from Rapid City SD is one about 40 miles from the exit. It says simply “Pretty Near.”
On the food front, I was quite unimpressed with the grill food, but 5 cent coffee and a caramel pecan role will set you back less that $3 and might be one of the best deals on the premises beyond the FREE ice water.
Posted in culture, dining, kitsch, travel | Tagged buffalo burger, caramel pecan roll, coffee, Rapid City SD, tourist trap, Wall Drug, Wall SD |
By Kevin Finch on June 29, 2010
I love opportunities to eat my way across a swath of the country. During the first two weeks of July my daughter’s need to visit several potential colleges has provided a great excuse to load up the car and go eating. Here is where you come in. I simply hate “wasting” a meal in a new town on food from a chain that I can eat back home.
So I’d like your suggestions of places to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner along our planned route. Of course other suggestions of things not to be missed along the way are also welcome, but there is a reason this blog is called Traveling Feast.
Here is our planned route:
Day One: Spokane WA to Bozeman MT
Day Two: Loop down through Yellowstone Park
Day Three: Bozeman MT to Gillette WY
Day Four: Gillette WY to Sioux Falls SD (with a Badlands/Rushmore detour?)
Day Five: Sioux Falls SD to Kansas City MO
Day Six: Kansas City
Day Seven: Kansas City MO to Chicago IL
Day Eight: Chicago
Day Nine: Chicago IL to Madison WI
Day Ten: Madison WI to Sioux Falls SD (again)
Day Eleven: Sioux Falls SD to Billings MT
Day Twelve: Billings MT to Spokane WA
Posted in dining, travel | Tagged Billings MT, Bozeman MT, Chicago, Gillette WY, Kansas City, Madison WI, Road Food, road trip, Sioux Falls SD, travel food, Yellowstone Park |
By Kevin Finch on May 25, 2010
I feel a bit like a Pavlovian dog salivating for another burger that I can’t simply order when I feel like it.
Chef David Blaine from Latah Bistro has begun a culinary experiment called Pop-Up Restaurant. It is a culinary gypsy affair that “pops up” at random mealtimes around the region along trails, in parks, in parking lots. For a donation, you get food. Great food.
No problem with the food. No problem with the random locations. My only problem is my craving for another burger and uncertainty of when I might get to eat one. And if others are reacting the way I am, a desperate mob of people converging on the next location is not out of the question. I may need to prepare by bringing along a sharpened fork.
Posted in culture, dining | Tagged David Blaine, hamburger, mobile restaurants, Northwest restaurants, restaurants, Spokane, underground restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on April 26, 2010
I enjoy menus with a sense of humor. Note the Deluxe Chicken Dinner on this menu noticed by Aly and Jim Williams at the Suds Hut in Helena MT. The question is whether they have the Dom Perignon on hand if you order it.
Posted in culture, dining, kitsch | Tagged chicken, Helena MT, humor, menu, Montana restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on April 1, 2010
I tend to eat as if I’m late for my next appointment. I blame it on the years when the twins were both in high chairs and plastic bibs with expansive bottom pockets designed to catch all the food that didn’t quite make it to their mouths (or did and was rejected).
Eating became frantic and little more than a survival skill for a few years.
The high chairs left the home over a decade ago, but the habit of eating pell mell persisted. I make a fitful effort to slow down for company, but still tend to be the first one wondering if it would be polite to dish up seconds.
Thursday night the wait for a table for six at Toro Bravo in Portland technically stretched dinner from 7 pm until 10 pm, but this mainly enforced leisure rather better pacing at the table. Apparently I’ve still got work to do on the bad habits.
Posted in dining, travel | Tagged Northwest restaurants, Oregon restaurants, Portland, Portland restaurants, restaurants, tapas, Toro Bravo |
By Kevin Finch on March 24, 2010
Scotty Anderson came across the maple bar post about Chuck’s in Renton and sent along a picture of the original building. For what it is worth, the original looks much more hopeful as a place that might have transcendent donuts. I’m not a big fan of strip malls.
Anderson notes that this version of Chuck’s was torn down the month after this picture was taken. He adds:
“The place you went to is pretty much the same spot where the old shop was located. They tore it down and the grocery store (Hop-in Grocery) to make room for the strip mall. The old shop was there from the first time I remember going there sometime in the early 80′s or late 70′s until it was torn down.
The old one had three small tables that sat two people each. There was enough room for a line two people deep and about 7 people wide. There were many times the line went out the door.
I love the maple bars for sure! The Maple Pursian has the same frosting and is bigger. I usually only do half of one of those at a time. The Old Fashioned donuts are also very good. I really haven’t had one that I have not liked.”
Thanks Scotty.
The place you went to is pretty much the same spot where the old shop was located. They tore it down and the grocery store (Hop-in Grocery) to make room for the strip mall. The old shop was there from the first time I remember going there sometime in the early 80′s or late 70′s until it was torn down.
The old one had three small tables that sat two people each. There was enough room for a line two people deep and about 7 people wide. There were many times the line went out the door.
I love the maple bars for sure! The Maple Pursian has the same frosting and is bigger. I usually only do half of one of those at a time. The Old Fashioned donuts are also very good. I really haven’t had one that I have not liked.
Posted in culture, dining | Tagged Chuck's Donuts, donuts, maple bars, Northwest restaurants, Renton WA, restaurants |
By Kevin Finch on March 23, 2010
I’m a sucker for great bread. And over the years I come to the conclusion that great bread rarely comes in a plastic bag. Yet Dave has managed to create loaves that defy my segregated loaf classification. If you haven’t tried it, you should, and Costco will be more than happy to share two loaves with you next time you are in to buy eight gallons of milk, 40 rolls of TP, and a new kayak.
![Caught holding the [bread] bag](http://www.travelingfeast.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Daves-Killer-Bread-Bag-550.jpg "Caught holding the [bread] bag")
If you are skeptical I would add that Dave’s bread make me look forward to eating the heels of the loaf – and I’m a middle man all the way.
Posted in cooking, play |
By Kevin Finch on March 15, 2010
Over coffee this morning, a friend slipped me a gift.
It is a form-fitting, plastic case designed to protect two Pop Tarts in pristine conditions. It didn’t say so on the packaging, but I suspect that every marine now serving overseas is issued one for packing emergency junk food rations. If I was one of the joint chiefs of staff, I’d see that every soldier had one. Two for those with desk jobs.
This friend knows of my fondness for frosted Pop Tarts and decided to poke a little fun at me. I think I can take it especially since it now means I can take two Pop Tarts with me just about anywhere. My only regret is that the case doesn’t appear to have seals to keep liquid out, so if you drop it in milk your Pop Tarts will still get soggy.
Posted in culture, kitsch, play | Tagged junk food, Pop Tarts |
