Chicago Style Vs. New York Style (Food)

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Why is "Chicago style" food generally based on aesthetic maximalism (bigger! thicker! more toppings!) and "New York style" generally based on the food equivalent of minimalism? Which do you prefer?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

False dichotomy, I think. New York isn't minimalist, it's just as you go west that people have tended toward maximalism.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

Is this theory based on anything except pizza?

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:18 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i can't think of anything that applies to this theory besides pizza. matthew, have you been to chicago? you should visit, it's nice. great restaurants (altho not much point in ordering seafood).

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:19 (twenty years ago)

i guess chicago hot dogs could be another example of lots of toppings...

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

I'm not sure I believe in hot dog regionalism. Toppings always seem more like personal taste than some kind of turf war.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:24 (twenty years ago)

it's just as you go west that people have tended toward maximalism.

Actually, I think 'maximalism' peaks around Chicago / Great Lakes area.

The food in the Great Plains is horrific. Food on the west coast is only 'maximal' in the sense that it is maximally shitty.

I'm not gonna take sides, because I hear the food on the east coast is good.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:28 (twenty years ago)

chicago hot dogs are a very specific thing, yeah, but they're not like any bigger without the toppings than hot dogs you can get in nyc, unlike chicago pizza vs. ny pizza.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:28 (twenty years ago)

Food on the west coast is only 'maximal' in the sense that it is maximally shitty.

WTF? I dare you to come dine with me for a week and repeat that.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:31 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I was thinking mainly about pizza and hot dogs. I guess it is more about the midwest and the west than the northeast being all about minimalism, but I find it interesting that the urge for culinary overkill isn't so strong where I'm from.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

LA pizza has always been shitty when i've had it. chicago pizza is great but HEAVY. i *heart NYC pizza.

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

yeah i don't know la food very well, but sf, portland and seattle all have great restaurants. and some of the smaller towns do too. nobody in the east or the midwest should complain about west coast food because at the very least that's where you can get better sushi than anywhere else in the country.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

Just to be clear, I'm not really being judgemental about the quality!

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:36 (twenty years ago)

I hate fish, that's why I didn't have good food out west. The only good fish I had was in Wisconsin.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Basically, the food that is good in Chicago sucked out west.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Doesn't the west coast have a good reputation for Mexican food as well? That's what I always understood, anyway.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

Basically, the food that is good in Chicago sucked out west.

What's really good in Chicago? I'm thinking steak and whatnot, right?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

I'm not sure I believe in hot dog regionalism. Toppings always seem more like personal taste than some kind of turf war.

you should visit montreal then. mtl hot dogs are really something unto themselves.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

All of the 'ethnic' food in Chicago is realllly good.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

Such as...

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

good food things in chicago (listing stuff i can't eat, btw, but have had before i became a vegetarian):

polish, italian sausage
mexican
italian-american
hot dogs
pizza
bbq/ribs/wings
indian

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

soul food, too.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

There's good fish in Wisconsin. And I love the Mexican food in Chicago.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

generally i think sf, socal, the sw, tejas and chicago have the best "mexican" food in the country. i hate to use quotes but they all have their own variations that aren't, like, authentically mexican. but who cares about authenticity anyway?

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

All of the above, plus the Spanish and Middle-Eastern places are good, too. Oh, and don't forget that there are a buttload of really good Greek restaurants. I don't eat meat anymore, either, but when I did, I mostly ate chicken, so I can't really comment on the meat situation.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:51 (twenty years ago)

Authenticity is pretty overrated.

Slocki, what's the deal with Montreal hot dogs?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I don't really know shit about hot dogs, I'm vegetarian too.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

oh i forgot middle eastern and greek. i can only think of one spanish place in river north, but it's pretty good. chicago has good ethiopian too.

chicago hot dogs have pretty specific toppings that other topping hot dog cities don't use, like celery salt.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

I love authentic Mexican food in it's many regional varieties, including Californian.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

Chicago hot dog = hot dog, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, sport peppers, pickle spear, celery salt, poppy seed bun. Very specific.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

If anyone was wondering what this thread is based on, it's the result of me reading an article about hot dogs and then looking at the Road Food website.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

i'm not sure how regional californian mexican food would differentiate from mexican food - which i think is pretty different from "mexican food" in the states. can you elaborate? i'd guess you're not talking about, like, sf burritos.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

i doubt anyone here's been to ecuador (i haven't) but until i became a veggie i always wanted to try a perro caliente.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

I think hot dogs might be the number one meat food I miss. I am weird.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

I'm just curious, hstencil - what food *wasn't* good in Chicago? (Aside from sushi.)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Matthew, I guessed that, because that's how they market Chicago food. Don't get me wrong, I love the pizza and all, but Chicago has tons of good food that it's not 'famous' for. It's based on a stereotype, I think, that Chicagoans are fat and lazy and unrefined.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

No sauerkraut on Chicago dogs? Sweet, I hate that stuff.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

Perhaps I'm just naive, but I find it hard to believe that there are certain types of food that you can't find prepared well in certain cities, like NO GOOD SUSHI IN CHICAGO or whatever.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

montreal hot dogs are generally STEAMED and served on soft buns that are frequently fried on each side in butter (though not always). when served "tout garni" (or "all-dress") they are topped with mustard, relish, onions, and cole slaw. they're also small and sell for about $.50-$1.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

Nick - EAT ONE HOT DOG!

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

NO!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

chicago-style hot dogs are nasty. it's like an over-dressed salad dumped on a weenie, wtf?

fresh, cheap sushi and good chinese are very hard to find in TX.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

The West Coast has many good things. We shall foist them on Stevie.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

Now I have to decided whether to go to the new El Faro for lunch or that sausage place across the street that has bratwurst or maybe just a polish.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

The grilled bun sounds like a little much, but the Montreal dog sounds more my speed. I'm not really into toppings, but those are toppings I would certainly favor over hot peppers, chili, cheese, etc.

I was actually kinda surprised to learn that it is customary to fry hot dogs in lower New England, and that people are apparently way into hot dogs in Connecticut. I live really close to CT, and had no idea.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

n/a, there are good sushi restaurants, but in a city that is on a freshwater lake and 800 miles from the nearest ocean (which isn't the one where sushi developed as a cuisine), i think it's safe to say that most of it is not so hot. there is good japanese in chicago, though, like the sunshine restaurant way north which is like home cooking style. and there used to be a good sushi place at chicago and state where pretty much only japanese businessmen ate, but it closed a long time ago.

there are other bad food styles in chicago. there's a lot of bad bar food, and some lame upscale knockoffs of stuff that's better in other cities. and honestly i was never partial to polish or italian sausage, but they're big chicago staples, so...

sam have you had a chicago-style hot dog? it's better than the description.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:11 (twenty years ago)

I don't think I've ever really had decent Chicago-style pizza. But even still, I find it hard to compare it to NY and Italian style pizza because it just seems like a related but essentially different sort of food, kinda like how I'd never consider lasagna to be a bowl of spaghetti.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

If there's good sushi in Madison, WI (and there is), I'm sure there's good sushi in Chicago.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:13 (twenty years ago)

i don't think you can really get good french in chicago either but i could be totally wrong.

most sushi in america is frozen, anyway. even on the east coast.

the chicago-style pizza you can get in nyc (at chains like uno or smaller joints) is horrible. you really have to go there to get it made right.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

the "no good sushi" thing in certain areas is probably the closest to the truth out of geographical food pronouncements, because sushi is mainly dependent on the quality and freshness of the fish. you're just not going to get the freshest fish in most parts of the states.

xpost

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

I have had a Chicago style hot dog in Gary IN so I figure it was pretty authentic.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

italian beef sandwiches with sweet peppers, mmm

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

I love chicago-style, but then I love all hot dogs indiscriminately.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Jordan i don't wanna get all gygax! on ya but i'd submit that if you haven't had sushi in places besides Madison and Chicago (the former has great food for the size town it is, btw), then you really haven't had good sushi. that's not a dis on gygax! btw, dude knows his japanese cuisine.

ah, gary, indiana. how i miss thee.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

the chicago-style pizza you can get in nyc (at chains like uno or smaller joints) is horrible. you really have to go there to get it made right.

Right, that's what I always assumed. It's more or less the same deal with NY and Italian style. As with most anything, it depends greatly upon the technique and skill level of the chef.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Gary, IN is like the stupid cousin of Chicago, the one that can't get any recipe right, steals your money, and smells like oil.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

also i think italian-american style (which is significantly different from actual italian, btw) in chicago is way different than its counterpart in nyc. they both can be good tho.

no way! gary gave us michael jackson. er...

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:19 (twenty years ago)

in Chicago, the best pizza can be found at Gino's, Due's, Giordano's, Lou Malnati's, and several others that escape me at the moment. Where I lived there wasn't much in the way of Chicago style pizza, it was mostly "pub pizza", where they'd just cut a thin crust pizza up into small squares.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

I'm no sushi expert Stence, but I've had sushi in NYC and L.A. too, and I thought the best sushi I've had in Madison (Restaurant Muramoto) was pretty comparable. I've never actually had it in Chicago though.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

the chicago-style pizza you can get in nyc (at chains like uno or smaller joints) is horrible. you really have to go there to get it made right.

I'm not disputing this, but I don't understand how it could be true. Surely there are enough Chicago transplants in NYC that one of them could start a pizza place that does it right? What's up?

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:22 (twenty years ago)

I think maximalism of both quantity and quality becomes more prominent the further south one goes, peaking in South Louisiana.

― adam (adam), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:22 (twenty years ago)

Half my family is from Gary and I have a strange fascination with it. It's so dismal and forlorn. . .

the NY chinese thread really made me want good chinese WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND IN AUSTIN!

I swear to god all we eat is Mexican and BBQ. . .I have to beg my BF, "No mexican pls"

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

my friend (getting her mls at ut) is going nuts over the chinese food lack.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

The grass is always greener - I wish that we had a lot of good bbq up here. There's some places in NYC, but it's generally pretty rare in NY state, unless you count steak house type places, which I don't.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

There aren't any good Chicago-style pizza places in my area, as far as I can tell. er, "BJ's" Restaurant claims to have Chicago style pizza, but they're full of shit and so is their pizza. Loads of great Chinese food and sushi and Mexican food though. And a strangely high number of bars with good food as well.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:26 (twenty years ago)

The 'NYC has the best Chinese' line is one that I'm inclined to believe, actually. At least, I wish there were better Chinese joints around here.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

gear totally otm re: chicago pizza.

jordan, even most sushi in nyc and la is frozen at some point.

n/a, most new yorkers don't want chicago-style, so there isn't much point to opening a good place since those that do they can just get uno.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

hey don't get me wrong. I love Messican and BBQ. Texan food is one of the things I missed most when I lived in NYC. But a little variety would be nice. . .

I'm trying to convince my BF we need to spend a weekend in Houston. Despite my constant maligning of that city, it does have some good food.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

Oh, the food in Madison is great, btw. I had lots of good vegetarian 'ethnic' food there.

You can get good authentic southern Italian food in Chicago, but you have to know someone who knows where it is (i.e., they don't advertise). My dad took me to some place in Bridgeport that had pasta dishes like my great-grandma used to make, so I figure it must be pretty authentic.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

i'd bet a lot of west coast cities would give nyc chinese a run for its money. and it can be found in some "flyover states" but in general what most americans think is chinese food is actually garbage.

xpost yeah houston is supposed to have lots of good asian food, more than most places in tejas or the south.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

i went to this awesome korean place in madison once. as good as anything here.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

yeah, k3rry's totally right, the best italian (and closest to authentic to italian) food in chicago is on the south side.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

i would think the chinese food in SF is a lot better than nyc.

― phil-two (phil-two), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

I actually don't eat at Italian restaurants all that much. My grandpa & great-grandma and even my mom made better Italian food.

― smells like tuna (dymaxia), Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

yeah, same here. my stepdad's italian is way better than anything i could get at most restaurants. the italian place down the block from me (run by italian italians, not italian-americans) is pretty awesome tho.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:17 (twenty years ago)

What's the name of that place, hstencil?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

there is good japanese in chicago, though, like the sunshine restaurant way north which is like home cooking style.

this place is kinda gross, imho.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:44 (twenty years ago)

mirai sushi and heat sushi are 2 excellent places in chicago!

― phil-two (phil-two), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

I find it hard to compare it to NY and Italian style pizza because it just seems like a related but essentially different sort of food, kinda like how I'd never consider lasagna to be a bowl of spaghetti.

I agree.

In addition to the toppings, a hot dog isn't a chicago-style hot dog unless it has a natural casing. This ties into n/a's question about why can't some ex-chicagoans open decent places elsewhere: some of the crucial ingredients are made/distributed in Chicago and it'd be economically unfeasable to get them delivered to your lil hot dog n beef stand in, say, LA that's struggling to make a profit. That being said, I had a pretty damn good stuffed pizza while in Santa Fe (dude grew up in NYC but said he learned the art of pizza making in Chicago).

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)

locanda vini. sometime this summer i won't live by it anymore : (

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

hey gear, supposedly a Portillo's is gonna open in LA this summer!

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

I really wish I liked Chicago's pizza and hot dogs better than New York's, but I just don't. It seems to me that a grilled dog is a million times more texturally satisfying than a boiled one, and there's a terrific awkwardness to trying to eat overloaded Chicago dogs in typical hot-dog eating situations (standing, walking), and really, I like my toppings reduced enough to actually taste the dog itself. Pizza-wise it's slightly more complicated. Chicago-style is great on the rare occasions (like, not even annual) that I'm in the mood for something that dense, but most days I'm not big on the heaviness. Or the crust. That said, I feel like New York style pizza in New York is one of those things that's so onmipresent that standards fall lower and lower, and the average slice kinda sucks ass, and really I can think of places in Chicago that make New York style pizza better than most places here. In any case, my main pizza criteria tends to be that I like it saucy, and with a good sauce, and you can wind up getting this from either end.

In terms of restaurant eating in general I have every economic reason to prefer Chicago. New York would be terrific if I had the time and money to eat at good restaurants, but I don't. Whereas Chicago's options for casual dining and quick eats can be kind of remarkable -- Punjabi Deli alone just can't compete.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

this place is kinda gross, imho.

That's crazy talk! The food there is so good. Especially the big bowl os soba noodles and tofu. I got fish there one time on special, and it was glazed with a miso sauce. That was seriously some of the best fish I've ever eaten.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:13 (twenty years ago)

nabisco almost every dog vendor on the streets of new york boils.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:15 (twenty years ago)

oh wait yeah i noticed that! jaymc how could you possibly not like sunshine? sooooooooo gooooooood.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:16 (twenty years ago)

hstencil almost every nabisco in new york does not eat hot dogs off the street

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

yeah there's lots of good pizza in chicago that isn't "chicago-style", ie thin crust.
i'm not much of a fan of having ALL the toppings on my dog, but that's the beauty of it. you can mix n match it to suit you.
do NY dogs have natural casings? iow, is there that lil crunchy layer on the outside?

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

I don't like chicago style pizza. Too much, I prefer minimal pizza. I love chicago hot dogs though. pickles, sport peppers and celery salt are soo good together.

I do miss sour kraut on hotdogs sometimes.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

I don't trust people who don't like stuffed pizza. This is why I never turn my back on my dad.

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:31 (twenty years ago)

the most fantastic hot dog I've ever had is here in Austin on Red River. Next to a bunch of clubs is a big yellow truck with this dude's picture and "Hot Dog King" on the top. Awesome.

He splits his weenies down the middle, then grills them so it's grilled inside and out. YUM. I love his dogs crazy much and when drunk and downtown will visit his cart repeatedly during the night.

One Saturday night he was super busy and I suggested he find himself a "hot dog prince." He said he was actually looking for a "weenie queenie" and wanted to know if I was single. *sigh* I'm now teased by everyone about my boyfriend the hot dog vendor. (NB I was/am not single and am therefore not a Weenie Queenie)

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

where would one get hot dogs NOT off the street in nyc, nabisco? i can only think of f&b and sparky's, both of which are great but really have nada to do with nyc hot dogs.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:53 (twenty years ago)

STREET DAWGS.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

oh and daddy's, natch. that's about the only place i can think of where you can get a true nyc hot dog.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

Hstencil, you're forgetting Grey's Papaya/Papaya King.

And though it's a chain, Nathan's is a pretty big deal.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah, duh! i must be insane, i think i even just walked by a grey's a few minutes ago. i've never eaten at one, tho.

nathan's, while pretty essentially ny, is a semi-national chain now.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

Grey's Papaya and Papaya King aren't anything special. The main draw for those places is that they are iconic and extremely cheap.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

RECESSION SPECIAL

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:06 (twenty years ago)

So, I'm curious - when people have cookouts in Illinois, do they insist on dressing their hot dogs "Chicago style," or do they just stick to mustard, relish, and saurkraut?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

depends

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

I've never had relish or sauerkraut on any hot dog. most people don't stock sport peppers etc at home. but they should!

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:19 (twenty years ago)

Damn, I could use a well-grilled brat. Or a well-boiled Best's kosher hot dog.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

TS: White brats vs Dark brats

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

I've been to lots of summer BBQs where there were diced tomatoes and onions for the dogs along with kraut and relish. It's not that rare, is it?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

again, depends

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

I like dark for no especially good reason.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, obviously it depends, I was just wondering if it was relatively common.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

i've seen it at nyc bbqs!

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:33 (twenty years ago)

Chicago hot dog = hot dog, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, sport peppers, pickle spear, celery salt, poppy seed bun. Very specific.
-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), April 28th, 2005 11:57 AM. (inca)

"shredded lettuce"??? WTF dude? There ain't no "shredded lettuce" on a Chicago hot dog. Sheesh. No wonder you've got such a provincial view of chicago foodstuffs. You've got your facts wrong. And you forgot the onions.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 29 April 2005 02:15 (twenty years ago)

Well if you want to be an unforgiving douche about it, fine!

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 29 April 2005 02:34 (twenty years ago)

im glad its onions and not shredded lettuce. i love onion!!!!

― phil-two (phil-two), Friday, 29 April 2005 02:47 (twenty years ago)

haha he snuck shredded lettuce in there and i didn't even notice!

yes onions definitely. sometimes you'll get cucumber slices, too.
my preference is onions, tomatos, sport peppers, and ketchup.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:03 (twenty years ago)

what are sport peppers? i stopped eating meat before i moved to chicago.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:08 (twenty years ago)

lettuce on a hot dog would be a national tragedy.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

but you were close enough to chicago before that to know of the sport pepper!
it's, uh, a lil yellow pepper that's been soaked in vinegar. not spicy.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

lately i've been opting for sriracha sauce on my (home-prepared) dogs instead of ketchup, which I highly recommend.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:14 (twenty years ago)

like banana peppers?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:19 (twenty years ago)

i just got a chili dog, but it was gross. the chili was bland, and the hot dog was steamed.

― phil-two (phil-two), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

no, much smaller. a lil bit smaller than your pinky. or mine at least. i have small fingers.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:27 (twenty years ago)

haha check out this

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

whoa i fucked that up. check out this menu: http://www.pizzachicago.com/sf/textonlymenu.html

Perfectly fits my stereotype of a "chicago" restaurant in another locale. Has anyone ever had provolone on a beef?
I like how one of the desserts is NEW YORK cheesecake!

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:42 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.firebreath.com/core/media/media.nl?id=641&c=ACCT89406&h=89c6747baed6c9ac5d7b

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago)

HOLY SHIT YES, A PORTILLO'S IS COMING IN THE FALL OF 2005!

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:47 (twenty years ago)

That has been MY idea for YEARS! Open Portillo's and/or Giordano's in LA and PHX, possibly somewhere in Florida, ie wherever there's a buttload of ex-chicagoans. I don't know how it went so horribly wrong for Pizzera Uno.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:51 (twenty years ago)

There's a place in Burbank called Taste Chicago, which is overpriced, but alright. Very good Italian beef sandwiches.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Friday, 29 April 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

yeah i've heard of that place. i think that's the one owned by frank montegna. or no wait, that one chicago comedian that's on letterman a lot. driesen? Luna, see, go there.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 29 April 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)

Joe Mantegna's wife owns it, I think. They have Sicilian-style pizza there (not Chicago-style). I haven't tried it.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Friday, 29 April 2005 05:11 (twenty years ago)

fresh, cheap sushi and good chinese are very hard to find in TX.

My favorite Chinese place is a local one that does very good Chinese, and with "authentic" dishes as well as the Americanized stuff, and all of it tastes really good, and it's a BUFFET place! But the food's very fresh because it's such a popular place. Plus, Blue Bell ice cream!

And I've had good sushi here before, though obv you wouldn't find it just anywhere.

Authentic Mexican food is more like what is called "Tex-Mex" than what you'd think. Enchiladas, barbacoa, borracho beans, "Mexican rice" -- all of these are actual authentic stuff, and even fajitas are rooted in authentic Mexican ways of preparing meat, i.e. grilling it. Another authentic Mexican so-called "Tex-Mex" dish is menudo. I don't know if I could eat the variation of menudo that throws in all manner of offal, but I do like the kind that just has the tripe and hominy. And pigs' feet, but only for flavor, and I would NOT eat that meat.

Refried beans are Tex-Mex, though I think Mexico's claimed it for themselves. Tacos are traditional street food, but not so much the crispy kind. You can fill tacos with almost anything that's savory. Salsa is authentic -- actually, "salsa" is Spanish for "sauce", and Mexico does up all kinds of sauces, from the mole and spicy salsa Americans know well to all kinds of tomatoey-based sauces that are out there. Actually, these kinds of sauce-based foods are what I most often consider to be "home cooking", because Dad used to do up all kinds of meat dishes in sauce. My absolute favorite was one that he did with diced weiners and potatoes -- it was tomato-based, thickened with cornstarch and flavored with just salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cilantro.

Oh yeah -- cilantro reminds me of how authentic Mexican soups ALWAYS include cilantro, and as a result, I don't like any "regular" soup (chicken or beef) that DOESN'T include cilantro. I consider American-style chicken or beef soup to be too salty and bland; I feel like there needs to be less salt and more cilantro flavor. Oh, and I love having soup with the small bowl of Mexican rice on the side.

Um, but I *do* get tired of Mexican. Mostly because I get an overdose of it, though. It's like most of my relatives only seem to want to eat Mexican food, and I'm including Mom in that. And I do try to stray from that, but Mom's kinda set in her ways. I guess it would be different if I were able to go my own way, but I can't, not while I'm Mom's caretaker. And George Lopez's comedy routine is SO right re: the impossibility of being able to separate oneself from the familial unit. Anyway. Different thread.

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:05 (twenty years ago)

Oh, but getting back on the subject of FOOD -- San Antonio's going through some crazy kind of food renaissance! There are, like, five Thai restaurants that I know of that I can go to without any trouble at all, and at least three Indian restaurants, including one that I was actually able to drag Mom to that had really delicious food. Really filling, too. Actually, Indian food reminds me a bit of the Mexican home cooking that I grew up with -- it's really hearty, really spicy, and really flavorful. Plus, naan totally reminds me of really great, substantial tortillas!

Anyway, so we've now got all kinds of Thai and Indian restaurants, and now the big thing is Vietnamese! There's a pho place that opened up maybe 1/4 of a mile away from my house in a restaurant space formerly occupied by a bad Southern-style restaurant. Now, I have no idea what good pho would taste like, nor have I actually tried the pho from this place, but -- DAMN. You wouldn't have been able to see this kind of thing even twelve years ago!

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:10 (twenty years ago)

As for pizza -- I figure New York style AND Chicago style are equally delicious. I'm such a pizza freak, anything but Californian is good to me. Oh, and Little Caesar's, though it'll do in a pinch. And the "innovative" stuff that Domino's dreams up.

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:13 (twenty years ago)

where would one get hot dogs NOT off the street in nyc, nabisco?

crif dawgs and dogs on park both have grilled hot dogs, as does the cart on the corner of ludlow and stanton (out on weekend nights). at the latter, homemade kimchi is a topping option, and the guy also sells real lemonade and ginger tea.

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 29 April 2005 09:13 (twenty years ago)

OMG, there is a new hot dog place that opened in Milwaukee on the corner of Brady & Farwell that is amazing. They've got the real Chicago thing with sport peppers and celery salt and all that, and then whatever else you could want (spicy dogs, polish sausages, 1/4 kosher dogs, etc.), on perfect poppyseed buns. I love these men for loving hot dogs.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

I need to go back to Hot Dougs. I haven't been to their new location yet.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

Btw the place in Milwaukee is called THE DOGG HAUS.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

i need to go back to milwaukee. sometimes i think if i had to move back to the midwest, it'd be either milwaukee or madison for me.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 2 May 2005 15:02 (twenty years ago)

Right on.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 2 May 2005 15:09 (twenty years ago)

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