Crain's Chicago Busines put Chicago's hot dogs under the heat lamps in their January 6 edition. Noting the drop in citywide and suburban hot dog stands - an 18% drop over the last decade, the business journal recognized the new chow on the block: gyros, nachos, hamburgers, Italian Beef and brats.
The menus have expanded, several vendors said, due to demand for variety. Italian Beef in Chicago alone has tripled in the last three years at U.S. Cellular Field. And fast food epicureans crave teh Chicago-style version of many common trats that, in much of the U.S. still remains bland or unknown. Mention a Maxwell Street polish outside of the midwest and they'll scratch their heads; say it on Clark and Addison and you'll find smiles amoung fans of the grilled sasauge and onions on a bun. And there may be hamburgers elsewhere, but the Chicago version of a burger is thick, grilled, and accopanied by handcut fries.
Gyros are moving west, and the treats of the Midwest are hot items to displaced urbanites with a hankerin' for authentic Chicago flair. "If it says 'Chicago' on it, its a sale," another local vendor told us. And Chicago-style is expanding to new limitless heights: Howard Eirinberg of Vienna Beef has brought aboard chef Mark Sobczak to re-envision hot dogs. The new-ear food has dogs on a wrap with spianch and provolone, and another on sourdough with honey mustard with three different cheeses. Some of the items are currently being tested for a summer roll-out while Vienna has already teamed up with White Hen Pantry to sell toasted sandwiches.
Scott Landany of Red Hot Chicago is pushing to put his dogs in vending machines. Ladany's grandfather came to America from Austria and sold frankfurters from a cart at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; the venture would become Vienna, which Ladany parted with in 1983. Today's Red Hot Chicago creates Chicago-influenced hot dogs with tradition and flavor in mind. With three times the number of hot dog selling resaurants in Chicago than anywhere else in the nation, there's a lot of tradition to keep up with. -MB
