Chicago's Chili Cheese Dogs

When you come from the land of encased meats there are many varieties of them. From the well known Chicago style to the lesser known original Chicago style, the minimalist version to the Maxwell street Polish to the 100+ generations of family owned Italian delis pumping out amazing homemade Italian sausage to go with the greatest regional sandwich of them all...the Combo.

So to take it back on track, I always get the hankering for a CCD during the wintertime. yes chili cheese dogs are pretty much a national treat and not specific to any one region but in Chicago 8 out 10 hot dog joints serve them. So I decided to test out 10 different spots that I had heard from people, knew of already, or read about somewhere else and see what would happen. Many of these spots are known for other food items but they all had the ability to put out a good CCD from homemade chili, Vienna beef dog etc...

You can get the complete analysis and see how they scored in the hot dog, chili, cheese and fries categories from HERE.


The 10 participants
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Chili cheese Dog from Branko's

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chili cheese dog from Chickie's

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chili cheese dog from Franksville

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chili cheese dog from Huey's

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chili cheese dog from Lulu's

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chili cheese dog from Mr. D's

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chili cheese dog from Pop's

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chili cheese dog from Portillo's

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chili cheese dog from Tore's

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chili cheese dog from Whats the Beef

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Branko's Sandwich Shop
1118 W Fullerton Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 472-4873

Chickie's
2839 S Pulaski Rd
Chicago, IL 60623
(773) 277-2333

Franksville
3550 N Harlem Avenue
Chicago, IL 60634-3629
(773) 237-5848

Huey's
1507 W Balmoral Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640-1207
(773) 293-4800

Lulu's Hot Dogs
1000 S Leavitt St
Chicago, IL 60612-4214

Get Directions
(312) 243-3444

Mr. D's Shish Kebob's
6656 W Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60707
773-637-0042

Pop's Italian Beef and Sausage
10337 S Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60655
(773) 239-1243
Website

Portillo's
100 W Ontario
Chicago, IL
(312) 587-8910
locations throughout Chicagoland

Tore's Beef & Pizza
2804 N Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 486-2600

Whats the Beef
1863 N Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 477-7200

They all look good even though I'm not much of a fan of chili w/ beans.

Fantastic write-up and analysis. You must have made a lot of people in IL happy going around figuring that all out. Great photos too. I'm not even a huge chili dog fan but suddenly I want one for dinner

i grew up 4 blocks from Franksville been going there since the 80's love the chili dog even though i moved we still venture out there.By the way great french fries at MR D'S

Ohhh... To have a Chili Dog from up north again... I've been deprived for the last 11 months now.  Thanks for posting the pics and getting my taste buds all fired up...

It's hard to tell  from some of the pics but which ones of the 10 use 1) a natural casing dog 2) no beans in the chili 3) slice of cheese instead of liquid cheese 4) fresh cut fries.

Any thing other then the above should be eliminated imho

bonus points if they make their own chili

extra bonus points if they fry their own chili that they made.

y'all must not like the way the hot dogs themselves taste because you always put all this stuff on them. why mask the taste of a good dog with all those toppings?
just my opinion.

stricken_detective


extra bonus points if they fry their own chili that they made.

or maybe take a hot dog, encase it in chili, dip it in cornbread batter and deep fry that.  That's an idea.  But lets get back to chili cheese dogs

guspas


It's hard to tell  from some of the pics but which ones of the 10 use 1) a natural casing dog 2) no beans in the chili 3) slice of cheese instead of liquid cheese 4) fresh cut fries.

Any thing other then the above should be eliminated imho

bonus points if they make their own chili

Its all documented in the post...nowhere did it say these are the 10 best in Chi...these are the 10 that I tried...all rec'd but that doesnt mean they are good.
 

sk bob


y'all must not like the way the hot dogs themselves taste because you always put all this stuff on them. why mask the taste of a good dog with all those toppings?
just my opinion.

ahh. When you live in Chicago and can get a good dog at every other block...change can be a good thing and get you customers. Theres no such thing as a "bad" hot dog in Chicago and for real, your gonna tell me that a plain old hot dog be it an all beef or some other special mixed ingredients that isnt close to Vienna Beef's quality is better? Good luck wth that...hot dogs are meant to be dressed...even if its in the minimalist style. Where is a plain old tubed dog on a bun popular?

Come to New Jersey. I can give you some dogs that equal or better Vienna regarding quality, and taste best with just some mustard. We don't need all that stuff on a hot dog. Sometimes less is more. Not saying that I don't enjoy a Chicago Hot Dog. For awhile we had a guy from Chicago serving an authentic version here. He even had a letter from the president of Vienna Beef praising him for bringing a quality Chicago Dog to Jersey. I had so many of them I aquired a taste for them. And I will say that the milder Vienna Beef dog goes better with all of the ingredients which would be overwhelmed and knocked out of balance by a more bolder spiced dog.

sk bob


y'all must not like the way the hot dogs themselves taste because you always put all this stuff on them. why mask the taste of a good dog with all those toppings?
just my opinion.

 
I enjoy hot dogs almost every way...this is just one more.  In a few hours, I'll be slaw dogging it at the Varsity in Atlanta...some days it's a chili cheese, some days Merkt's cheddar dog, some days plain with mustard from one of the butcher shops!  I'm not sure any of us do not like the taste of the hot dog.  I enjoy variety!

guspas

stricken_detective


extra bonus points if they fry their own chili that they made.

or maybe take a hot dog, encase it in chili, dip it in cornbread batter and deep fry that.  That's an idea.  But lets get back to chili cheese dogs

You're an evil genius!!! 

kingt,

another splendid report. you certainly serve your area well.

thanks for your efforts.

sk bob


y'all must not like the way the hot dogs themselves taste because you always put all this stuff on them. why mask the taste of a good dog with all those toppings?
just my opinion.

That might be true in some cases. But I don't think it's any different then putting toppings on a burger. Just variety.

When one asks for a plain dog, just for the flavor of the dog, why get a bun with it then?  Order it on a stick or fork!
I remember the anti bread fad a few years back, and saw one person order a dog on the plate (no bun) with the toppings on the side.  This one made no sense to me either..
As Tastytoo said, variety.. Chili is a condiment.  I grew up on chili dogs (Thanks Dad!).. I prefer the thin sauce thats popular in Michigan.. The dog, some sauce, fresh diced onions and a little yellow mustard is pure Heaven. (Oh, and the shredded pickles they have at Yesterdog (www.yesterdog.com) was OK also!  I am so craving a Midwest Chili Dog right now...