Byron's Dog Haus

1017 Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL - (773) 281-7474

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Posted By Michael Stern on 5/11/2005 4:45:00 AM

As plump Polish sausages sizzle on the grill, the Dog Haus counter man dips a ladle into the fryolator (whence commeth the French fried potatoes) to get some hot fat to pour over the grilling tube steaks. The grease helps give them a blackened, crisp skin; it also gives them a look of glistening, sinfully swollen avoirdupois. These are some of the most cumbrous Polish sausages in a city where Polish sausages, along with their all-beef brothers, hot dogs, are matters of serious culinary consideration. If you are a Polish sausage fanatic, it isn't likely you will be blase about the big, charred tubes they serve up at Byron's Dog Haus; you will love them or hate them.

The hot dogs are more civil; and we can recommend them to anyone who likes a substantial, all-beef frank. They are Vienna brand beauties, steeped to plump succulence, with a faint crackle as you sink your teeth into them. Our only complaint is about the buns. They are a bore – small, plain (no poppy seeds), forked right out of their plastic wrapped container (not well-warmed), and therefore redolent of cardboard and plastic wrap.

On the other hand, Dog Haus condiments are fine: eleven different toppings that include strips of green pepper, cucumber discs, piccalilli, squeeze on yellow mustard, onions, sport peppers (hot!), and whole tomatoes that happen to have been cut into slices. Yes, there resting atop your hot dog and all its other condiments is one tomato, not quite still round, because it has been cut into slices; but because the slices don't go all the way through, it stays in one piece ... until you try to eat the dog, at which time everything falls into a splendid mess. The tomato is customarily gilded with a sprinkle of celery salt.

Alongside this good specimen of frankfurter pulchritude, you want French fries. They are skinny and crisp – a suitable spuddy companion to the highly-seasoned sausages that are this restaurant's specialty. Unless you really love French fries, one order is plenty for two.

Note: There are two other Byron's in Chicagoland, at 680 N. Halsted and 1701 W. Lawrence.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

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"An all-beef hot dog is nestled under this wheelbarrow of condiments. Those peppers in the foreground are hot!"
Michael Stern

"Most Roadfood connoisseurs know that Chicago is a great hot dog city. It also happens to be one of the best places for French fries."
Michael Stern

"We're not certain we agree that it is the BEST food in town, like the sign on the wall says, but if you are looking for a classic Chicago red hot experience, Byron's is a good place to have it."
Michael Stern