Posted by Michael Stern on January 20, 2007
Poochies has only two tables in the front room, plus three two-tops in a dark corridor in the back. Service at the order counter, while always fun and sassy, seems chaotic (but somehow always works), and is light-years away from the gracious rituals of fine dining. When the man behind the counter tells you your food is ready, you carry it yourself to the chest-high eating shelf at the perimeter of the room, unwrap it, and consume it sitting on a stool or standing. When done, toss your refuse in a can and be on your way. It is a ten-minute meal, if that.
Informal though it may be, the food Poochie’s serves is exquisite. To us, a meal at Poochie’s is more delicious and more deeply satisfying than the finest, fanciest $100 dinner. Star of the menu is the humble all-beef hot dog nestled in a steamed-soft Rosen’s bun and available with the full array of Chicagoland frankfurter condiments: mustard, piccalilli, raw onions, sliced tomato, pickle spears, ground pepper, and celery salt, plus deliriously tasty sweet grilled onions. You can also get your dog topped with barely-melted cheddar cheese – a fabulous addition not only to hot dogs, but to Poochie’s hamburgers and its hand-cut, fresh-from-the-fry-basket French fries.
Beyond taut, plump red hots that are steamed, Poochie’s offers crunchy-surfaced char dogs, cooked over coals until their skin is chewy-dark and flavored by the fire. Polish sausages are plumper, porkier sausages that are slit in a spiral pattern to attain maximum crunchy surface area as they cook. And if one in a bun of any of these tube steaks is insufficient for your appetite, you can get either a jumbo dog or a double. Our personal favorite meal is a jumbo char dog with cheddar fries (superb fries!) on the side.
Poochie’s is proud of its char-cooked hamburgers, and we like them very much, especially piled high with those sweet grilled onions. But if you are passing through Chicago and stop at Poochie’s with time for only one street-food indulgence, make it a red hot with the works and a side of fries. This meal is why you cannot argue with a Chicagoan who boasts that Windy City hot dogs reign supreme.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
Char Burger
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"In this close view of a well-dressed Poochie's hot dog, you can see just how fresh the bun is: a vital part of hot dog excellence in Chicago."
Michael Stern
"The hot dogs are so compelling that it is possible not to pay attention to Poochie's first-rate French fries. Many customers get them blanketed with melted cheese: a delicious idea, but one that compromises the fries' outstanding crunch."
Michael Stern
"Poochie's is a plain-looking storefront with exquisite hot dogs inside."
Michael Stern
"A hot dog with the works, French fries, and a char-cooked Polish"
Michael Stern
"Poochie's logo is a happy dog. Many of Chicago's best red hot restaurants have a canine-themed name."
Michael Stern
"Behold the Char Burger, a work of art made from the finest material, including grilled sweet onions, bright green picalilli, mustard and ketchup, a toasted fresh bun, and a handsome slab of meat. Also, can you see the sprinkle of celery salt (on the pickle spears)? That, too, is an essential Chicago garnish."
Michael Stern
"Relatively speaking, Poochie's is fairly deluxe in that it offers stools to sit on at the counter. There are even a few tables in back. We personally prefer standing and leaning forward on the counter as we eat. Note the dozens of articles on the wall -- all, of course, praising this most excellent Chicago eatery."
Michael Stern
"We so enjoy the salad-like condiments and garnishes customarily applied to a hot dog here, that we tend to forget just how wickedly good the grilled onions can be. They are soft, sweet, and rich beyond measure."
Michael Stern
