Chicago eats: Tips for traveling Phillies fans
Wurst case scenario?
In anticipation of a July 4 weekend trip to Chicago, I put out a call for dining tips on Twitter and was rewarded with a slew of suggestions -- many more options than we could fit in our 54 hours.
Chicago is an incredible casual-dining town, as Chicagoans will be quick to remind you. While we in Philly may fret over sundry cheesesteak and roast pork rivalries, Chicagoans indulge in deep passions over hot dogs, beef, and burgers. Mrs. O'Leary's cow never stood a chance. And then there's the whole deep-dish pizza thing.
With the Phillies starting a four-day stand at Wrigley on July 15, I thought I'd share a few notes for Phils fans headed there. This is in no way a "best of Chicago" list -- just some observations. We found no time on this trip to sample Italian beef, and for the record, I detest deep-dish.
Billy Goat's (hat-tip to Kylesturgeon)
It's just as you'd picture it from the Saturday Night Live skits back in the '70s, when John Belushi (Pete Dionasopolis) babbled "cheezborger cheezborger ... no Coke, Pepsi ... chips, no fries" as Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray worked the counter and grill at the Olympia Cafe. The original Billy Goat's, the skit's inspiration, is not so much a hole in the wall as a hole in the ground. It's a '70s-vintage, time warp, old-man bar down a flight of stairs off Lower Michigan near the Tribune Tower, six steps down from the street. House specialty is the "cheezborger," a thin beef patty served beneath a slice of cheese-food product on an honest kaiser roll. The counter guy (see my video clip below) will size you up and tell you what to order. No one orders a single ($3.05). You get the $4.95 double cheezborger and you will like it. Top it with pickles, chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard. And you do not get fries. Chips. And no Pepsi -- Coke. Eat at a red-and-white-checker-topped table and gaze at the display of cops' photos and newspaper clips behind the bar, where the taps offer Schlitz and two kinds of "Billy Goat" beer, a lager and, fittingly for this dive, a dark.
Billy Goat's, 940 Michigan (lower), plus other locations
Hot Doug's (hat-tips to hollymoore, Handsome_pete, Bjcohen76)
Definition of "crazy": Someone who'd stand for two hours in the blazing sun to order a hot dog. That was what we thought before our visit to Hot Doug's, which is well off the tourist track. (From downtown, it's a long, $2.25 El ride followed by a mile walk, or a $16 cab ride.) Affable dog-trepreneur Doug Sohn has gotten much mileage on the food shows with his cheery, corner luncheonette that serves plain and fancy variations of encased meats.
The wait only heightens the pleasure. Keep telling yourself that. By the time he opens at 10:30 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, Sohn has a line. At 4 p.m. precisely, he sends out an employee to mark the end of the line. Arrive at 4:01, and you are out of luck. Everyone in line will get fed, which means he might close as late as 5:55 p.m. He's closed on Sundays. It's cash only.
We arrived in the aforementioned $16 cab at noon sharp, and made it to the counter at 2 p.m. on the dot. There's plenty of seating, and your food is brought out in a jiffy. No one orders one dog. As a baseline, we each had a Chicago-style dog ($1.75), which is a skinny frank topped with a sliced pickle, tomato, onions, yellow mustard, relish, and celery salt on a poppy-seed bun. We chose fancier for the second: I had the cherry and apple pork sausage with sweet curry mustard, cocoa Cardona cheese and vodka-infused dried fruit ($7.50) for a sweet-and-savory change of pace. My wife was wowed by the BLT Dog ($8), which was a bacon sausage (!) topped with avocado mayo, iceberg lettuce, cherry tomato, and shredded sweet, smoked Swiss. We shared an order of duck-fat fries ($3.50, served Fridays-Saturdays only) and without hesitation decided to walk to the El.
Hot Doug's, 3324 N. California, cash-only
Somewhere I heard about the stuffed (or inside-out) burgers at this mini-restaurant chain, so we stopped at the South Loop location on Dearborn. You can dine by the street on a patio, or inside in a high-ceilinged, old-fashioned bar-slash-restaurant that reminded me of the old H.A. Winston's chain. The French-fried onion loaf, in which Spanish onion get battered and deep-fried is a specialty. The Hackneyburger is built on 8 ounces of beef and is served on a chewy bun or dark rye, with a side of coleslaw and fries. I got mine inside-out, filled with Cheddar and bacon. Not willing to go all in, I got steamed broccoli on the side instead of fries. But I snarfed the slaw. Tasty burger, though the signature Roquefort-stuffed burger from Good Dog in Philly beats it soundly.
Hackney's Printer's Row, 733 S. Dearborn, plus other locations
Just a few blocks from Hackney's, smack dab on Michigan Avenue, is the lone Chicago restaurant attached to Chicago-bred Philly transplant Jose Garces. It's a Catalan-style restaurant lounge that dwarfs his Amada and Tinto in the sexy department, with soaring ceilings and dramatic lighting. We weren't rolling fancy on this trip, so I went to the bar for a glass of wine (Castell del Remei Gotim Bru, $11) and an appetizer ($8 for a sampler of six ham croquettes).
Mercat a la Planxa, 638 S. Michigan Ave.
This was a drop-in. After an epic Saturday bike ride along the lake, we staggered back to our hotel, showered, and Google-mapped our location in search of a one-dollar-sign restaurant that would seat us in shorts and T-shirts at 9:05 p.m. without a wait. This Thai-Japanese restaurant, on the sixth floor of a shopping mall anchored by Bloomingdale's, happened to be open. And no wait. Sold. Just about everything -- in our case, pad Thai and basil chicken -- was delicious and under $10, and service was Midwestern friendly.
Baisi Thai, 900 N. Michigan
Futhermore:
Burgerbaroness and Alexrolfe suggest Kuma's Corner, a heavy-metal-theme burgery not far from Hot Doug's.
Portillo's hot dogs get nods from Dixieluxe and Kylesturgeon, and I've sampled them on previous Chicago trips and found them just fine.
Wiener's Circle was on Beerlass' short list.
Amiehartnett recommends italianbeef.com for reviews of local Chicago beef/hot dog joints. Her fave is Jimmy's Place in Arlington Heights -- well off the tourist path. Hollymoore, an inveterate budget-diner, leans toward the beef at Al's on Taylor, washed down with a Mario's Italian Lemonade across the street.
Numerous Twitterati including Colleenwatts and Beerlass tout meals at the refined pubs Gage and Publican.
Though not from first-hand experience, MainLineDine is intrigued by the Three Little Pigs sandwich from the Silver Palm.
Avoid eating at Wrigley Field. It's sad what Levy does to a hot dog and it's possibly sacrilegious what it happens to deep-dish pizza. The setup has all the charm of the final days of Connie Mack Stadium.