Yesterday was the last day of service for the Chicago sausage institution, Hot Doug's. For years, they've been putting out all sorts of hot dogs and the lines were almost as legendary as the sausages, especially after Doug announced that they would be closing up for good this October. As soon as the announcement went out, the already long lines (we waited 30-45 minutes in the middle of a random weekday afternoon when we went a few years ago) started becoming hours-long before opening. We had hoped to make one last pilgrimage out to Hot Doug's when we were in Chicago this summer, but with the lines getting as long as they were, we just couldn't do it (mentally or in our schedule).
On our one and only trip to Hot Doug's, we were in the middle of a Chicago hot dog crawl (hopefully we will get around to recapping that at some point), but still indulged in 3 hot dogs and an order of fries (not the famous duck fat fries, since we weren't there on the weekend). We weren't sure when we would make it back again since Hot Doug's wasn't the easiest to get to without a car (and we usually don't rent a car when visiting), so we wanted to make sure we tried a bunch of different things, even if that shortened the rest of our hot dog crawl. In retrospect, it's a good thing we did, since we never did make it back.
One of the sausages for which Hot Doug's was most famous was the foie gras and sauternes duck sausage with truffle aioli, foie gras mousse, and fleur de sel. It sounds decadent, and it absolutely was.
M isn't the biggest fan of foie gras so this sausage wasn't her favorite, but she did appreciate how different it was and how someone who did like foie gras could love this. For her, it was unbelievably rich, almost too rich to even eat half a sausage, but the truffle aioli was quite tasty. A really liked this hot dog, but he's also a bigger fan of rich, decadent food compared to M. The silky creaminess of the foie gras and the truffle aioli offered an amazing array of flavors as well.
We also decided on the bruschetta, mushroom and beer chicken sausage with pesto aioli, roma tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella cheese. We're not sure how often they had this at Hot Doug's since it was on the specials board and not the standard menu (but so was the foie gras and that was probably there most of the time).
It's hard to remember two years later, but from what we remember, this one tasted much more light and fresh than the foie gras. It was basically like eating a light caprese salad on top of a hot dog. A bit messy, but really good. This was really fresh overall despite the heavier mozzarella, and we really liked it because of that.
Lastly, since we were in the middle of a Chicago-style hot dog crawl, we had to try the one they just called The Dog, their Chicago-style hot dog with "all the trimmings." As promised, it came with pickle, tomato, onion, mustard, and neon green relish.
This was a good version of a Chicago-style hot dog and we enjoyed it, but it wasn't our absolute favorite from our hot dog-filled trip. But since we were in Chicago and trying one of these at every other spot we went to, we had to get one here too.
As we mentioned before, we didn't have the opportunity to try the famous duck fat fries, but we did get cheese fries. We were so hungry by the time our food arrived, since it was late afternoon by then, and we dug right into them as soon as we finished taking pictures. They were really good and the cheese was just the right amount of "melty."
It's no surprise that Hot Doug's was a sensation in Chicago. The quality of the sausages was great. They had so many varieties. The menu was always changing. They had weekend only specials like the duck fat fries. Doug himself was always there and you could tell how much he really cared about everyone enjoying their hot dogs. It was a great experience and he really made it special.
Our visit to Hot Doug's was good, but we can't imagine camping out overnight in the rain to be there on the last day. We can't believe there were so many people that they had to cut the line off before a lot of people even woke up for the day. Incredible, but a testament to how loved this place (and Doug) was by the city of Chicago. A bit sad that we weren't able to visit again and try more, but grateful that at least we were able to make that trip once. Goodbye, Hot Doug's!
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