
My long weekend in Chicago was chaotic and exhausting. I got to spend a lot of time with my family and tried some interesting food. But I have to be honest and say that I think I failed when it came to trying some of this city’s classic culinary delights.
For example, I left without eating a deep dish pizza. FAIL. I couldn’t squeeze in a trip to any of the four Rick Bayless restaurants (the guy is lazy and doesn’t work on Sundays AND Mondays, which turned out to be the only free time I had with my nephew’s graduation taking up much of Saturday). DOUBLE FAIL.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I had a list of possible locations to check out the legendary hot dog topped with pickles, hot peppers and creamy mustard. Despite the warnings about no ketchup on a Chicago dog (you know I’m a ketchup fan), I was still up for the taste challenge.
After doing some research, my short list included such buzz-worthy locations like Fat Johnnie’s Famous Red Hots, Superdawg, and the extremely popular Hot Doug’s (where I read the wait can be up to an hour).


Mister J’s definitely had the ambiance of old town Chicago with its greasy-spoon décor. A scan of the menu showed various hot dogs, Italian sausages and gyros. But nothing yelled out “Chicago dog” or at least nothing was labeled such. All I saw was Vienna beef dogs.

Well, my brother-in-law and nieces got the Vienna dog, which I’ve learned now is the elusive Chicago dog (not called Chicago dog when you’re there like how Chinese food is just food when you’re in China). So at least I know how it looks. And my Italian sausage was fine, although slightly dry.
I did get a banana milkshake at Mister J’s and it was perfect!
Mister J’s Dawg ‘N Burger, 822 N. State St. (at Pearson), Chicago, PH: 312.943.4679.
More dog love:
Hot Dogs Put on a Show (Show Dogs)
Frankly It's More Slim Dog than Hot Dog (Let's Be Frank)
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