What is the your favorite Chicago food stand?

[DeMaFrost]

I'm looking for those truely urban gritty hot dog/hamburger/euros places in the city.

My favorite is actually just outside the city limits in River Grove at a place called Gene & Jude's.

http://www.hollyeats.com/images/Chicago/GeneJude-Counter.jpg
http://www.hollyeats.com/images/Chicago/GeneJude-Sign.jpg
http://www.hollyeats.com/images/Chicago/GeneJude-Bldg.jpg
http://www.hollyeats.com/images/Chicago/GeneJude-Menu.jpg

They specialize in real Chicago style hot dogs, available with only mustard, relish, onions and peppers. Thats right, as all Chicagoans know, NO KETCHUP :). All served in a single package with french fries. This isn't a restaurant, it's an institution.

Two other places I've found in the city: Maxwell's over on Halsted near the UIC Campus and Demon Dogs found on Fullerton under the Red Line stop on the DePaul campus.

I'm sure there are thousands more like this, share your favorites!

[Steely Dan]

i grew up a couple blocks away from "Mustard's Last Stand" in evanston. my friends and i were EXTREMELY frequent patrons because not only did mustards serve up the traditional vienna dogs, polishes, and beefs in the chicago style, they also had ice cream and nothing washes down a chi-style dog like a vanilla malt -mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


here's a tiny pic, it's all i could find on google:
http://evanstonillinois.net/a-photos/mustardslaststand.jpg


i miss mustards. but i guess it wasn't all that terribly distniguished from other chicago hot dog stands, i just remember all the great times hanging out with friends there, throwing fries at eachother out in the patio, teasing the girls that you secretly liked, filling up on dogs and cruising around the neighborhood on our bikes thinking we were the hottest shit in the world, LOL. mustards has such a wonderful place in my memeory because it was one of those places that you would just go to and meet up with your friends and there weren't any parents around......so liberating when you're 10 years old.

ah.......... good times, childhood.

[matthew_p2004]

I haven't been to Chicago for like 10 years, so I was too young to remember anything about the food, but I do really want to try this hamburger place I saw on the travel channel and I want to try some REAL Chicago pizza.

[bobablob]

Wiener Circle!

I'll have a F***ING HOT DOG hold the mother-F****ING ONIONS!

*pay, smile awkwardly...duck!*

[edsg25]

Lots of great places, but for one that has more than one location, Portillo's is without peer.

Sharptent, agree about Mustard's Last Stand....do you remember another great place, Hot Dog Island, that used to be at Central, Crawford, and Grosse Pte? Long gone, but sure was terrific.

[Steely Dan]

^ oh hell yeah i remember hot dog island, i never frequented it all that much because mustards was my go to stand, but the island sure was unique, right in the middle of that crazy 6 way intersection. if i may be techinical for a moment, the original hot dog island is that place out on golf in glenview or morton grove, the stand at crawford/central in evanston was actually named "The Little Island", but everyone always called it Hot Dog Island anyway.

when did it close? i thought it was still in business? i don't get up that way very often anymore.



http://www.mediaforesight.org/wienie5.jpg

[HowardL]

Well, not so much "stands", but still outstanding places for good, cheap eats are Caminos de Michoacan on Sheridan between Irving and the el and Zorba's at Halsted and Jackson.

Michoacan is slow as hell, but if you gotta have a torta or some tacos, they got the goods. Haven't been to Zorba's since forever, gyros with extra tzatziki. God, it's making me hungry.

[edsg25]

^

when did it close? i thought it was still in business? i don't get up that way very often anymore.



http://www.mediaforesight.org/wienie5.jpg

it closed years ago;in fact, it relocated for awhile in Niles on Golf, I believe between Harlem and Milw, but that's long gone, too. meanwhile, the intersection has gone upscale. a new starbucks's is under construction on the s.e. corner of Crawford and Central. I'm sure Evanston needs another Starbucks, right?