As requested by my Sister: Hot Doug's

My sister saw on TV Anthony Bourdain chowing down hot dogs from this little Chicago eatery called Hot Doug's.  I'm not exactly a hot dog fan and to tell you the truth, I'm not really impressed with the "famous" Chicago dogs either (i.e. viena beef dogs topped with pickles, onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper, etc).  So when my sister and her family visited Chicago last summer, we attempted to have lunch at this apparently popular joint, but when we got there, the line was probably 50-people long.  Seriously?  I checked out their menu on-line, but it's nowhere close to novelty... except for the duck fat fries, which by the way are only available on Fridays and Saturdays.  We ended up eating somewhere else, but she requested that before we head home to Manila, we HAVE to try this!  Okay.  Yesterday, we went on a little adventure - i.e. try our luck on Hot Doug's.  As expected, the line was soooo long, we waited more than an hour!

Bored and helpless, I called my sister to tell her we're granting her wish... She asked that we take pictures of the food even before biting on them!  Like she still need to ask hahaha!  When we got inside, there were actually more options on the menu which were not published on the website.  Great!  After an overwhelming deliberation, we finally settled for the following:

Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage

Pheasant Sausage

Hot Dog with everything on it

Duck Fat Fries

The verdict?  LOVE IT AND WILL DEFINITELY GO BACK (but maybe earlier - as in store opening).  The sausages were so tender, juicy, fresh (like they were just made that morning).  I had the foie gras and I thought that was something my sister would order --- I was right.  The foie gras was so creamy and tasty, I've never had a hot dog sandwich so delicious.  I could not resist taking a cross section shot, ha!

Bobby also enjoyed his pheasant sausage... I think the toppings were made of duck liver fat cracklings (whatever, as long as it's good).  We ordered a plain dog (though the picture didn't look plain at all) so we just know why this place supposedly stands out among the thousands of hotdog sellers in Chicago.  In fact, it was good - the casing was crispy and the meat itself was quite tasty - a little smoky.  Definitely worth your two bucks!  Duck fat fries, I expected more, like maybe a little more flavor... but overall we enjoyed it.  The cuts were thinner than the usual, so it was crispy... plus the portion was huge.

Would we go back?  Yes.  But the 1 hour plus wait will not happen again!