Phat Mack Dines out

It’s sad but true: when you get to a certain stage in life, your fantasies take strange turns. Ever since SPM’s Chicago post last week, my mind has dwelt on hot dogs. Last night, driving home from my latest debacle at the poker tableI remembered something. There was an article in the paper a year or so ago indicating that a transplanted Chicago byte nerd, had, here in the heart of Texas, opened, as a public service, a Chicago-style hot dog stand. I even remembered where it was.


Today I dropped by for a visit. The place is called Lucky Dog. It has one of these plastic menu boards above the Order Here/Pickup Here counter beginning with:


OUR SIGNATURE DOGS


FAMOUS CHICAGO STYLE HOT DOGS


Authentic Vienna Pure Beef Hot Dog—Steamed to perfection in a poppy seed bun. Served with yellow mustard, green relish, tomato wedges, onion, kosher pickle spear, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt, a meal by itself…..$2.59


I believe that shilly-shallying around at a hot dog stand is just as dangerous as at a poker table, so I went no further and ordered one. Here is what I got: an excellent hot dog (steamed, not grilled, but hey, it’s their show) was put in first, then chopped raw onions and excellent pickle relish on top of that. On one side was a pickle spear, that, I have to say, was on of the best I’ve had in years. It compared to a homemade Kosher dill. If you’ve ever had one, you know what I mean—crisp, not limp, with a heavy hand applied to the dill and garlic. A lady working in the back said they were from Chicago. On the side opposite, tomato wedges were jammed down between the dog and the bun. Being something of a skeptic, I thought that as soon as I picked up the dog and bit into it, the pressure would cause the wedges to jump out of the hot dog and land on my tray. A soon as I picked up the hot dog and bit into it, the wedges jumped out and landed on my tray. Interactive eating – nice touch. I didn’t know what sport peppers were, but there were three of them in a row between the tomato wedges and the pickle slice. They wouldn’t be called peppers here in Texas, were peppers are eaten to show off pain thresholds, but I liked them. They were nice and tangy and had good flavor.


All in all, I think Chicagoans display a good understanding of the hot dog.


For dessert I ordered another type, a Maxwell Street Polish. I was hoping it would be Kilbassa (SP?). It wasn’t. I was disappointed.


Excellent dog. So good, in fact, that I intend to go back to Lucky Dog next week and give them a shot at my own personal Holy Grail of food, the Meatball Sub.