Doing Chicago "Doggy Style" at The Wieners Circle and The Dog Joint in Lincoln Park

Before we arrived in Chicago, I carried out a little research into what a real Chicago dog is all about. I wanted to ensure we were up to speed on what we should expect.

From several sources, I discovered that a real Chicago hot dog consists of:

A poppy seed bun

All beef steamed or simmered hot dog

Sweet relish (the green kind)

Mustard

Chopped onions

Pickle spear

Small pickled chillies

Dusted in celery salt

Some have cucumber and some include fresh mint.

But under NO circumstances is there to e ketchup... Oh no no, ketchup is a sin for the dogs of Chicago. (although all the vendors seem to offer it, so I'm sure they don't mind that much).

First place we hit up was the Wieners Circle by Lincoln Park.

The Wieners Circle Chicago

It was a bit like a trailer inside a building and they offered both redhots and char dogs. But the red hots it what we were after, with all the toppings - mustard, relish, onions, pickles, tomato, celery salt, sport peppers.

The Wieners Circle Menu

And this is what we got.

 

Wieners Circle Chicago Hot Dog

Oh momma! It was Gooood with a capital G! So fresh, with all the toppings. I thought I might miss the ketchup, being an avid lover of the red stuff, but I didn't even notice it's absence. I think the secret ingredient is definitely the celery salt.

Delicious Chicago Redhot hot dog

Later on in the day, hunger struck and I still had the faint taste of the celery salt lingring on my tongue, reminding me of how delicious the dog was. So, we had another.

This time, we went to The Dog Joint, not far from the Wieners Circle.

The Dog Joint Chicago

The dog was slightly cheaper than the Wieners Circle, and the main difference was the addition of cucumber. I must say it was a very much welcomed addition and we both preferred this dog, although they were both pretty special. Let's here for the Chicago Redhots!!

The Dog Joint Chicago Hot Dog

Travel from Toronto to Chicago via Buffalo

After six months in Toronto, we decided after much deliberation that we would live out the rest of our visa on the west coast in Vancouver. We’re sorry to say bye, bye to TO but we’ve got to see a lot of Ontario and the city while we’re here so we think we did it justice. 

The one place however, that we didn’t get to see was Chicago. After looking at prices of air fare we thought we would look at options to include Chicago in our journey. The Amtrak was a really good option to Chicago, but it seemed impossible to buy a through ticket from Toronto through as they are two different companies. So we booked the Megabus from TO to Buffalo Airport. It’s only about $17 each one way. Our train left at five to midnight but as you can get caught up in customs we allowed ourselves (probably too much time) at Buffalo. 

If anyone thinks they might hang out at Buffalo Airport to wait, maybe have some food while you wait? Well don’t there’s literally nothing there! Luckily there was a sports bar where we managed to get a microwaved sandwich (bleugh) and sat and watched UFC on a big screen. I’m not sure if any of you have seen UFC, but it’s a lot of oiled up muscly men wrestling with each other. Not really my idea of a Saturday night – ha!

Finally, headed over to the Amtrak train station. There was a massive group of people waiting in the station also. I thought that there must be another train or something as we were so early. The big group were hanging out eating pizza and looked like a mix of ZZ Top and truckers. After a train went flying by and they all got out their pads – I realised... they’re not waiting for a train they’re train spotters!! A very distant cry to those dweebs at the end of the platform at London Bridge recording all the commuter trains. I was glad they were there however, as there was also this guy who was sat near to us swearing to himself every other second who was just off his head. Oh how bus stations are just a magnet for alcoholic weirdos, no matter where you go in the world. 

One great thing with Amtrak is that you can check your luggage so you don’t have to worry about it if you fall asleep or go to the buffet cart.

The train arrived and we were escorted down a snowy platform along the side of this huge train in the dark. It was a little bit like something out of a Harry Potter film.  After the others had disembarked we were guided onto the relevant carriage to match our “boarding pass”, which was basically our end destination scribbled on a piece of card to stick on top of your seat so they can wake you if you fall asleep. 

All I could think when I got on the train was wow! After traveling Asia and also living in England your expectations of trains isn’t generally very high. Especially when you have paid for the lowest price ticket (in this case $70). We settled down in our massive seats and the next thing I knew I woke up 10 hours later and we were in Chicago! Best night transport ever.