Taste of Chicago

There are two great culinary battlefields where New York and Chicago have been duking it out for decades, with still no end in sight:  who makes the best pizza, and who makes the best hot dogs.  In the spirit of full disclosure, let me just say that I'm firmly on the NY side of the fence on both of these issues.  I've never had the opportunity to try Chicago-style pizza IN Chicago, but what I've had around here hasn't impressed me much (this puts me squarely at odds with my sister, her boyfriend and my roommate).  The hot dog issue isn't as clear cut.

You see, though I do consider the hot dog to be a kind of watered-down version of a sausage, it doesn't stop me from loving them.  Give me a pile of pulverized meat and spices in a casing, and I'm a pretty happy guy, especially if I didn't have to watch it being made.  I'm also pretty equal opportunity when it comes to my hot dogs; boiled, sliced down the middle and fried, grilled, held over a campfire at the end of a stick, wrapped in dough and baked in the oven...it's all fine with me.  Now for nostalgic reasons, when I've got a hot dog craving and I don't want to do the work myself, I usually hit up Stan's on Vista Avenue in Boise.  I lived in Buffalo for a couple of years, so the hot dogs he imports from there and the way he chars the hell out of them really hit home for me (not to mention the amazing frozen custard and the delicious onion rings...can't wait to try the beef on weck!), but we're not here to talk about Stan's right now, or even NY-style hot dogs in general.  Let's spend some time on the other side of the fence, shall we?