by Greg Mayer
Jerry’s post this morning on Chicago dogs inspired me, and made me hungry, so I headed to Trolley Dogs, in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, for lunch. (Kenosha is the first town over the northern border of Illinois).
There’s a street trolley that runs east-west on the boulevard to the south of the restaurant, plus, there’s a model trolley suspended from the ceiling, that chugs around, above the diners. (It wasn’t operating at lunch today, so the trolley just stayed at one place on the track.)
And here’s their Chicago dog. Note that the mustard is yellow (a must; it can’t be brown), and that the green relish is an eerie sort of neon green. This, too, is required for a true Chicago dog. I make them at home with a substitute, more standard, pickle relish. If you enlarge, you will also see the celery salt on the pickle (don’t be misled by the poppy seeds). The dog is tightly wrapped in paper to keep the ingredients intact.
And here’s the full meal– fries with lots of skin still attached, and a soda. I had the two-dog special. (And that’s a statistics textbook to the left– some light, mealtime reading!)
I’ll just say, get along little dogie. Must have been some beer to go with that.
Okay, I’m going to have to make one for dinner later on tonight (it’s too much for lunch!). I was already tempted by Jerry’s mention, but you’ve put me over the top!
Whenever I just can’t stand it anymore and I need a Chicago food experience, I go downtown to Benito’s Chicago Eatery in Seattle. They do a worthy imitation of Chicago deep-dish pizza and Chicago dogs, but it’s just not the same.
Not the same as genuine tomato and cheese bread-bowl casserole? That’s good, right?
That looks so good. Minus the relish.
I guess I’ll just end up trying it as is with everything. Looks amazing.
Thank you so much for sharing this. My travel buddy and I stopped there and had them as they are earlier. They were perfect. We were both famished so even more perfect. Kenosha was a little off the beaten path. Maybe about nine miles so not too much. I took a pic but no idea how to upload. Much farther north in Wisconsin now. Thanks again.
Note that the mustard is yellow (a must; it can’t be brown),
OK, but then why is one of the best Dijon mustards I’ve ever had – Plochman’s – from Chicago (or somewhere in IL).
They don’t put it on dogs. Greg is right.
Not a fan, personally. But most of the ingredients are spectacular in other combinations…or alone. In particular a good kosher dill…mmmmmm. Gotta say I prefer Clausen in terms of easily available brands. The others taste too sweet. Though there are lots of ‘better than store brand’ available at our local farmers market.
As a denouement, I’m a chili dog fan myself. Though part of that predilection comes from the fact that I regularly make my own chili and put it over lots of things (chips, potatoes, noodles, dogs…it’s all good).
Looks good but I still think my favourite would be a Käsekrainer from a Wiener Würstelstand. It is similar to a Bratwurst but has small cubes of cheese, usually Emmantaler, inside and served in a roll similar to a small baguette with ketchup or mustard or both.
I dunno, looks like they dress the bun instead of the dog.
Plochman’s is for corned beef on rye or a brat.
Should have been a reply to Hempenstein #5
I’m hungry now.!