Friday, December 19, 2008

Oh No! Not the Wiener's Circle!

Being shut down by the Health Department probably hurts most restaurants. Except for business they're losing while they're closed, it probably won't hurt the Wiener's Circle one bit.

Nobody goes there for the hygiene.

The Wiener's Circle really isn't a restaurant. It's a small stand with a counter, a couple of stools, and some picnic tables outside on the sidewalk, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Chicago's north side (on Clark Street at the northern end of the Wrightwood dogleg).

You can't miss it.

I learned about the shutdown here, in the Chicago Tribune. The short article concludes with this sentence: "The eatery is famous for its rambunctious late-night crowd and foul-mouthed staff." That makes it sound threatening, which it isn't. Everything is in fun, though it can be rambunctious and foul-mouthed fun, and it is open until like 4 AM, so you can imagine.

Another thing about the Wiener's Circle is that it isn't really famous for its hot dogs, although an authentic Chicago Style can be had. They also serve a mean polish, but the main attraction is the hamburgers, which are mammoth, char-broiled, and if you so order, slathered with cheese whiz. There's nothing else like them.

They also have thick, hand-cut fries which are routinely drowned in cheese whiz too.

Oh, mama!

Reading announcements of restaurants closed by the Health Department usually doesn't make me this hungry.

2 comments:

Chuck said...

At the risk of blasphemy, the Weiner's Circle makes my favorite hot dog in Chicago. I like lots of other places too, and some of them may make objectively "better" dogs, but I really love them from the Circle.

As you say, nobody goes there for the hygiene. Since whatever I get there is either grilled over a hot open flame or fried in hot oil right before I eat it, I'm not too worried.

Chuck Cowdery said...

Apparently, we need to avoid the sauteed onions.