Get it While it's Hot (Doug's)!

If you haven't heard the news by now, self-proclaimed "Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium," Hot Doug's is set to close its doors for good on October 4th, 2014. There is even an online countdown ticking away until the very day the restaurant closes :tear:. The wildly popular fast food restaurant in Avondale is a favorite of many, and one I hadn't been to before. Once I heard it would be closing up shop this fall, the BF and I decided a trip to Hot Doug's was definitely mandatory.

The line to get food at Hot Doug's is notoriously long, but you wait, no matter what. The BF kindly volunteered to wait it out on a random Wednesday morning just so we could both enjoy some encased meats. He got there around 11am, 30 minutes after Hot Doug's opened. His wait time was exactly 1.5 hours, and boy was it worth it! Each order is taken by Doug himself, AKA Doug Sohn.

Hot Doug's is known for its wide variety of gourmet and unique menu items which change daily. We both checked out the online menu to see what was on special that day. There is also The Game of the Week, another special menu item that changes frequently, as well as celebrity-named sausages, including the "Bo Derek," and "The Elvis."

If you're not an adventurous eater, there also are more traditional offerings including bratwursts, Italian sausages, and Chicago-style hot dogs.

It was a tough decision, but we both decided on one sausage each. Trust me, it's not an easy feat. The BF went with a merguez lamb sausage with spicy harissa and haloumi cheese. The lamb was perfectly seasoned and the haloumi cheese made a great pairing.

Merguez Lamb Sausage

I chose the Portuguese linguica, a pork sausage topped with saffron rouille and Iberico cheese. I loved the salty cheese but I have to say I liked the BF's a little bit better. It was still Hot Doug's...you can't go wrong!

Portuguese Linguica

For good measure, we split an order of regular fries (not pictured) and cheese fries. Hot Doug's is famous for their duck fat fries but they only serve them on Friday and Saturday (next time?!). The cheese fries were THE BOMB. They reminded me of the super gooey and salty cheese fries I used to have at our neighborhood hot dog joint as a kid. The fries were perfectly crispy on the outside, but soft in the middle, and clung to the sea of galactic yellow cheese oh-so-well.

There's a reason people line up at Hot Doug's and wait hours for a taste of gourmet hot dogs and indulgent fries. The menu is always changing so it makes for a good excuse to stop by and see what's being offered. You have less than four months to get over to Hot Doug's so I suggest lining up now...it's absolutely worth the wait!

Hot Doug's gets 4.5 ghosts for their ever-changing menu of high-quality encased meats and fantastic gourmet food at reasonable prices. I'm only knocking off .5 ghosts because I'm thinking of the way I felt after eating there...It's not what I'd call a "light lunch"!

Hot Doug's
www.hotdougs.com
3324 N. California Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773.279.9550