Today, four TOC staffers - including me - went out to Hot Doug’s for a long lunch (it was only long because it’s a bit of a hike from the downtown TOC offices, not because we stopped at the Village Tap on the way back) to sample the latest addition to the menu: The New Chicago, Kevin Haas’s winning dog in our recent Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Dog Contest.
As you’ve read previously in this space, the winning dog in our Hot Doug’s contest, The New Chicago, will be making its debut today. Anyone who visits Hot Doug’s for the next week will be able to sample the delicious meaty goodness of Mexican chorizo sausage with Asian pear chutney, Indian paneer cheese, and chili mustard, served on a multi-grain roll.
Today at 1pm, a bunch of TOC writers and other staffers will be making a trip up to Roscoe and California to sample The New Chicago for ourselves, and we’re hoping you’ll join us. We’ll be giving away free copies of the TOC Eating and Drinking Guide to any TOC readers who show up. (We will not, however, be paying for your lunch, cheapskate.)
See you there. Bring your appetite.
As you’ve read previously in this space, the winning dog in our Hot Doug’s contest, The New Chicago, will be making its debut this Monday August 4. Anyone who visits Hot Doug’s for the week after that will be able to sample the delicious meaty goodness of Mexican chorizo sausage with Asian pear chutney, Indian paneer cheese, and chili mustard, served on a multi-grain roll.
On Monday, at 1pm, a bunch of TOC writers and other staffers will be making a trip up to Roscoe and California to sample The New Chicago for ourselves, and we’re hoping you’ll join us. We’ll be giving away free copies of the TOC Eating and Drinking Guide to any TOC readers who show up. (We will not, however, be paying for your lunch, cheapskate.)
See you there. Bring your appetite.
This morning, I received an e-mail from Doug Sohn, proprietor of Hot Doug’s Encased Meats Emporium. He wanted to let TOC readers know when to expect the debut of The New Chicago, the winning dog in our Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Dog Contest, from TOC reader Kevin Haas.
Doug says: "We are aiming to have this sausage, and Kevin’s name, on our menu on Monday, August 4 and will run it for the week."
Look for more on The New Chicago next week as some TOC staffers and I head to Hot Doug’s for some on-the-scene gorgin…er, reporting.
…The New Chicago, in a stunning upset!
Readers of yesterday’s update will remember that The New Chicago was trailing The Hot Doug’s Dog’s Breakfast by about 53 votes. Since that time, the two dogs traded first and second place all afternoon and evening until finally, after a whopping 2235 votes were cast - about 800 of those came in within the last 24 hours - The New Chicago cruised to victory with 42% of the vote (945 votes) to The Hot Doug’s Dog’s Breakfast 40% of the vote (883 votes). (The Johnny Depp ended up with 12% and La Cosa Nostra finished with 6%).
We have a winner! See the results of our contest here.
Today is the last day to vote in our Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Dog Contest. We’ve been somehwat overwhelmed by the response: 1475 people cast their votes for their favorite meat delight over the last week.
As of 2pm today, The Hot Doug’s Dog Breakfast is running away with 39% of the vote, while The New Chicago is coming in second with 36% (a difference of only 53 votes). The Johnny Depp is running a distant third with 16% and La Cosa Nostra trails with just 6%.
To cast your vote and view the full list of ingredients on each dog, click here. We’ll announce the winner tomorrow, but unless fans of The New Chicago step it up, hungover Hot Doug’s patrons can look forward to a new late breakfast option on the menu.
We have a winner! See the results of our contest here.
Apparently, our recent hot dog feature inspired many of you. We received more than 80 entries in our Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Hot Dog Contest. We sent the entries to Doug Sohn himself, and he chose four finalists for you, the TOC blog readers, to vote on over the next week. Remember: the winner of the voting will have their dog featured on the Hot Doug’s menu for a week. But even if you don’t win or weren’t chosen as a finalist, don’t fret: Hot Doug wanted us to pass along the following:
"There were a number of great entries and it was really hard to narrow it down to 4. And you can be certain that some of the ones I didn’t pick will still be showing up on our menu at some point down the line. It is truly an inspiring list of ideas."
High praise!
So here are the four finalists. After the description of each, you’ll see where to vote for your favorite. Voting ends at the end of the day on Thursday July 24 and we’ll announce the winner on Friday July 25.
We have a winner! See the results of our contest here.
Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter our Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Dog Contest. I’ll be honest with you: the competition is pretty stiff. So don’t assume you can drop some dog with a funny name and some fancy cheeses into the contest and think that you’ll walk away with a coveted spot on Hot Doug’s menu. Your dog will need to be tops from meats, to toppings, to bun, to name.
Remember, Doug Sohn himself will be picking four finalists from all the entries we receive then readers of the TOC blog will vote on their favorite. The wiener…er, winner will have his or her dog featured on Hot Doug’s menu and when someone writes the history of the summer of 2008 in Chicago, they will be a delicious part of it.
We have a winner! See the results of our contest here.
\This week’s Create Your Own Hot Doug Hot Dog Contest (I came up with that name all by myself) is in full swing and I’ve been impressed at the Dougsian level of creativity exhibited by everyone who has entered so far. Here, in no particular order, are some of the phrases from contest entries we’ve already received:
"like a cajun boudin in construction"
"girls want to see a hot dog on your menu that’s named after a hot guy"
"mashed potato topping with a pumpkin gravy"
"Michigan Militia"
"a cilantro garnish"
"hawk meat sausage"
"gouda"
But impressing me is easy, impressing Doug Sohn is less so. He’ll be picking four finalists from all the entries received by the end of the day on Thursday July 10. Then readers of the TOC blog will select one lucky winner whose dog will earn a spot on the hallowed Hot Doug’s menu.
Keep reading the TOC blog for more updates, and don’t forget: the deadline for entry is this Thursday.
We have a winner! See the results of our contest here.
By now I hope you’ve seen our feature on Chicago’s best hot dogs and other encased meat delights. We’ve run down the story behind the seven crucial Chicago-style ingredients; named the 11 best dogs in the city from the originator to the survivor, from the smallest to the largest; waited on line at Hot Doug’s; found out what’s really in a decent dog; and even got a few city folk to admit they like ketchup on their dogs. (Note: All of these people were promptly taken by CPD squad car to the city limits and asked never to return. Everyone else, here’s your Facebook group.)
But we’re always on the lookout for the next big thing. And that’s where you come in: Do you have an idea for a dream hot dog, with ingredients so delicious that it would revolutionize the world of encased meats as we know it? Or at least make for a surfire hangover killer? If so, you need to enter our Create Your Own Hot Doug’s Dog Contest.
