More Bliss on a Bun
Named for the puissant but unseen Sausage King of Chicago in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, this newish Humboldt Park coffee shop has yet to ramp up to an ambitious program of breakfast dishes, sandwiches, and sides. For now the menu is limited to Chicago-made products like Filbert’s sodas and local sausages such as those from Vienna, Best Kosher, Bobak’s, Leon’s, and Sausages by Amy, grilled on a panini press and bunned on Gonella or S. Rosen’s breads. It’s a cute concept, but it’s taking an awful long time to live up to its promise. —Mike Sula
$Ice Cream, American | lunch, dinner: Sunday, tuesday-thursday | closed monday | Reservations not accepted | vegetarian friendly
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Location, location, location. This little organic hot dog and ice cream shop across from Welles Park may not seem like much, but with its kid-friendly menu of sausages and well-pedigreed sweets, summer traffic seems all but guaranteed. The dogs themselves come in pork, two different combos of chicken and turkey (one with red pepper and jalapeno, the other spinach and feta), and classic nitrite-free beef; there’s also a vegan version. While they’re not chargrilled, they’ve got a clean, snappy flavor and are refreshingly free of grease. Cookies and pastries are parbaked by Sweet Dreams Organic Bakery in Glenview and finished on-site; the terrific ice cream’s from Traders Point Creamery in Zionsville, Indiana. Owner Andrew Baker carries through on his commitment to sustainability with furnishings as green as they come, all the way down to the biodegradable cornstarch takeout containers. —Martha Bayne
Freddie’s701 W. 31st | 312-808-0147
A Gene’s and Jude’s hot dog, like a Cezanne painting, represents the apotheosis of a form, inessentials stripped away, almost the Platonic ideal of the hot dog. No tomato, and you don’t dare ask for ketchup. What you get at this middle-American icon is a perfectly warmed wiener with world-class snap, nestled in a steamed bun and layered with mustard, relish, onion, sport peppers (if you want ’em), and fries. That’s right: the fries, fresh cut with a hand-operated mechanism straight out of the Eisenhower administration, are laid gently on top of the dog, creating a steamy union of dog and fry that miraculously benefits both. There’s always a long line of hungry hot-dog freaks, and it’s always standing room only in this bright yellow-lit room, lined with a white wooden shelf bearing industrial-strength salt shakers (made of glass jars with holes hand-punched in the top). The locals consider this stand a national treasure, and when you bite into one of Gene’s and Jude’s franks ($2.11, fries included), you’ll see why. Don’t be shy about ordering more than one: I’ve seen big guys order a six-pack to go (which usually means no further than the truck). —David Hammond
F 7.2 | S 6.0 | A 5.6 | $ (7 reports)American | Lunch, dinner: seven days | Cash only | BYO
