The hot dog bar loomed large just outside Section 218 of Wrigley Field. It was Thursday, and the Democratic National Convention Volunteer Appreciation Rally was kicking off a solid week of national politicking in Chicago. I stood behind a couple of volunteers who added toppings to their insulated foil-wrapped hot dogs.
Alongside the appropriate trimmings — mustard, pickles, radioactive relish, sport peppers, onion, celery salt and tomatoes — sat dispensers of ketchup, perhaps in a gesture of peace.
“Oh, I don’t care; I like ketchup,” one said, adding a few pumps to her plain dog.
Food was not the draw here. Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton and Gov. J.B. Pritzker headlined a series of short speeches thanking volunteers and extolling the turnout of 32,000 (more than twice the 12,000 solicited) to exuberant cheers and spontaneous chants of “J.B.! J.B.!” Attendees seemed more concerned about where to get one of those coveted DNC volunteer T-shirts than nabbing a hot dog.
As tens of thousands of Democratic delegates, volunteers, protesters and media from all 50 states descend on the city for the weeklong convention, I’ve been thinking about food. Most will only scratch the surface of this world-class food city’s bounty, and, so far, evidence abounds of some usual suspects. The hot dogs. The iconic Nuts on Clark’s caramel and cheese popcorn while traipsing through McCormick Place for meetings. There will also be Eli’s Cheesecake galore at welcome parties and offsite convention events this week, in one-inch-square and slice form. Some 5,600 pounds of it, as Eli’s director of public relations Maureen Schulman told me.
Attendees of Saturday’s Media Welcome Party will fare culinarily better than the DNC volunteers thanks to event food marshals Paramount Group; the event will offer bites from the wide-ranging likes of Brown Sugar Bakery (fingers crossed for the buttery caramel cake), Antique Taco in Bridgeport and Wicker Park, Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in Beverly, Demera Restaurant in Uptown, and Saigon Sisters in Fulton Market.
A guide for politicians and the politics-obsessed, descending on the city from around the country for the event.
Yes, Chicago is always a food town. But summer brings forth a particularly glorious array of handhelds, frozen delights and seasonal specials.
Over hot dogs, I asked DNC volunteer and South Loop resident Olayinka Hassan where she’d send first-time visitors to eat. “Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s — for deep dish, yeah, but sometimes I want thin crust,” she said. A volunteer next to her chimed in, “It’s different from New York style because they cut it in squares.”
Hassan then suggested visitors grab lunch at the Walnut Room at Macy’s, where she used to be a manager, and pop by the L Station restaurant, where they must try the mac and cheese with lamb chops. Her edible Chicago didn’t stop there, also including Mastro’s Steakhouse in River North, Yinkres Nigerian Restaurant in Rogers Park, The Dearborn and Kindling downtown, and minichain Chicago Waffles (which has an outpost in the West Loop near the United Center).
Volunteer Mary M., a vegetarian from the west suburbs, endorsed Poke Poké (with locations Downtown and in the West Loop) for vegetarian ramen as well as Dao Thai Restaurant in Streeterville for Thai fare.
“Any place with good vegetarian food, really; I’m not fancy,” she said, adding that the city is rife with such options.
Indeed, would any of them get to venture up to Devon Avenue for vegetarian street-food snacks at Uru-Swati, I wondered? Or feast on earthly delights at fine-dining Indienne in River North, or at Logan Square’s OG farm-to-table temple, Lula Cafe? While we’re on the subject of Thai, why not pop by Tuk Tuk Thai in Lakeview for fiery egg curry teeming with shellfish? Or if they’re after the hottest new thing, I’d send them to Mariscos San Pedro in Pilsen for crushable hot and cold mariscos and celebratory vibes.
New-to-Chicago visitors (and probable fans of “The Bear,”) will invariably flock to Al’s Beef, Portillo’s or Luke’s for a classic Italian beef sandwich soused in jus and oily peppers. But I’d urge them to also consider grabbing an exceptional Italian sub at J.P. Graziano in the West Loop, or taking Western Avenue up to Lawrence Ave. in Lincoln Square for a crackly edged, ham, head cheese and pate pork roll banh mi at Nhu Lan Bakery.
Since many won’t be eating till late, I’d send them to Chinatown’s first cocktail bar, Nine Bar (open till midnight during the week and 1 a.m. on weekends), which serves terrific dumplings and a satiating “McKatsu” fried pork sandwich. If they’re sticking to the West Loop, the subterranean Izakaya at Momotaro scintillates with moody vibes, excellent sashimi and coal-kissed meats till 11 p.m.
In fact, superb late-night dining options abound all over the city, many of them with after-hours happy hour deals (this list includes the Ramova, site of a few offsite parties). On that note, instead of deep dish, perhaps they’d consider a caramelized-edged pan pizza made famous at Pequod’s — which is open till 2 a.m. everyday except Sunday, when it closes at midnight.
Back at Wrigley, my conversation with Hassan inevitably returned to the classics. I asked what toppings she’d put on her hot dog, and she lobbed it right back. “What would you put on it?”
I rattled off the components of a properly dragged-through-the-garden hot dog while she nodded her approval.
I asked if she noticed the ketchup dispensers, and she shot me an exasperated look.
Maggie Hennessy is a Chicago-based food and drink writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Bon Appetit and Food & Wine. Follow her on Instagram.
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