Karl's Sausage Kitchen

Karl's Sausage Kitchen on Route 1 in Saugus is one of my favorite
summertime stops. Thanks to my friend Tim for giving me an excuse to
pick up some of their fine encased meats, as we had a post-
comstruction cookout. I bought some of their frankfurters, weisswurst,
and bratwurst. The franks had a wonderfully light and smoky flavor,
the weisswurst were melt-in-your-mouth, and the bratwurst were only
missing some sauerkraut to achieve perfection.

Old Neighborhood

Because I had told Tiffany about my blog, she went off and bought me
one of the locally-made hot dogs, an Old Neighborhood. Not the most
appealing name for a hot dog but it was a mighty tasty footlong. Next
time I go back I'll have to get an idea of what it's made of--tasted
like a pork hot dog without a natural casing, steamed. Thanks Tiffany!

Old Neighborhood

Sam and I went to a North Shore Navigators game this past Saturday
night with my co-worker Rex and his wife Tiffany. You know what a
baseball game means: hot dogs!

The Weiners Circle

One last parting shot of the Weiners Circle before picking up a cab
back to the airport. The cabbie that took us back was just as full of
sexy words as the ladies serving us hot dogs, but he was a little more
austere in using them. Gotta love Chicago!

The Weiners Circle

And here's a couple of weiners stuffing their face at the Weiner's
Circle. James was looking a little faded after eight long island iced
teas. I probably looked worse but thankfully no photos were taken of
me at this point.

The Weiners Circle

Tim was pretty excited with his char dog and cheese fries.
Fortunately, the copious amounts of beer we imbibed did not damage his
heightened culinary sense of taste as he deemed the cheese fries "not
very good" but gave the char dog a big thumbs up.

The Weiners Circle

That amazing char dog from The Weiners Circle. Love that neon green
relish!

The Weiners Circle

The nice ladies behind the counter are the ones who dispense the abuse
and the hot dogs. I suggest a char dog with an extra helping of
vulgarity--delish!

Update: I talked with James last night and he told me that he was waiting
patiently while these ladies were hollering out "Who's gonna tip us? Come
to the front of the line if you're gonna tip us!" After a couple of minutes
of being ignored, James said "You know, I may not say a lot, but I do tip
well," after which they took his order.

The Weiners Circle

After our eight hour sojourn at Resi's, the gang was good and drunk
and ready for an adventure. My brother-in-law, Kent, had heard tell of
an amazing hot dog stand where the staff strings together a set of
filthy words the likes of which you've never heard nor ever will
again. After stumbling around in the general direction of the area, we
finally found our El Dorado--The Weiners Circle. Please fogive the
poor quality of the ensuing pictures; I might have had too much to
drink at this point. Or perhaps not enough, I don't properly remember.

Resi's Bierstube

After the game at Wrigley, the boys and I stopped by a German beer hall that I had found recommended on Beer Advocate and CitySearch. I can't say enough about this place, it was just amazing. The weather was wonderful, about 74 degrees, the food was amazing, the beers were big and refreshing, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself more on a night out with the guys.


As I said, the food was awesome. This was the pork chop my father ordered. More like a ham steak. Hank got the blood and liver sausages (above and to the right of the pork chop) but they were a little much for him. Tim had the schnitzel, while Larry and I had some amazing bratwursts--probably the best I've ever had. Larry also ordered some potato pancakes; sorry Sam, but these were better than anything you and I'll ever make. The food comes out of a kitchen that's no bigger than a half-kitchen in a Manhattan apartment and the two cooks working in it never stop. I came across one of the two cooks in the bathroom and, after seeing he washed his hands, told him the food was delicious. In heavily-accented English, he told me it might be delicious, but two people weren't enough to cook for all the people eating!


And the beer kept on flowing. They featured about 12 beers on tap and another 12 or so in the bottle. It was eight hours well spent.

Cheers to you, hoping to make another visit soon.

Wrigley Field

Nothing's better after along night of drinking than coming into
Wrigley for a day game, sipping a tall glass of Budweiser and having a
steamed dog from the roaming vendors. I'll have mine with mustard and
relish.

Wrigley Field

What a beautiful day we had, and what a great game! Cubs win 5 - 4,
beating the Rockies and making their 6th straight win as the team with
the best record in the majors.

Hot Doug's

Here's the dogs I selected: the ever-present Chicago dog at the top
(grilled) and the Atomic Bomb on the bottom. The Chicago dog was
amazing with it's poppy seed bun and neon green relish. The Atomic
Bomb lived up to its name, a hot pork sausage with a citrus mojito
mayo with habanero-jack cheese. It ended up being a little too much
for me and I wasn't able to finish it. What an amazing Chicago dog
though!

Hot Doug's

Tim was challenging his dogs to get the better of him and brawn won
over encased meats. Tim went for a grilled Chicago dog and a chilli
cheese dog.

Hot Doug's

Hank was a little intimidated by his steamed Chicago dog, a bratwurst,
and duck fat-fried french fries (which were just amazing, like fried
mashed potatoes).

Hot Doug's

After the signs advertising hot dogs, you get to their other sausages. There's a display on the wall opposite this that said: there are no two finer words in the English language than "encased meats," my friend; I heartily agree and now know what my new tattoo will say.

Hot Doug's

The long line gave us just enough time to decide what we wanted to
eat. I've never been presented with so many choices. There must have
been about twelve different hit dog combos alone, all named after
famous locals or celebrities.

Hot Doug's

It was about 3pm when we got to the restaurant, and were greeted with
a line that snaked out the door. For the next hour, the line never got
any shorter--quite a testament to the power of a great dog.

Hot Doug's

After getting off the plane, Hank, Tim, and I beelined it to Hot
Doug's, located on California Ave in northern Chicago.

We got a little bite to eat along the way, stopping at a White Castle
for a double cheeseburger to fortify ourselves. Yay cheeseburger!

Bachelor weekend, baby!

Had an amazing weekend in Chicago for my bachelor party. Took in a
Cubs game (Cubs win! Cubs win!), saw the bean, drank copious amounts
of great beer at a German beer garden, and--most important of all--ate
some tasty hot dogs. I'll be posting about the dogs after I sober up
but I wanted to take thus opportunity to thank all my great friends
and family for showing me a good time and sharing the weekend with me.

Mike