Gene, Jude and Theophile

Adventures in Chicago Hot Dogging; Bartender Cemetery Tourism; Plus Tributes to Fort Defiance and Wickman House.

The 2023 Franksgiving crew: (l. To r.) family friend and The Mix staffer Mark Ward; Asher Simonson; and me. Not pictured: photog Mary Kate Murray.

People often ask me what my favorite hot dog stand is, or what the best hot dog is in the United States.

Impossible to say. There are too many deserving candidates. And, too, there are so many different regional styles of hot dogs that such a proposition would be akin to comparing apples and oranges.

But, if the proverbial gun was held to my head, I might say Gene & Jude’s in Chicago. I’d only been to the River Grove icon once, back in summer of 2019. But it was one of the handful of transcendent hot dog experiences I’ve had; a moment where I stood speechless and had no notes to offer.

A perfect hot dog. Wouldn’t change a thing.