Headed to the Windy City Hot Dog Fest this weekend? You’ll find hot dogs in many varieties — bacon wrapped, alligator, deep fried or smothered in tikka masala — just don’t ask for ketchup.
The festival, running through Sunday at 4000 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Portage Park, has a variety of vendors offering traditional and unique takes on hot dogs, live music, entertainment for kids and a hot dog-eating competition.
By the end of the weekend, one of the 11 participating eateries — Chicago’s Dog House, Baked Cheese Haus, Bust Outs, Byron’s Hot Dogs, J’s Bacon Hot Dogs, Lola’s Coney Island, Sausage Fest Food Truck, Frannie’s Cafe, Leona’s Restaurant, Lee’s Concessions and Tandoor Char House — will be awarded the coveted title of having the best hot dog, and diners will decide by scanning a QR code to vote for their favorite.
Logan Square resident Trey Perillo and four of his friends heard about the festival on TikTok and arrived with a plan. They would try all 11 competing hot dogs and determine for themselves which is the best.
“We are planning on getting a bunch of them, like an around-the-world-style tour. We needed something to do for the weekend, and this was perfect,” Perillo said.
Bust Outs, a newer vendor to the fest, focuses on hamburgers and hot dogs with the menu themed around the Chicago Transit Authority train lines. This is the eatery’s second year at the fest, and restaurant partner Angelo Palivos said the preparation for the weekend takes about six months.
Among the preparations is creating a new hot dog concept to debut at the festival. Palivos is confident about this year’s creation, the Fire Dog. It is a jumbo frank stuffed with jalapeño cheese, wrapped in cherry rosewood bacon and topped with grilled onions and mustard. With a long line of customers, he said the stand has sold out of the hot dog three times already.
“It has been a really popular hot dog; we’ve sold out three times already. I hope we win the best hot dog competition because we went through about 15 variations of this hot dog and it’ll be sure to stay on the menu,” Palivos said.
More unique takes on the classic dog included Tandoor Char House’s tikka masala dogs, which are an Indian-Pakistani twist on traditional hot dogs.
Chef Faraz Sardharia said the community at the festival is what brings him back each year and seeing people try their specialty hot dogs.
“It’s definitely very different, and people really enjoy something different. I think our tikka masala dog is very popular here,” Sardharia said.
Babar Mushtaq, a close friend of Sardharia, came to support Tandoor Char House and was happy to see so many people showing up to the festival.
“I mean these people are amazing, the community is amazing, just coming out here supporting small businesses,” Mushtaq said.
At 3:12 p.m. at the main stage, announcers counted down as five brave individuals girded themselves to take on the challenge to eat as many hot dogs as possible in five minutes. A crowd gathered to watch the competitors as they fed hot dog after hot dog into their mouths.
In all, three competitors were able to eat five hot dogs, one got six down, but none of them could come close to returning competitor Frank “The Tank” Wach, who consumed 9½ hot dogs.
Wach, 71, a two-time winner, is retired and enjoys competing in food-eating competitions in his free time. He also competes in the Lincoln Park Greek Fest’s gyro-eating contest, which he has also won.
There is a method to the madness, Wach said. During the competition, he takes the hot dog out of the bun, breaks it in half and then dips the bun in water; moistening it makes it easier to eat.
“It’s always fun to compete with the younger people because they don’t think you can do it, but I can teach them something,” Wach said.
The festival closes Sunday, and doors open from noon to 10 p.m. The Top Dog Parade, a fan favorite event, is at noon.
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