Building the Better Hot Dog

If you've read my articles on the Taste of Chicago you will know that Chicagoans are very serious about their food. We differ not only in our pizza but in the way we construct our hot dogs. Now you might be saying to yourself doesn't everyone make their hot dogs the same way? Not actually because here it would be heresy to put sauerkraut on the top as they do out east and I can't see New Yorkers putting a virtual salad bar on their dogs as we do here in the Midwest. To understand why we make our hot dogs the way we do you need to know about how the hot dog has been raised to almost gourmet proportions in the Chicago area and the place that continues that tradition. A chain of restaurants called Portillo's.