^We have quite a few good Chicago dogs in PHX actually. Being as Chicago and Phx have always been interconnected there's lot of places to get a decent enough Chicago dog. I know your tastes seem to run to the gourmet side of things but Johnny's Red Hots on Thomas is good, as is the Chicago Hamburger Co in Arcadia just to name two that pop into my mind.

Of course they're not as plentiful or high quality as Chicago itself, but thats to be expected. The other 3 cities I've lived in for more than 3 months (St Louis, Boston & LA) don't seem to even have any places attempting Chicago dogs, so I suppose I'm thankful for what PHX already has (not to say this expansion isn't welcome, but since they're locating exclusively in malls I doubt I'll ever visit).

neiher of those places do them right... Chicago Hamburger Co has ketchup in the building, and Johnnies, while good, is not constructed properly.

Im 100% with you on the ketchup being a sing, but even a lot of places in Chicago now have ketchup. They usually make the customer apply it themselves, but I guess thats just how it is these days, people love the red icky stuff for some reason.

Im not too much into the technicalities of it all, Johnny's tastes good, so I dig it. Plus they've got fun super outdated late 80s Chicago sports memorabilia on the walls.

Anyone know what the new building going up in the Biltmore District is going to be?

That's an extremely vague question....

There is an apartment complex going in at 26th and Camelback. There is an office building going in at 21st and camelback. There are a multitude of other construction projects in the "biltmore district" right now.

I'm not questioning it's good'ness, I'm just saying that it's not a Chicago dog, which is a scientific build, which no one has done in Phoenix to my knowledge. Richard Portillo does it right; steamed poppyseed bun, steamed dog, pickle SPEARS, neuclear green relish, mustard, onion bits, tomato WEDGES, celery salt, sport peppers, yum. It's not just about the ingredients when you make a Chicago dog, it's also about the shape of those ingredients.

I forget the name, but there is a good place on 7th street at about Bethany home that has some good Chicago dogs. Better than johnny's on Thomas, but the Asian couple that own johnny's are so nice.

And speaking of Chicago hamburger co while completely changing the subject, there is a Chicago-style fast Greek place just down the street at Indian school and 40th at that has the best gyro I've found in Phoenix. Crushes athenos (SP?- downtown), pita jungle, crazy jim's, etc.

Definitely not a fan of Chicago style hot dogs...I really do not like all that stuff on them...I want to taste the hot dog, not all the condiments.

Best hot dog I've ever had were on the streets of San Francisco from one of those hot dog carts. They just popped when you bit into them, freaking delicious. I like to keep it simple...ketsup and onion, that's it.

Gotta disagree, ketchup doesn't belong on a hot dog (as mentioned) :) if going simple, hot dog with mustard and onion is awesome.

You want to taste the hot dog? Its not like its a steak, there's a reason to gussy it up with condiments.

Ketchup on a hot dog is so vile and repellent, like putting it on ice cream bleck.

Also re: gyros. Try Olympic flame, its on Thomas & 38th or so, very good. But now we've diverged & this should be in the food thread.

I want to taste the dog but I want to put ketchup on it. Wtf? Does not compute.

Maybe continue this hot dog topic on the Phoenix Food thread?

It is the downtown food thread, and this discussion does not pertain to downtown phoenix food, so we are having it here.

Don't you know downtown is everything south of Northern?

^Where I went to HS, "Downtown" seemed to be everything south of the Phoenix Mountains.

I thought I said it in that thread, but that thread should really just be changed to "Phx Food Thread"...no sense in limiting it to a square mile.

now we're going to argue over which thread we have to post things in based on the geographic limitations of downtown and what type of cuisine we are discussing.

Sometimes I hate this fucking place.

Talk about what you want to talk about for fucks sake.

LOL.... So last week on Glee...... :) Kidding John.

What's that new show everyone is talking about called Smash??

Yes, watching it tonight. :)