A Foodie’s Guide to Chicago: 9 Essential Eats, Chicago, Illinois

When a wedding recently brought me to Chicago, I took the opportunity to tack a few days onto the weekend to do some eating. Because why not? I was lucky: I was staying with the Honey Badger’s cousins, followed by a foodie ex-colleague from back in day at Mega Corp. I didn’t need to do a lot of research, because these guys had got the Chicago food scene covered. All I had to do was sit back, relax, and undo that top button…

1. Vienna beef hot dog at George’s Hot Dogs - Also known as a “Chicago Dog”, the Vienna beef hot dog seems to be most Chicagoans’ fast food of choice. Crucially, the sausage needs to be made of beef, the bread needs to be a steamed white bun, and the whole thing needs to be topped with seven condiments: mustard, relish, tomato, onions, jalapeno peppers, and one of those giant pickled gherkin things you see on top (you can use it to squish everything else down). I tried this at the over 50-year old George’s Hot Dogs in Bucktown, thanks to a food tour I took with Chicago Food Planet. I can’t vouch for how it compares with anywhere else, but it tasted pretty damn good to me.

2. Deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s or Pizano’s - Four years ago, when I first came to Chicago, I tried the deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s. This time, I went to Pizano’s. Probably because I’m an Amsterdammer, I couldn’t tell the difference - they were both indulgently wonderful. Despite the name “deep-dish”, the crust is actually deceptively thin and almost pastry-like; it’s the filling that’s deep - thick with cheese, tomato and sausage. But I hear the locals rarely eat deep-dish pizza because they’re too big and take too long. Which brings us onto… ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).