Chicago's Best Hot Dog: Gene & Jude's

Nothing really says Chicago like encased meat, also known as the Red Hot. Hot dog to the ordinary person, but here in Chicago, perhaps no place is more famous here on the border of Chicago in the suburbs than Gene & Jude's. They've been around for over 60 years, so they're doing something right. I love hot dogs. At Gene & Jude's, you can't order just one hot dog. It's impossible. We need 11 dogs, 200 plain. The demand for the Red Hots at Gene & Jude's is unbelievably high, and if you look at the menu, it's easy to see why. It's really all they have. See? Why is this one of the best in Chicago? Everything we do here is like, we keep it simple. There's just one thing we have on the menu, it's hot dogs. So when you have only one thing, you can specialize. Wait a minute, I'm gonna correct you, bro. You have tamales, too. Yeah, we have tamales. You're fired. The tamales are good, but nothing trumps these dogs. You'll notice something else here. Gene & Jude's tops all their dogs with a mound of fresh-cut spuds, something Gene invented nearly 70 years ago. He was at a ball game back in the 40s, and he was ordering hot dogs, and he was trying to figure out how can I make something unique? And then he started experimenting with putting fries in the dog. Holy cow! Since then, there's been many places that have copied it, but we're the one and only. That's right, French fries on top of the dog. We love it. It all ends up in the same place, right? I mean, a little fry grease dripping down the dog makes for a classic Chicago experience. Come here, you little wiener. Come here. But don't expect the classic Chicago-style dog. We're ditching the celery, salt, pickle, and tomato wedge. What makes this a classic, and why is it different? You know, when Gene started out, he uses the ingredients we do, the mustard, the sweet relish, onions, and the peppers, because those complement the hot dog and gives it the best taste. Careful, man. Don't bite your fingers off, man. I'm grabbing it. It's like a Wolverine. Talk to me about ketchup. How do you feel about it? Ketchup's a bad word over here. There's a Clint Eastwood movie, one of the Dirty Harry movies. One of the other cops was having a hot dog, and he got really upset. He's like, nobody, I mean, nobody puts ketchup on a hot dog. So if you want ketchup, you're gonna have to go rooting underneath the seats of your car. Ketchup, come on, just a little bit of ketchup. Ketchup for the fries, man. Oh, it's leaking. This guy's been coming here since 1964. Yeah, getting four hot dogs. Dude, I wasn't even born yet. I know. How many hot dogs have you eaten from this place? That I couldn't tell you. Come on, take a guess. Once a week, I don't know. Once a week, times four, since 1964. Whenever that comes up. That's like 6,438. I got a C-plus in math. Hot dog! Hey, bro. Can't finish this. It's a classic. So you like hot dogs? I love hot dogs, they're my passion. He's a bit narcissistic, as far as wieners go. And I don't get to this side of town that often, but when I do, I have to stop here. You get two dogs. Oh, you gotta have two. You can never get just one. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, they make fun of you if you just get one dog. Right, that's like flying with one wing. Right, you can't do it. You're going in a circle. You're just in a circle the whole time, right? Right. But you're flying straight, baby. Here you go. All right. Hey, I'm flying straight here, people. Ladies and gentlemen, this cap is biggie. Fasten your seatbelts, we're coming in for a landing. So what do you think? Gina Jude's, classic Chicago, not classic Chicago? I say it is. We say it is. Do you agree? Disagree? Log on to chicagosbesttv.com. Give us your opinion. I'm talking to you.