Do you like waiting 20-minutes for overpriced, mushy hot dogs and cold fries that have been under a light all day? Â Do you like sitting at a dirty table next to screaming kids?
Well, you've found your spot! Â America's Dog at Navy Pier is just the place for you.
I don't expect a 5-star dining experience when I eat fast food but I do expect it to be cheap, hot and fast. America's Dog is none of these.
I wanted a non-beef dog. Â Their chicken dog options are the Taylor St, Bourbon St and the Kenwood St. Â I ordered a Bourbon Street chicken dog...only to learn they were out of the Bourbon dogs and didn't have any toppings that would go with the Kenwood or Taylor dog. Â FAIL! Â Grrrr....okay, so make me a Taylor Street chicken dog with the Bourbon Street trimmings. Â
The staff is hustling, they are constantly moving meat and getting orders out so the wait time was nothing. Â Tables turn over fairly quick in the food court at Navy Pier but you'll have to clean the table yourself.
I devoured my dog not because it was the most amazing thing I've put in my mouth but because I was famished. Â The dog itself was just okay, not something I'd go back for. Â I liked the curly fries, they were seasoned well and reminded me a little of Arby's curly fries but not as good.
I'm going to start by saying I don't really like Hot Dogs... UNTIL I came to Chicago. After eating a vendor hot dog at Kim a& Carlos' Hot dog stand I decided to venture out and eat hot dogs most of the time while we were in Chicago. This is the Menu of menu's of Hot Dogs. I love the idea of two brother's traveling the country in search of the best hot dogs. I can see my sister and I doing that. Here are the hot dogs I tried:
Tuscan Dog: Jalapeno hot dog with chorizo, jalapenos & melted cheese topped with crispy tortilla chips  This one I loved it. It sure was messy but I love the chorizo and cheese. I just wish it was spicier.
Memphis Dog: BBQ sauce, pulled pork topped with fresh cole slaw. It was my favorite.
And of course another Chicago Dog and a New York Dog. I'm a fan of saurkraut! The service was slow but I officially ate enough hot dogs that I have my fix for at least another year.
Yeah, I am really not impressed.
My other options seemed worse than this one, so I decided to give in a whirl. Â I wish I had danced elsewhere.
I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich meal that comes with drink and fries. Â It came to over $10. Â Ouch. I could have sat down in an actual restaurant for that price.
The curly fries (which I usually love) were disgusting. Â The char on the chicken sandwich was good, but everything else was just meh.
Oh, and I get that it's loud and all, but it's not loud enough to justify actually screaming at the customers (Here's looking at you Mr. Glarey Behind the Counter Yelling At Some Lady Who Didn't Hear Her Number The First Time).
I loved the concept of the restaurant....two brothers traveling across America bringing back the BEST hot dogs from each region....but in the end I was drawn to the gourmet Guest Chef special by Chef Carrie Nahabedian which was a Jumbo all beef hot dog filled with shaved Manchego cheese, Piquilla peppers and wrapped in Spanish Chorizo topped with grilled onions and smoked paprika aioli mustard.
I actually expected more heat from the hot dog and was disappointed I could really taste the Chorizo....but I give them an A for effort....and would consider returning to sample another hot dog.
Two Chicago Dogs, fried onion rings, drinks and fried pickles. Â I think it cost over $20, but we were very hungry and liked what we got. Â The buns were oversized and good, and hot dog links were Vienna brand. Â The onion rings were unremarkable, but the fried pickles were the best! Â Overall the food was very good and hit the spot.
Review Source:In the fast food business, a customer's wait time should not exceed the amount of dollars spent, yet the crew of 10 (Yes, 10...I had plenty of time to count) managed to prove this unwritten law wrong.
I paid $18.18 for two dogs, two fries, two drinks and a side of cheese...yet our wait time on a Sunday afternoon was 24 minutes. Â I should have thought better of ordering, considering the line to place my order was four people deep, however the waiting line was five times as large.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be "business as usual" for the staff at America's Dog considering you couldn't even catch their eyes to try and receive an apologetic glance.
Perhaps you shouldn't put the junior-most experienced individual in charge of placing the toppings on the dogs? Â Henry Ford is rolling over in his grave at this abomination of an attempt at an assembly line...I guess that's why I didn't see a Detroit Dog?
Avoid at all costs.
Ok...went here for lunch thanks to a Groupon and glad I had that groupon because I would have been mad to have paid full price for what i got. Â
I ordered the Baltimore and the onions were the best part. Â The cheese looks and tasted like a chemistry experiment of yellow. Â The hot dog was kind of tasteless. Â I've had much better at the corner hot dog stand. Â The fries were seasoned fries - which they were ok. Â I did watch the cook literally pull them out the fryer, shake once and throw them in the bin...can you say greasy?
Whatevs...I doubt I'll ever go back. Â For half the price at the corner hot dog stand you will get a much better food experience. Â Skip this place.
Okay so if these represent the Amerixan hot dogs from across the United States, I'm terribly saddened. They are expensive, dont really have a taste, and the crew working wasn't the friendliest bunch. As if pushing me out of the way and on to the next customer was going to make her job any les miserable. Lighten up, it makes your job and your customer service skills not suck.
I refuse to believe that the Detroit dog is aptly named. Onions, yellow mustard, shredded cheddar cheese sounds pretty Cincinnatian to me...
Of course, I'm glad it's not named as such as it would shame the Queen City and it's chili.
First, the good news: the hot dog was yummy. Â Can't really go wrong with an ATL dog (chili, mustard, coleslaw, onion... sans the ketchup, thank-you-very-much).
The bad news: I went to the location at Navy Pier, and if they're always this busy (and I would assume they are, its Navy Pier for goodness sake), you're probably in for a disaster.
I expected the line to be full of hungry tourists with over sized strollers, that kind of comes with the territory. Â But I also expected the employees to be prepared for whatever madness this brought them. Â They got our order wrong at least twice, and we weren't the only ones. Â People gathered along the counter, making it nearly impossible to retrieve our order when our number was called... it was a sort of mosh pit-esque scene involving elbows to ribs, and toddlers in the aforementioned over sized strollers kicking at our knees. Â Not fun.
But the hot dog was good.
I loved this place. Â I will say that going on a trip after being on weight watchers for 6 months it's hard to break out and have something you know is going to make you put on a pound or two!
The description of the dogs on the menu were absolutely amazing and it was hard to choose. Â My husband got the Chicago Dog and I got the Italian Beef. Â I'm so glad I didnt get the dog! Â It had dill pickles on it - not a fan.
The Italian Beef Combo comes with sweet or hot peppers - I chose hot. Â You are also given the choice of dipped or not dipped and I asked the employee taking my order and she suggested dipped. Â
The sandwich required a knife and fork. Â The dip was heavy handed and my bread was falling apart but the beef, sausage and hot peppers were absolutely moist, juicy, and flavorful! Â OMG! Â This was an awesome sandwich.
My side was sweet potato fries. Â I did miss a little seasoning but they were still very good. Â Definitely a winner for me. Â I would go back in a heartbeat even though it was surrounded by other restaurants that also had terrific choices. Â
The Navy Pier is definitely a go-to place when visiting Chicago. Â I would give America's Dog 5 stars but I have not eaten at a comparable place as I am not a hotdog lover.
Chicago Dog, sweet potato fries! A real slice of Americana! What a taste explosion.
We ate at the location on the Navy Pier and I expect we paid a little more but that's okay it was worth it. First the Sweet Potato Fries were awesome. Crispy, tasty, lightly salted and hot. I just love the way they did them. Others in my party had the regular fries and they were equally as happy.
The Dogs... great flavor, the cases snapped when you bit into it.. The Chicago Dog is topped with peppers, relish and more veggie goodness. The Bun stood up to the task. It didn't fall apart and kept everything together.
My wife had the Philly Dog which is a Dog with shredded beef on a bun dipped (or not) in sauce. Sweet!
Definite do again stop...
For me, its the little things that either make or break a restaurant. I recently ordered the Santa Fe wrap, which the menu describes as including ranch dressing. Not one for drippy messy wraps, I asked for the ranch on the side. I realized later after looking at my receipt that I was charged $.50 for a side of ranch. Not cool to charge for a side that your sandwich comes with any way, America's Dog! I'll remember that next time and just skip it altogether.
Oh, and side note: my wrap fell apart anyway.
Visiting Navy Pier with the family is unique, especially when there are 2,000 families visiting simultaneously...
America's Dog is fairly unique with the variety of hot dogs. But what really stands out? Here's what the family ordered:
Me: Atlanta Dog - Coleslaw, chili, mustard, ketchup, & onion
Wife: San Francisco Dog - Chili, mustard, ketchup, relish, onion, pickle, tomato, shredded cheddar, & celery salt
Kids: Mini Corn Dogs Meal
The Atlanta Dog didn't stand a chance, I devoured it. My wife ate her San Francisco Dog and stated, "It tasted better after I went to the doctor and was recuperating from my outpatient surgery." The kids...well let's just say they ate it.
Okay, so what stood out? The fact that I was with my family at Navy Pier with 2,000 other families and found a spot to sit in the Crystal Gardens and let my kids run around. Sorry America's Dog, too much of everything is just too much.
I think I saw them on Good Morning America once so the Groupon offer was super exciting. Â Visited Navy Pier this weekend for their Winter Wonderland and decided to try out America's Dog. Â I had the Baltimore (fried with grilled onion and melted cheese) and Dallas (chili cheese dog)-both were pretty gross. the fried didn't taste any different than a regular dogs and there was WAY too much soggy bun, the dogs tasted super generic. Â My boyfriend's Tusan dog was pretty good-jalapenos make everything more delicious but the buffalo dog (buffalo sauce and bleu cheese) was one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted!
We had regular curly fries and cheese fries-which are also made with curly fries. Â It's a HUGE portion of cheese fries-wish I'd known that earlier. Â
Overall terrible. Â maybe I'll try the last groupon at the LP location-that one has better reviews.
It was sooooooo beautiful out a couple of Saturdays ago.......my bf and I decided to take advantage of the weather and our Groupon (2 dogs for $2) and walk over to America's Dog at Navy Pier.
We both got the Chicago Dog and a large order of Curly Fries.
Dogs had all of the accoutrements......tomatoes....relish....mustard..Â..little peppers....celery salt and a pickle......a little heavy handed on the relish.....I thought the dogs were good....but not great....I really couldn't tell the difference between the diy Chicago dogs you can get at Millennium Park and these....and I would have def been mad had I paid full price for one.
Fries were good....crispy and curly....I wish they had been a little thicker.....and that I would have gotten my own order : )
Service was fine....quick serve style.....no problems....but certainly not memorable.
I wasn't blown away so 2 stars for now.....but I have one more Groupon to use....and will try something a little more adventurous on my next outing.....stay tuned.....
BTW, the map is wrong on yelp. Â This is on Navy Pier.
Service is horrible. Â Any place that can't figure out how to give me some tap water is a big zero to me. Â I think that's also illegal. Â I ask for a glass of tap water, and they say they only have bottled, and I say "No, forget it" and she says "So you want bottled water?" Â Not sue what happened there.
Then the fries I ordered took 10 minutes, and were cold, and she almost gave to someone else because she read the number wrong. Â Good thing the other customer checked before he left.
What a joke.
I can only give 4 stars because I tried a Chicago dog and was not impressed. Â It's not that the dog itself was bad, it was all the stuff piled on top. Â What stoner came up with this concoction? Â I'm glad I can say I tried a Chicago-style dog, though I will be sticking with familiar dog toppings for now on~ mustard, relish, onions, kraut, baked beans or the occasional chili cheese dog. Â Or a dog wrapped in crescent rolls, aka "pigs in a blanket." Â Or perhaps one of those pretzel dogs they sell at Auntie Anne's... I always wanted to try one of those.
Basically, any dog that isn't Chicago-style. Â
Much respect goes to the roll that had the endurance and strength to hold all that shit and not poop out midway through.
The only hot dog I've had the guts to try is the Chicago Dog, no mustard, no relish. Â I often fantasize I'll spend a few weeks trying them all, blogging each experience in witty detail, but I'm such a picky eater I'd have to order each with several modifications.
I work on Navy Pier, and while I normally end up choking down McDonalds, this is a decent alternative. Â When large school groups are at the pier, the lines at McDonalds are unbearable. Â Little kids just can't prepare their order ahead of time and spend unnecessary time at the register, fiddling and quibbling and whatnot.
The issue with ordering any of the non-Chicago dogs is that they fly them in for each order. Â So if you order the Dallas dog, you'll be sitting there for 6 hours while they fly one in from Texas. Â If you've got an hour or two to kill, go ahead and grab a Milwaukee dog. Â But I'd shy away from ordering anything more than two-states out unless you just ate.
I usually hate chains, but when at Navy Pier with kids, do as the tourists do. Â I've actually been wanting to try this place for a while. Â I love the ambition of having different combinations of dogs from various areas of the country. Â The dog itself was very average. Â I got the Louisiana Dog with BBQ Sauce and grilled onions. Â I probably could have made it better myself. Â I am glad that seeing as this place is in Navy Pier they boiled it. Â That at least is the Chicago way to eat a hot dog. Â The various types of dogs they had seemed strange. Â We were with friends from KC who had never heard of the KC dog with melted swiss and sauerkraut. Â Also the Dallas dog with Chili and cheddar. Â Where was the Cincinnati Dog? Â That's how they eat them in the Queen City. Â I definitely prefer the more traditional Chicago Dog places like Wiener's Circle or Michael's in HP.
Review Source:On a recent trip to Chicago, Samantha H. and I wandered into this joint in search of part 1 in our Chicago food tour: The Hot Dog. For some reason I've never really been a hot dog person but have been enjoying them more and more recently. This place has hot dogs from cities all over the United States, and a map with pictures to match. I quite enjoyed my Chciago dog, complete with peppers and pickles. The service was a bit slow, but over all a good experience. We had fun acting touristy, taking pictures of the map, and laughing at what they call the Los Angeles dog. Sprouts? Yeah right! Ever heard of Pinks?
Review Source:pretty good hot dogs! they offer other types of hot dog styles within the nation. if you cant decide, they have combos that can be customized for a little extra change. sandwiches are on the menu too, but i would rather go to a sandwich place for a sandwich. for what you get, i think its priced a little too much. paid a little bit under 6 bucks..you are better off at costco for 1.50 polish dogs with a soda. add 99cents for a churro or a pretzel and now you've got a meal!
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