Superdawg is a

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

hot dog stand A hot dog stand is a business that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter. Hot dog stands can be located on a public thoroughfare, near a sports stadium, in a shopping mall, or at a fair. They are often found on the streets of major ...

with

carhop A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...

service. It is located in the Norwood Park neighborhood of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, at the intersection of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, and Nagle Avenues. Superdawg has the distinction of being one of the few original drive-in restaurants left in the United States. Its methods have been the same since it opened in 1948. A second, similar location on Milwaukee Avenue in

Wheeling, Illinois Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it is primarily in Cook County, approximately northwest of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United Sta ...

opened in 2010. Superdawg was featured on the Food Network's television programs ''

Unwrapped ''Unwrapped'', also known as ''Unwrapped with Marc Summers'', is an American television program on Food Network that reveals the origins of sponsored foods. It first aired in June 2001 and is hosted by Marc Summers. The show leads viewers on tou ...

'' and ''

Emeril Live ''Emeril Live'' is a television program that aired on Food Network from October 6, 1997, to December 11, 2007, and then on Fine Living (now The Cooking Channel) from July 7, 2008, to December 14, 2010. Hosted by Emeril Lagasse, ''Emeril Live'' fe ...

'', and on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television programs ''

Check, Please! ''Check, Please!'' is a multi-Emmy Award winning restaurant review program that began on Chicago's PBS member station WTTW in 2001. The show's popularity inspired spin-offs in several other markets. A San Francisco version of the show, ''Check, ...

'' and ''A Hot Dog Program''. It has been visited by many critics and food aficionados. It is listed in the books ''

1,000 Places to See Before You Die ''1,000 Places to See Before You Die'' is a 2003 travel book by Patricia Schultz, published by Workman. A revised edition was published in November 2011. The new edition is in color. An iPad app debuted in December 2011. Among the "1,000 places ...

'' and ''Hot Dog Chicago: A Native's Dining Guide''.

History

Superdawg was opened in May 1948 by Maurie and Flaurie Berman, and it is still owned and operated by their family. Although the restaurant has undergone some expansion and remodeling, the landmark figures of anthropomorphic hot dogs "Maurie and Flaurie" on the roof date from the beginning. In 2003, a Superdawg location opened in Midway Airport's B concourse. It closed in 2010 when another Superdawg restaurant opened on Milwaukee Avenue in

.Ahern, Shiela (January 28, 2010)
"Superdawg Finally Opens in Wheeling on Milwaukee Avenue"
''Daily Herald''. Retrieved January 23, 2016. Superdawg has succeeded in asking a number of restaurants to cease using similar names, but in 2009 successfully sued a New York City hot dog eatery named Superdog when it refused to comply. The Superdawg trademark was registered in 1984. In 2014, Superdawg collaborated with Lake Effect Brewing Company, a Chicago craft brewery, to create a

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

-style beer called Super Bier. Maurie Berman died on May 17, 2015. His wife Flaurie died May 1, 2018. In June 2015, the

Unicode Consortium The Unicode Consortium (legally Unicode, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated and based in Mountain View, California. Its primary purpose is to maintain and publish the Unicode Standard which was developed with the intenti ...

added a hot dog to the list of officially recognized

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversat ...

. In September 2015,

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

made the symbol available on its phones and computers with the release of the

iOS 9 iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, 20 ...

operating system. Superdawg was a leader in the effort to establish the hot dog emoji.

Carhop service

The restaurant retains a 1950s style of ordering food. Customers pull their car up to one of the carports and order through a retro-looking metallic speaker box. Each cashier responds to the customer's call through the speaker box with the greeting, "Hiya, thanks for stopping. May I take your order now?" The orders are delivered to the car window by a

with a tray that hooks on to the half-open car window. When finished eating, the customer flips a switch on the box and a carhop comes to take the tray back. Many of the carhops have been there for years and have a loyal base of customers. There is also a walkup window and a small seating area inside the restaurant. The Wheeling location has a much larger indoor seating area.

The food

All of the sandwiches come with crinkle-cut

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

inside a box that helps retain its heat. Every Superdawg comes with a signature pickled green tomato,Kindelsperger, Nick (May 20, 2013)
"Gallery: The 10 Best Chicago-Style Hot Dogs"
Serious Eats. Retrieved January 23, 2016. one of Superdawg's distinctions from the classic

Chicago-style hot dog A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pick ...

, along with its spicier-than-usual wiener. They care about the distinction between a regular red hot as it says on their menu, "not a red hot- not a frankfurter - not a wiener - but our exclusive... Superdawg

They also sell double-cheeseburgers called "Wooper-Cheezies". Superdawg is also known to never put ketchup on any of their hot dogs. If customers ask for ketchup, it's provided on the side.

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Chicago Hot dog restaurants in the United States Novelty buildings in Illinois Restaurants in Chicago Drive-in restaurants Restaurants established in 1948 1948 establishments in Illinois

History

Carhop service

The food

See also

References

External links