John Gets A Big Scary Hot Dog at Windy City

First off, if you’re in the Boston area, or just south thereof, and you haven’t stopped by Windy City Eats’ new digs on Route 53 in Norwell (actually called Windy City Dogs & More), please do. Grady Carlson’s second location is considerably bigger than his first and while I do love the eating-in-a-hallway charm of the original because it just screams hot dog joint, it’s great that this excellent local spot has been successful enough to branch out. Plus, it’s nice to be able to sit down at a table and dig in. And, as I said way back when Milkbone and I headed down there, it’s worth it. There’s very good doggery here.

This post, however, is about what I dug into on a recent visit, and it is this:

No, it’s not a french-fry sandwich. I promise there are hot dogs in there somewhere.

Behold the Big Scary Manwich. A few weeks back after a rough day at work, I stopped in to soothe my soul with my usual round of Navy Pier dogs (brown mustard, pastrami) and a classic Chicago dog. Up on the video menu board–which, yes, your eyes are not playing tricks, cycles through the items–I saw this thing listed. Two hot dogs. Chili. Cheese. Tamale. (Yeah, let that soak in. It’s a freaking tamale inside a hot dog.) French fries. On a French roll.

All that’s missing is a cardiac specialist on standby.

I saw it but I didn’t order. You can bet, though, that it never left my mind. Last weekend the family and I were at a football game one town over. I slyly suggested we should get lunch while we were out. That’s how we met and fell in love, the Big Scary Manwich and I.

It’s not like you needed to get this up close and personal with my lunch, but aren’t you glad you did?

There’s so much to love in this magnificent error of judgement. I spent a couple of minutes picking off a few chili-and-cheese-sopped fries before digging in. When you get a shot of everything all at once, it’s hot doggish heaven. It’s one of those “I know it’s wrong but it feels so right” moments that happens with a good, over-the-top dog. The tamale is an interesting texture and taste in the mix.  It was definitely a first for me. Sometimes a bite of it made that mouthful a little dense, but its subtle flavors and the way it works so well with the chili overrides that. This quickly becomes a knife-and-fork dog because, try as it might, the roll just isn’t up to the Herculean task of trying to keep all that stuff in. And friends, there is a lot of stuff.

If you can come to terms with the unabashed gluttony that’s required to belly up to this bad boy, I definitely recommend it on your next stop at either Windy City location. But if the sight of this beefy behemoth frightens you, don’t worry–there are plenty more excellent dogs for less rapacious appetites waiting at Windy City.

Windy City Eats
Middle St., Weymouth MA
Windy City Dogs and More
Washington St., Norwell MA