Chicago Dogs come to Sonic!

By chance, I happened to see a commercial on TV that indicated Sonic had added three new hot dogs to their menu. One was an All American dog, while another was a New York style dog looked  interesting, but what really caught my attention was the addition of a Chicago style hot dog! Too cool.

It’s been quite sometime since I last had one of these (see the real thing at right), yet just the memory gets my mouth to watering. According to Sonic's web site, their version of a Chicago Dog is 'a 100% pure beef hot dog topped with pickle, relish, tomato, sport peppers, celery salt and mustard all served up in a soft, warm poppy seed bun'. While that description is close to the one I remember eating in Chicago, I think an authentic Chi town Dog has relish that is iridescent green and the dogs were always served with limp fries. To be fair, I decided to buy one and decide for myself.

I was able to test this out recently when I motored over to the Sonic located in Forsyth, Missouri where I ordered a Chicago dog and fries. The total came to $3.76 which was a bit expensive, but I felt it was justified in the name of science.

For the record the dog packs a 440 calorie wallop not counting the small fries which bring another 220 calories to the game. (This is not a meal for the meek at heart or for anyone who is trying to live with a diet as I am). However, once again, since I’m doing this for a scientific cause, it’s OK to do today!

The other two bits of bad news would be the cholesterol at 40 milligrams (livable) and the sledgehammer amount of sodium that come in at 2600 milligrams for both. Still, I reasoned, if I made sure to refrain from eating for the rest of the day (and maybe tomorrow), I'd make out. Now onto the esoterics…

The visual appeal of this meal was all that I expected and the smell was to die for. So, score a 10 on that part. The taste was pretty much as good as I remembered although the fries were just ordinary and not limp at all. The cost for the hot dog was $1.99 and the fries were $1.49, so not all that bad. Overall, a very good meal that I would encourage everyone to give a try! In the name of science, of course!