Wolfy’s

Wolfy’s sign is a cheap-eats landmark: a giant red hot stabbed with a fork high over Peterson Avenue. At the sign of the frankfurter, you can count on classic Chicago street food, served fast and with plenty of sass.

The primary meal is an all-beef dog cushioned in a steamed-soft poppy-seed bun. It is available topped with chili or cheese, but such choices are very un-Chicago. In this town, the more typical choice is to smother a hot dog under a wheelbarrow of condiments, i.e. bright yellow mustard, spruce-green piccalilli, full-length pickle spears, slices of tomato, chopped raw onions, and an incendiary sport pepper or two. On the side, of course, you want a serving of French fries, which are good and crunchy (although not among Chicago’s very best).

In addition to regular red hots, Wolfy’s makes a fine Polish sausage: like a hot dog, but more unctuous and with a darkened, crackling-crisp skin. The preferred condiment for a Polish is a heap of oily grilled onions.