The Wieners Circle
Encyclopedia
The Wieners Circle is a hot dog stand
in the Lincoln Park
neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is famous for four things: its signature Chicago-style hot dog
s, hamburgers and cheese fries
, and the mutual verbal abuse between the employees and the customers during the late-weekend hours. On the weekends, the establishment stays open as late as 5:00 AM, drawing many drunken customers who have arrived from bars and clubs.
food, especially its hot dogs and hamburgers (commonly called chardogs and charburgers). A Wiener Circle char dog with "the works" is a grilled Vienna Beef
hot dog on a warm poppy seed
bun, topped with mustard
, onion
s, relish
, dill pickle spears, tomato
slices, and sport peppers - plus a final dash of celery salt
.
The nightly tips are very high, and people have worked there for ten years or more. Featured on Dave Attell's Comedy Central show, Insomniac that aired in 2002. One of the more famous employees is Roberta "Poochie" Jackson, who was featured (along with the restaurant) in a 2007 episode of the Showtime television version of the Chicago Public Radio
program This American Life
, as well as an episode of Extreme Fast Food on the Travel Channel. In Chicago travel guides, the Wieners Circle is often extolled as a source for authentic Chicago-style hot dogs and its uniquely abrasive customer relations. Journalist Catherine Price listed The Wieners Circle in her book 101 Places Not to See Before You Die, calling it "a microcosm of segregation in Chicago". She commented "if our metric were 'places that make me sad about humanity,' late night at Wiener's Circle would have been at the top."
Hot dog stand
A hot dog stand is a food business stand that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter on a public thoroughfare such as a road, street, ballpark, mall, or food court....
in the Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is famous for four things: its signature Chicago-style hot dog
Chicago-style hot dog
A Chicago-style hot dog, or Chicago Dog, is a steamed or water-simmered all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois...
s, hamburgers and cheese fries
Cheese fries
Cheese fries are a popular fast food dish consisting of french fries covered in cheese, similar to the French-Canadian snack poutine, which is fries, cheese curds and brown gravy.-Localized variations:...
, and the mutual verbal abuse between the employees and the customers during the late-weekend hours. On the weekends, the establishment stays open as late as 5:00 AM, drawing many drunken customers who have arrived from bars and clubs.
Food
The establishment is known for its char-grilledGrilling
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...
food, especially its hot dogs and hamburgers (commonly called chardogs and charburgers). A Wiener Circle char dog with "the works" is a grilled Vienna Beef
Vienna Beef
Vienna Beef is a manufacturer of hot dog used in the classic Chicago style hot dog, as well as Polish sausage and Italian beef, delicacies of independent Chicago-style hot dog and beef stands...
hot dog on a warm poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
bun, topped with mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s, relish
Relish
A relish is a cooked, pickled, or chopped vegetable or fruit food item which is typically used as a condiment.In North America, relish commonly alludes to sweet pickle relish-like sauce that often condiments hot dogs, hamburgers and other types of fast food.-Description and ingredients:The item...
, dill pickle spears, tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
slices, and sport peppers - plus a final dash of celery salt
Celery salt
Celery salt is a flavored salt used as a food seasoning, made from ground seeds, which may come from celery or its relative lovage. These ground seeds are mixed with salt, either table salt or sea salt....
.
Abusive language
Sometime in the early 1990s (circa 1992) Larry Gold, one of the proprietors, called a drunk and distracted customer an "asshole" in order to get his attention. This set-off the late-night abuse culture of the restaurant. The atmosphere can range from playful to hostile. The language used by both the staff and customers during these hours is notoriously foul and aggressive, and sometimes racist. As the wait-staff is largely black and the clientele middle-class to wealthy white, the more racist epithets have led to the rare physical altercation. Customers commonly request a "chocolate milkshake," which is code for asking one of the female employees to shake her breasts. Reports have indicated that female employees lift their shirts to shake their naked breasts, in exchange for big tips.The nightly tips are very high, and people have worked there for ten years or more. Featured on Dave Attell's Comedy Central show, Insomniac that aired in 2002. One of the more famous employees is Roberta "Poochie" Jackson, who was featured (along with the restaurant) in a 2007 episode of the Showtime television version of the Chicago Public Radio
Chicago Public Radio
WBEZ is a noncommercial, public radio station broadcasting from Chicago, Illinois. Financed primarily by listener contributions, the station is affiliated with both National Public Radio and Public Radio International; they also broadcast content from American Public Media...
program This American Life
This American Life
This American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays,...
, as well as an episode of Extreme Fast Food on the Travel Channel. In Chicago travel guides, the Wieners Circle is often extolled as a source for authentic Chicago-style hot dogs and its uniquely abrasive customer relations. Journalist Catherine Price listed The Wieners Circle in her book 101 Places Not to See Before You Die, calling it "a microcosm of segregation in Chicago". She commented "if our metric were 'places that make me sad about humanity,' late night at Wiener's Circle would have been at the top."