In May 1948, Maurie and Flaurie Berman opened Superdawg – a authentic drive-in hotdog stand at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Devon Avenue in Chicago.
That restaurant grew up to be one of the most popular in the city, and made it into the “1000 places to see before you die” list.
Yes – it is that cool. Maurie and Flaurie still run the joint along with their kids, and they still serve their original Superdawg (don’t call it a hot dog).
A Superdawg is something special – they are one of the only in the city to use their own dog recipe instead of the traditional Vienna Beef dog. An authentic Superdawg comes with all the Chicago style trimings packed inside a Superdawg box with crinkle cut fries and a green tomato.
Later this month, Supwerdawg will open their second drive-in location in Wheeling, IL (about 6 miles up the road from the original location). An airport location was opened at Midaway in 2003.
The new Wheeling store will be much larger than the (cramped) Chicago location, but everything has been kept as authentic as possible, down to the “control tower” style order picker room and of course, the Maurie and Flaurie dogs on the roof.
The book is right though – everyone needs to visit Superdawg at least once in their life. The Chicago location can be reached by bus, but there is not much room to eat indoors (they do have a small patio), so the best way to experience Superdawg is to rent yourself a car and hope you keep the seats clean!