The Haute & The Dog

I was lucky enough to get a Groupon for Haute and the Dog, so I got to try three different options. All sound amazing, but turn out to be average. Definitely not bad, but I’m not craving anything I recently tried. Options like green chili mac hot dog sound extraordinary, but all the menu items lack flavor. Okay for a quick, and very cheap meal… even better if you have the Groupon!

I swore I wrote a review before but it must not have worked. The redhead at the counter was friendly. Nice place, nice neighborhood.
Big bad wolf is more filling than anything else I tried.

I wasn’t very excited when I found out a gourmet hot dog joint was going in across the street from my house, but of course I had to give Haute a chance when it opened. Well, I have eaten more hot dogs this summer than I probably did my entire life before. I have tried almost all of them, with the Chicken Apple Gouda Sausage and the Poblano Mac Dog being my top picks.
Their sides are great, too. The corn, baked beans, and fries with dipping sauces are standouts in my opinion. Also, their fries are baked so they are apparently almost healthy… until you dip them in the incredible cheese sauce they offer. Yum.
Keep in mind that they are cash only and can be a little slow, so hit the ATM and don’t come in a rush!

This place is Skeeter to Hot Dougs. Greener to the gourmet hot dog game and definitely not as good.
I tried the bbq pork, mac and cheese dog, a bite of the chili, and some fries. Would definitely do the pulled pork and chili again, but the mac and cheese was a bit bland and their fries tasted like something that Quail Man made his costume with. Must have been a bad batch or something.
The staff was friendly and it’s a cute little corner location with some seating on the patio and a BYO policy. Overall… I’d definitely do it again if I’m in the area, but I wouldn’t exactly make it a destination like Doug’s.

I’ve been here nearly a dozen or so times (for some reason) and it’s always a mediocre experience so I don’t really know why I keep coming back. But today I had enough to write a review.
Their cashiers always seem to be on their first day of work, disinterested in customer service or basic menu knowledge, and fumble around the cash register like they have never used it before. Multiple times I have had to do the math for them on change (it is cash only, btw).
Today after I paid I sat and waited for my food for over 30 min. Everyone who ordered after me got their food. I tried getting the cashier’s attention a few times but she seemed busy. I finally asked, and to my dismay, they had immediately placed my order on the «done» pile once I paid so it was not being made. Perfect. What kind of apology you get says a lot about how a place values you or your time. She gave me the option to have any drink I wanted… But I already had a drink. Nothing else was offered or put on the table for their wasteful error. One star.
Food: My first few times here I tried a number of different dogs/​sausages. Not all of them are great, but I was pleasantly surprised by the Swine. Their Mac and cheese is also good and has a little kick to it. Baked fries are also decent.
On the flip side their Chicago dog was bland and forgettable. Also is the polish sausage and about half the menu. Very skip-​able.

Quite disappointing. The only reason i will be returning is because i have a groupon. I am not picky, was very excited to try this place because byob and hot dogs absolutely!
First off they were out of so many things. Out of bacon (so no bacon wrapped dog like my husband wanted), out of potato salad, and out of french fries! Some one other thing that slips my mind.
The hot dog casings were chewy, my husband agreed. And my bun on my Chicago dog was so soggy i had to eat it with a fork.
There is no atmosphere and either the air was broken or they don’t have it, we sat there awkwardly as the only people in there, sweating.
I really want to like this place, hopefully round 2 will be better

Walking into the place it looks pretty cool. Sweet looking truck out front. Kinda southern, Louisiana type of thing. I was excited to try the dogs and have a new spot to add to my rotation.
I was the only customer in the place and upon approaching the counter the tattooed girl just stared at me — waiting for me to order and get the f— out of her life. Hey, I don’t expect «how may I serve you, your highness» or anything like that. How about a «hi» or something? Anything? It’s not exactly rude, more weird and uncomfortable, especially when you’re the only person in the joint. I figure maybe they’re trying to do a blasé, hipster version of the wiener’s circle, only without the humor.
I ordered a cheese brat. It took about 20 minutes to get the food. It’s cool — they’re cooking to order. It seemed perhaps a bit long since I was the only person waiting for food. But, to break the uncomfortable silence, about every 5 minutes I heard what sounded like someone angrily tossing metal pans from across the room into a sink with a loud CRASH! So that kept me on my toes while I waited. It sorta seemed like there was some argument happening between the staff. Not sure, I was just picking up lots of negative vibes in general.
As far as the food goes, it was good. It wasn’t so good that I’d want to deal with the weird vibes again, but I have nothing bad to say about the food itself. I’d probably eat it again if somebody else ordered and picked it up for me. I doubt I’ll be back though.

Generally I enjoy this place quite a bit, and have always felt welcome there. However, I had my first bad experience, and it was a considerably bad one.
I had stopped in on my way home from work, was given my food and I went home. Once I got home, I realized I had been given the wrong order. I called the restaurant to see what could be done to fix the mistake. They said my food was ready for me, so since I had already gone all the way home, I asked if it could be delivered. I was told that it would be delivered. A few minutes later, I was called and told there would be a $ 5 charge for delivery. Which, I said that seemed unnecessary, since it was to correct a mistake that was not my fault. I was told it was standard policy, so I would still be charged. So, since I didn’t feel like spending money on correcting their mistake, I ended up walking all the way back and then home again.
There was no effort to make up for making me go out of my way to correct their mistake. So, since they don’t feel like waiving $ 5 to make a customer happy, they don’t seem to value their customers very much.

Used up one of my Groupons at HATD Wednesday night. The Chili Dog was incredible; just the right size, chili was great, bun was great, $ 4. The Chicken Apple Gouda Sausage was certainly interesting and a nice mix of flavors but it didn’t register like the Chili Dog did for me. Baked fries were fine, but admittedly the fries at Hot Doug’s are incredible, and in the moment, baking the fries doesn’t make me feel like going healthy is as good an idea as having them fried! Pairing the fries with a semi-​spicy cheese dip was just okay, but I’ll be back to try one of the other dip sauces the next go-​round. Baked beans were plain but had nice chunks of meat (franks?) to go with the sauce; strangely, there weren’t enough beans in the cup for me.
My dining companions got the German Shepard and a sausage that was littered with extra meat on top; both got rave reviews, so maybe we’ll go down that road the next time!

Umm I wasn’t a fan of the place. It was very cluttered on the inside, they didn’t have good seating arrangements. And I literally sat on a rickety wooden stool. I thought it was going to break.
The food itself is alright. Very overpriced in my opinion. $ 5 for a hot dog alone. That does not include fries or drink. The hot dogs were okay, I got the Chicago dog. I won’t be getting it again. The cook put way to much celery seed on it, which made it hard to eat. My boyfriend got the chicken apple dog and he felt that it was incredibly dry and tasteless.
What was worse was that thy sold cans of coke for $ 2 a pop. A twelve pack of coke is about three dollars. So where do they get buy charging $ 2 per can of soda? Its ridiculous! I would give them 2 stars if they at least got a fountain drink machine.
I gave them two stars not or the food quality, but because they have a groupon. If you use the groupon, then the prices aren’t as bad. But I wouldn’t pay these prices without it.
Sadly, I will be going back. But not for the food quality, but because I don’t want my groupon going to waste.

It took me a few times of coming here to become a fan. Luckily, the Groupon allowed me to come multiple times, otherwise I’m not sure how many times I would have been back. There’s a good selection on the menu, so it took me the second time to find something I liked. The groupon let me get 3 different dogs, so I was able to taste a little of everything. It takes a little longer to make these gourmet dogs and they always seem to be out of something. Once they were out of the two hot dogs I wanted and didn’t have fries. That’s just bad luck.
Tip: cash only, they have an ATM.

A couple months ago, one of my coworkers sent me on a mission: Go to The Haute & The Dog and report back. She caught a segment about them on tv and figured I’d report the real deal.
I drove past a couple times and made a real effort to stop a few weeks ago with the hubby and 16 year old son. They were excited to try something new!
Cash only. I probably knew that when I first thought about going, but by the time we actually made it there, I had forgotten. Don’t forget. It’s an important detail.
The atmosphere was non-​existent. No personality or banter from the girl at the counter. No suggestions or conversation when we said we were first timers. No other customers. It felt weird and we almost grabbed a soda and moved along. But I was on a mission and so we forged ahead.
We tried a bacon wrapped hot dog with cheese, a chili dog and a polish sausage. We were less than impressed. Nothing was bursting with flavor. The wait was unusually long considering we were the only order. For the cost, the serving size and quality were nothing special in my opinion. Now, the fries were cool because they are baked and fried (less fat) which probably added to the delay.
I had my first Dog N Suds root beer which was fun and we ate on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. It’s a cute place, but I don’t think it lived up to the hype for us.

Well, the hot dogs are good here. The meat itself, good quality. Tasty. The combinations? In theory delicious, a lot of the combinations are what one would expect… bacon, cheese, peppers, chili, etc. But some of the add-​ons are actually a bit below par and just weird. Maybe a plain or chi-​dog would be good, but the mac n cheese was a little lackluster and the bacon n cheese was, well, boring.
I just don’t really see myself willing to spend five bucks for a hot dog when you can buy a package and make it at home yourself and make a lot more afterwards! Of course, if you really have a hankering for a hot dog, are lazy, and have no supplies… this will do. Once or twice. Maybe.
If it were a bit cheaper, it’d probably get another star.

Honestly I don’t see the Haute & the Dog sticking around for a long time unless they change a lot (which they might; they’ve been open for far less than a year as far as I know). CASH ONLY CASH ONLY.
Walking in I had high expectations: the sausages sound great, they’re half the price of Longman & Eagle’s pop-​up Sausage shop, the location is super cute with some outdoor seating along Damen, somewhere around halfway between Division and the Milwaukee. The décor is also hipster-​cool, which is part of the appeal of Wicker Park.
When we walked in and asked our high school-​looking server at the counter what was in the daily special sausage, she said «I’m not sure…» and wandered off to the back to ask someone. When servers don’t know the food, especially if there’s only 10 – 15 items, alarm bells go off in my head– proprietors missed out on this detail (training servers), what else are they going to miss?
Anyway, the place takes time, and it’s $ 4-​$ 6 for a sausage, but it’s very comparable to Big Star’s prices for tacos. The sausages are slightly more filling than tacos and cost slightly more. I had a BOGO coupon so that made it nice.
Teensy sad cups of sides are $ 1.50 with a sausage, $ 2 on their own. These sides need to be about twice as big, or at least 1.5 times. They’re ridiculously small. We got the jalapeño sweet corn, which was remarkably lacking in jalapenos and sorta tasted like sweet corn from the can, and the baked beans.
THE BAKED BEANS ARE SO GOOD OMG. Best thing we had. They’re chock full of tomato, green peppers and onions, ham/​bacon, and PINEAPPLE!!! Seriously they are delicious and I would just buy a big thing of them if, yknow, they didn’t cost $ 2 for a taste and there doesn’t seem to be larger sizes of sides.
The sausages themselves are quite tasty: interesting flavors, juicy, flavorful. One was wrapped in bacon, which was a nice crispy contrast to the mild juicy pork inside, and the other was two links of beef-​pork that was the perfect mix of salt and fat. But they’re served on limp giant buns with a bare scratch of toppings (raw onions, red peppers sauce, bbq sauce): again, need to approximately triple the toppings to make these worth it.
I’ll come back if things change (add more food). Maybe other people will come too (I have never seen this place full and I walk by almost every day).

This place intrigued me immediately as my boyfriend and I walked by it on our way to Do-​Division Fest last Sunday. We both thought that it looked like a nice gem to try out. A few hours late while drinking some cocktails at the fest we were approached by Scottie from The Haute and The Dog with BOGO coupons for hot dogs. How could we not go now? It was definitely a sign!
So the 4 of us made out way to this BYOB place to get us some dogs. We snagged a table and immediately started drooling over the menu. Scottie was nice enough to take our order at the table and walk us through the menu.
My boyfriend ordered the bacon wrapped hot dog, I had the mac n cheese hot dog, my brother ordered both the mac n cheese hot dog and the swine, and his girlfriend ordered the chicken apple gouda sausage. We shared some delicious baked fries with sides of truffle mayo and Wasabi Soy Aioli. The baked fries were awesome and of course better for you. Apparently there are some vegetarian options that I would love to try next time I venture out there. My boyfriend thought the bacon wrapped dog was a little small and was envious of the swine but other than that everyone really enjoyed the food.
This place is great — awesome menu and a creative twist. I love all the options! And to top it off it’s BYOB and has cupcakes to finish off the meal!

I was skeptical going into this place knowing these were the same people who ran Bagel — a bagel shop that didn’t own a toaster. Needless to say I wasn’t surprised to learn they opened a hot dog shop without a frier.
My buddy told me he tried to place a delivery order over the phone and they told him to hang up and order through grubhub. I walked in on a weekday at noon, I was the only person in there, still took 20 minutes to get a hot dog and fries. The hot dog was fine but the fries were baked. They advertise their fries as being 60% healthier but they don’t taste very good. They taste like frozen fries you’ve cooked in the oven then broiled for a minute to give them a very crisp burnt taste, not really my style.
Cash only and it’s the same hipster employees who could care less that you don’t have all day to wait around for a hot dog /​bagel.
It’s too bad as I live steps away but I won’t be back, at least until it turns into something else.

I stopped in Saturday night for a quick bite. Went with the special, meat loaf dog. Yes, it sounds weird but it was pretty tasty with a nice helping of mashed potatoes on top. Other menu items looked just as interesting.
I love the décor, and the fact this place is open at night. I was sad to see bagel close, but I’m happy about this new concept. I can always go for a hotdog!

I try not to compare Hot Dog joints to Hot Doug’s, but I always invariably do, and just about everything falls short. The Haute & The Dog (what a horrible name) falls short of Hot Doug’s. It also falls short by itself.
The hot dog itself is unimpressive. At least the dog in the Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog was. It was small and lacked flavor. It may have been a Vienna frank they bought at the supermarket. The bun was similarly unimpressive. As was the bacon. As was the cheddar. And it cost $ 5. Pricey for an unimpressive dog. Throw in the slow service and boy do you have a dud of a restaurant.
I certainly won’t be rushing back anytime soon.
Why did they close the Bagel for this???

I have had these delicious dogs twice. I will be back for more. Here is my take… When I go to Alinea, I expect my mind to literally be blown by artistic food. When I go to 3 Floyds brew pub, I expect my thirst to be quenched by myriad of funky brews I cant find anywhere else than an industrial corridor in weirdo Indiana. When I go to the Haute and the Dog, I expect a few hipsters to be circling on their fix gear bikes, a stout little delivery truck out front, and HOT DOGS, nothing more! We are not talking some skinny wet processed meat sleeve from a ballpark, I am talking a plump and natural beeffy delight topped with creativity and skinny jeans hipster love.
All said and done. I liked my experiences at H&D. I look for a tasty treat and get it here. Yes, its just a hot dog topped with peppers, or cheese, or mac and CHEESE– but sometimes I want just that… and a mini pie to finish things off (courtesy of Fasano– they are awesome!). So, yeah… I’ll be back for more.
But bring water, or make use of the BYOB… they don’t have a water cooler and unless you feel like paying for a drink its your only option.

Can we just bring back Bagel On Damen?
I really wanted to like this place but it’s nothing exciting. I ordered «The Swine» and a side of chili. First off the chili… it is excellent but for $ 1.5 you get a portion in the same size cup you’d typically see for dipping sauces. Now it’s good, but not $ 1.5 good. Next up was «The Swine» dog. For a «gourmet» style hot dog shop this place needs some better buns. The bun that «The Swine» came on was what you’d see at Jewel in a pack for $.99. It ended up just being a soggy mess of white bread. As for the dog it’s self, meh.
Bottom line, skip it.