Mid-Michigan Dining

• 6659 S. Cicero Avenue
• Chicago, IL 60638
• (773) 581-3500
• No Known Website
• Menu

The Original Maxwell Street Station on South Cicero in Chicago.

My brother loves Chicago Style hot dogs.  You would think that someone who lives so close to Chicago would have access to a Chicago style dog, but you’d be wrong.  Where he lives, just an hour south of the city, no one does them right.

My whole family packed up and headed north for the weekend.  Once we got checked into our hotel, we went looking for lunch.  We went for a walk.  There was a little shack right across the street from our hotel that had everything we wanted.

The Original Maxwell Street Station on the corner of South Cicero and West Marquette Road is one of a handful in Chicago.  The building is very tiny and is really the kind of place I love.  There is very little seating inside the bright yellow building.  There are no tables.  Just a counter that overlooks the kitchen with a few bar stools.  Since we had my one year old niece, my brother decided that wasn’t a good idea.  The only other option is a couple picnic tables right outside.   Again, it was very close to the very busy Cicero Avenue and that made him a little nervous.

It just so happened that the special for the day was 2 Chicago Style Dogs and 2 Fries.  That was perfect.  My brother wanted two dogs and I would take one of the fries.  My dad did the same and my mom took the other order of fries from his order.  They both got the dogs without the tomato wedges that are common on Chicago dogs.  What my brother really likes is the sprout peppers and the poppy seed bun.

The Original Maxwell Street Station on Chicago's south side.

My mom and I both ordered Italian beef sandwiches.  My mom was hesitant because she doesn’t like the bun to be wet like I do.  I told her when she ordered to ask for it “dry” and the bun wouldn’t be soggy.  We both got hot giardinara and mozzarella on our beef. 

We passed on drinks because we were walking back to the hotel to eat.  The total for all four of us was under $25.  After ordering, they prepared our sandwiches to order.  It took about five minutes for two greasy bags to come out the window.  They told my mom that the “dry” beef was on top to keep the juices from mine from dripping on hers.

The walk back to the hotel was brutal.  It smelled so damn good.  We got back to the room and dug in.  My brother fell in love.  He’s always liked Portillo’s hot dogs, but he was also really impressed with this one.  He said it was delicious and it had the peppers that he really likes.  My dad, who never lets on if he likes anything, also said the dogs were really good. 

My beef was also delicious.  There were a lot of peppers and a lot of heat in every bite.  My mom had never gotten a beef like that before.  She was really shocked, but said she really liked it and wanted to go back for another one.

I really liked the fries.  They were typical Chicago-style fare.  They were skin on fries that were really, really greasy.  My dad said they were too salty and too limp, but everyone else liked them.

The Original Maxwell Street Station really did the trick for my family.  They don’t get real Chicago food very often and it’s always such a treat when they do.  They intentionally didn’t eat lunch at home before we left so they would have room for dogs and beef when we got to Chicago.