Chicago Region BMW Motorcycle Owners Assoccrbmw

From the Chicago Tribune dated February 02, 2011.

Gene & Jude's, longtime River Grove stand, named best hot dog in country

Posted by Kevin Pang
Another week, another best-[insert food]-in-the-country list, but this is one we can stand behind and cheer.
Gene & Jude’s Red Hot Stand, River Grove’s purveyors of just hot dogs, tamales and fries since 1946, will be named the number one hot dog stand in the country in the March issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. The magazine goes on newsstands this week.
The adjudication was handled by Serious Eats, the James Beard Award-winning blog with food writing heavyweights Ed Levine, Adam Kuban and Hawk Krall. Their hot dog-scouting team chose 64 stands throughout the nation, divided into four geographic regions. A March Madness-like competition eliminated restaurants round by round, until two hot dog stands remained: Aqui con El Nene in Tucson, and our own Gene & Jude's. Our hometown hero won.
“It’s a great honor for anyone to notice us,” said Dan Ciancio, general manager of the stand for 20 years. “We go through a lot of trouble to have such a small menu. We’ve just kept it the same. And I feel proud that we’re doing something right.”
Gene & Jude’s, a stone’s throw from O’Hare Airport, also beat out local stalwarts Hot Doug’s and Superdawg.
Located at 2720 River Rd., River Grove. 708-452-7634



Tribune photo of Gene & Jude's Matt DeSantis

Read that in the news. How cool!

Really Gene & Jude's named best in the USA and nice pics also

If you like Gene & Jude's and don't wnt to drive there - another option for those in the northwest burbs is Delicious Red's in Lake Zurich. Same menu and style, but there are bathrooms and seating. To top it off there is a motorcycle theme. http://www.deliciousredds.com/

Larry- You probably know this already, but the other readers may not. Bathrooms and seating is why Delicious Reds made the HDN schedule and the lack of such is why Gene and Judes was deleted. The group decided that no matter how good the food, if there were no restrooms or seating, it didn't pass muster to make the list. Certainly may not be an issue for those traveling individually for some eats, but as a group function, we started listening to our members and planning accordingly. That minimum requirement scrubbed more than a couple from the list---mostly downtown eateries where restrooms and parking and anything requiring square footage is at a premium. I didn't make very many this year, but we worked hard to scatter them around so that all members would be able to attend some near or far....whatever was their preference. Thanks for the heads up on Gene and Jude's accolades.

Dan,
As always the hot dog schedule is awesome! All responsible, for both planning and execution, deserve high praise.
However, the bathroom and seats thing is a bit too restrictive. For instance most of the places that were not on the list do in fact have bathrooms in nearby. At Gene & jude's you just have to go next door to use the facilities if nature calls.
Seating can be an individual preference. Many of us see the hot dog meets as a chance to visit and often spend more time standing and talking rather than sitting and eating. If you really need to take a load off, then sit on or in what you rode or drove.
I would submit that as long as there are restrooms in the area, the eatery should still be eligible. Larry