There's a lot of mediocre food out there.
There's a lot of good for out there.
But every once in a while, you find somewhere so good that memory vividly stays with you
forever.
A Game Changer.
We're looking for more of these.
Today we're in Chicago, and we've been told the Hot Dogs here are like no others BUT are
they actually THAT good, and does Chicago have what 4 British doofuses are looking for?
So where are we right now?
The first question we needed to answer is "What is a Chicago Hot Dog?"
So to find out we split up: Baz and J went north, and Ben and I went downtown.
Today is a good day!
They've focused on flavours, textures and they've nailed it.
So this is the Portillo's Hot Dog and it seems to be more about the topping than the dog
in the bun itself.
Frankfurter, onions, mustard, what looks like chopped up pickles, definitely no ketchup.
There's so much going on, you almost forget there's a dog involved.
Cor, that is good!
First breakfast: Hot Dogs.
Second breakfast: Fried Chicken.
Just another day being Jamie.
The waiter reckons that we're supposed to put this honey butter on the chicken, like
it's spreading butter on toast.
We gave him a camera as well...
Sorry.
So you've got bit of salty, bit of sweet, and a lovely bit of spice from the cajun chicken
as well.
Took a break from eating hot dogs to go paddle boarding.
What's that?!
So they're quite embarrassing tan lines.
That is unbelievable!!
In the middle of a huge city.
Lake Michigan, looking over the skyline.
They've got a beach.
I fell in.
What?
I'm just sending a Twitter.
Now to be honest, we got a little bit sidetracked from finding hot dogs because the food EVERYWHERE
was just great.
We found this place on Instagram.
They do the most amazing ice cream-filled macarons.
There is so many flavours, and it's so cold!
Mate, what have we stumbled upon here?
You've got boats, you've got beautiful people, you've got bikes.
Yeah
You've got all the B's... and no Ben!
It's pretty much perfect!!
Me and Ben were actually having a *great* time.
We found this amazing little coffee shop called Asado and then, to be fair to Ben, he absolutely
struck gold.
We are getting The Loop!
Felony Franks is a prison-themed Hot Dog joint (they do other food too) and that is Dino
the owner.
The idea behind this place is so good.
Felony Franks is a gourmet fast food restaurant that employs people who have been to prison.
We decided let's create a business, put people to work, show the world what they can do,
which is why we have a commitment to excellence because we know that people will come to our
restaurant once because of the mission, but if the food was fantastic and the service
was great that they would come back over and over and over.
Being a convicted felon, he didn't judge me or anything.
You know, any other job being a convicted felon they would probably not give you a job.
But here you have to be a convicted felon in order to have this job.
I've been living in Chicago my whole life - so what better person to fix you a Chicago-style
Hot Dog than a guy who's lived here all their life, right?
The typical Chicago-style Hot Dog and the Chicago-style Polish sausage...
The first, you have to have a poppy-seed bun, delivered fresh to us right from the ovens,
7 days a week.
Wow.
And then you have an all-beef frank, which is either a Polish sausage or a hot dog.
Our beef franks are, you've probably heard by now the Vienna Beef.
Well, we use one of Vienna's brands, Red Hot Chicago, it's slightly juicier, in my opinion
and I think it has a little bit more flavour.
And then, what goes on top of a Chicago-style dog is mustard, tomato, onion, relish, pickle,
sport peppers and celery salt.
And no ketchup?
Absolutely no ketchup under any circumstances, in fact you'll see on our line up wall that's
our biggest offence!
So I don't know if you looked around, we don't even have a freezer in here.
So everything is fresh, and I think that makes a huge difference.
We've come a long way for this.
That's it.
It's a multitude of flavours, you know it takes you in a lot of different directions.
That's everything!
The chargrilled beef dog had a great bite, that hit of mustard was offset by the sweet
and spiciness of the chillis and pickle, and the onions tomatoes and relish just added
a really crisp, sort of juicy freshness.
Part of the reason we opened in addition to helping ex-offenders was getting the world
back to the idea that good food is worth paying for and it's worth eating.
I've been real enthused and I love cooking - I do it at home all the time.
He gave me a second chance so that's why I do the best job I do here for Dino and here
at Felony Franks.
I just love doing it!
Making people happy!
Thank you!
Dino - what a legend.
We don't even know what the other guys have done either.
No - but I don't care, that was a Game Changer - we might have 2 in this video!
(He says that twice...
I don't know why!!)
It was then time to meet up with Barry and Jamie for our final stop of the day - the
Blues Brothers movie played on an outdoor amphitheater in Millennium Park.
I love baseball now.
It's my thing.
I'm a baller...
Is it a baller?
*******
Did you get to 2nd base?
(Oh, Ben... really??)
Look at where we are, we're in the middle of Millennium Park eating hot dogs, watching
Blues Brothers on an outdoor cinema, with Garrett Popcorn, whilst the sun sets.
What.
A. Day.
The variety of the things we had eaten, seen and done was testament to Chicago in itself.
We didn't find a bad hot dog all day.
And when it comes to a Game Changer, the way that Dino at Felony Franks uses his passion
and high standards of food to give people a second chance is so much more than finding
just a great tasting hot dog.