Welcome to Tuesday Trivia! Each week, we tackle this big, bizarre, wonderful city through a different lens, asking you to answer the tough questions. This week we’re quizzing you about Chicago’s most beloved food, the hot dog!

1. Which of these ingredients is not included in a traditional Chicago-style hot dog?

a. Sport peppers

b. Tomato

c. Pickle relish

d. Ketchup

Answer: D. Ok, that was a gimme. We Chicagoans eschew ketchup on our hot dogs. Please don’t ask for it on yours. You can, however, have ketchup on fries.

2. Where is the Vienna Beef factory?

a. Back of the Yards

b. Bridgeport

c. Bucktown

d. Belmont Cragin

Answer: C. The current Vienna Beef factory stands at the intersection of Damen Ave., Fullerton Ave. and Elston Ave. Listen to this clip from “This American Life” to hear about the curious problem Vienna Beef staff encountered when they moved into their current facility.

3. Doug Sohn, owner of the beloved and now closed gourmet hot dog joint Hot Doug’s, came under legal fire in 2006. What got him into trouble?

a. Serving fois gras

b. Using factory farm meat

c. Paying employees less than minimum wage

d. Serving meat

Answer: A. Sohn was the first chef to be fined for serving fois gras during a citywide fois gras ban. The measure had been pushed by Alderman Joe Moore, and tongue ever in his cheek, Sohn named a specialty sausage with fois gras the “Joe Moore.” Although the ban was repealed in 2008, the controversy will live on in the hearts and arteries of Chicagoans forever.

4. Atop the northwest side establishment Superdawg, there stand two statues of hot dogs. What are they named?

a. Weenie and Mustard

b. Poppy and Sport

c. Maurie and Flaurie

d. Car and Hop

Answer: C. The hot dog statues are named Maurie and Flaurie in honor of the original owners of Superdawg, where you can get a superdawg, a chocolate malt and crinkle cut fries delivered right to your car.

5. Given its many vegetable toppings, the Chicago-style hot dog is said to be what?

a. A Midwestern salad

b. Dragged through the garden

c. Way too healthy for a hot dog

d. A farmer’s sausage

Answer: B. Chicago-style hot dogs are said to be “dragged through the garden” because they are piled so high with vegetables. It has also been referred to as a “banquet on a bun.” We don’t think anyone has ever thought that they were healthy.

6. When did the Chicago-style hot dog as we know it today originate?

a. The Great Depression

b. WWI

c. The Gilded Age

d. The Industrial Revolution

Answer: A. The Chicago dog is alleged to have emerged when Abe “Fluky” Drexler converted the family’s Maxwell Street vegetable cart into a hot dog stand in 1929, calling his veggie-loaded hot dogs “Depression Sandwiches.”

7. Which hot dog stand is known for its rowdy late night hours when customers and employees hurl insults at one another?

a. Gene and Jude’s

b. Franks ’N’ Dawgs

c. The Weiners Circle

d. Wolfy’s

Answer: C. By day, the Lincoln Park locale is known for its char grilled hot dogs and picnic table seating. By night, however, The Weiners Circle is a hotspot for mock verbal abuse.

8. Hot Doug’s is known for a particular catchphrase. Fill in the blank! “There are no two finer words in the English language than ____ _____, my friend.”

a. No Ketchup

b. Fois Gras

c. Hot Dog

d. Encased Meats

Answer: D. The unofficial motto of Hot Doug’s was, “There are no two finer words in the English language than ‘encased meats,’’ my friend.” For Doug Sohn, there truly are no two finer words.

 

9. When is National Hot Dog Month?

a. April

b. May

c. June

d. July

Answer: D. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (which is a real thing!), National Hot Dog Month takes place in July when hot dog consumption is at its peak,what with weekend cookouts, national holidays and other summertime festivities. But here in Chicago, every month is hot dog month!

Stay tuned for next week’s trivia featuring Chicago’s architecture!