Top Dog

Hi,

Earlier this week, I had a meeting where I was 45 minutes early, somewhat hungry and not in a good position to go too far without risking being late. I looked around the intersection to see Top Dog, a place I've passed forever wondering if I would like it if I stepped in.



Top Dog is principally a hot dog and hamburger joint with a few tweaks of personality bestowed by the Greek owner. While I imagined initially I would have a hot dog with fries, my eye caught "Home Cooked Mediterranean Specialities." Given the beating home cooked is getting, I guess I shall amend it to LTHforum-speak: "made on the premises with pride."

The home cooked section of the menu offered, "Hummos (chicken peas, fresh lemon juice, garlic, tahini sauce and olive oil); Taboulah salad (finely chopped parsley, diced tomato, onion, cracked wheat, olive oil and fresh lemon juice); Vegetarian grape leaves (stuffed with rice & spices served with lemon and Tzatziki sauce) and Spinach Pie."

My initial order was for a large Taboulah salad, which the owner indicated they make fresh every day and when they run out, they run out. At 7 PM, they had run out of Taboulah salad. Instead, I ordered a small Hummos and 6 vegetarian grape leaves, which rather than arriving on separate plates arrived on a composed plate.



The stuffed grape leaves were fresh from the brine and seemed to be freshly rolled. Though these stuffed grape leaves were small, they had better taste to me than those from Pita Inn. The hummos was fine with the pita bread, which had been lightly drizzled in olive oil. If I had still felt hungry I was contemplating ordering the Spinach cheese pie, which other patrons recommended highly. However, I felt satisfied with my light meal and left the spinach pie for another visit.

Top Dog
6005 North Sauganash Avenue
Chicago, IL
773/202-8844

Mon-Fri: 10 AM - 8 PM
Sat: 11 AM - 3 PM
Sunday closed

Cathy2 wrote: However, I felt satisfied with my light meal and left the spinach pie for another visit.

Cathy,

I had a slightly different impression back in 2002. My favorite line from the old c-h post being, " Top Dog makes Bunny Hutch seem like the Everest Room."

New owners at Top Dog?

Enjoy,
Gary

HI,

I have the feeling it may be the same owner, though I have nothing to base that comment on. I went for a very narrow specialization within the restaurant where you probably went for the hot dog. I'm not sure how I would feel about those, which may make Bunny Hutch look great!

Regards,

That is interesting. Reminds me of a Hot Dog stand that used to serve Indian food.