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| Photograph by Katherine Bish | |
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There is no room-sized mural of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Mike Ditka and William “The Refrigerator” Perry along the walls of Pam’s Chicago Style Dogs & More. Alas, no miniature replica of the Sears Tower, and in my many visits there, I never once heard Buddy Guy’s recording of “Sweet Home Chicago.”
But if you look very closely, you can see Chicago in the tiniest—you might even say most obsessive—of details. According to one of Pam’s many gregarious employees (the guy under the baseball cap embroidered with “Bears,” “Bulls,” “Cubs,” “White Sox” and “Blackhawks”), prepackaged muffins come from the Windy City, as do the Wunderbars. (That’s a chocolate-dipped, frozen cheesecake on a stick—perhaps an under-the-radar nod to Chris Farley’s SNL caricature of a cholesterol-clogged Bears fan?) When another employee informed him that the Jay’s Potato Chips did not, in fact, hail from Chi-Town, he nearly broke down in tears. (The South Side Jay’s plant closed in early 2008.)
This finicky fanfare is all well and good, but the real reason you go to Pam’s Chicago Style Dogs & More is for the Chicago-style dogs. They are a spectacular rendition of what has long been, in my opinion, a perfect foodstuff: a boiled, all-beef hot dog, topped with yellow mustard, white onion, neon green sweet pickle relish, halved tomato slices, serrano (a.k.a. “sport”) peppers, a single pickle spear nestled up against the steamed poppy-seed bun and a visible sprinkling of celery salt. Oh my.
Pam’s dog gets every step of this recipe exactly right, from the firmness of the beef right through to the chewy texture of the bun. There’s just enough mustard but not one drop too much; it’s a surprisingly un-messy sandwich, considering how stuffed it is. The peppers and celery salt provide just the right amount of heat and spice. And for what it’s worth, before you devour it in six bites, tops, it looks gorgeous.
(An important note for vegetarians and vegans: Swap out the all-beef Vienna wiener for the tofu-derived Paul’s Veggie Dog, and it tastes just as delicious.)
Should you ever tire of Pam’s Chicago dog, there are more than 30 other dogs, sandwiches, salads and sides to choose from. I was absolutely blown away by the hand-cut onion rings, each about the circumference of a man’s shirt collar and fried to a splendid-looking, delectable-tasting golden brown. The Wisconsin bratwurst, close enough in Midwest geography, proved to be a simpler yet still tasty treat, while attempts to veer toward Northeast variants (a New York dog with kraut, brown mustard and giardiniera; a Philly dog with Swiss cheese, grilled onions and sport peppers) proved less inspiring.
Each time I visited Pam’s, I wound up eating about two or three meals in one sitting. I can’t help myself; the staff is that friendly, and the Chicago-style dog is that good. I’ve ordered one and split some onion rings, only to return with another friend to taste-compare the veggie dog, garnishing it with a simple house salad. I’ve never even made it to those hunks of frozen cheesecake, or any other dessert for that matter. Now I know how all those Bears fans turn out so big.
6016 Delmar, 314-721-7267, pamscsd.com. Hours: Mon–Thu 7 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri–Sat 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
