Lincolnite

I noticed that the article didn’t mention corn dogs until the end.  I hope they are good. 

Guilty pleasures….as my Grandmother used to say when asked in a restaurant if she wanted a glass of water, “if it doesn’t have sugar, caffeine, or alchohol what’s the point?”

I am curious about it, too. Shocking to see that the Papa Murphy’s didn’t make it there. Did they move that location, or just close? We never included much talk about Papa M that I recall in the long pizza discussion a few weeks ago. I really like their food, and you just cannot beat their price. Plus, since I take it right out of the oven, it’s always hot and fresh.

At first I was sort of like, ewwwww. But after reading that they had Nathan’s hot dogs, now I have to go there soon. I recently had an opportunity to eat at a Nathan’s in NYC. For a long time I have wished there would be a good place in town to get a decent NY or Chicago style dog. I wonder if this will be one.

Does anyone remember Sydney’s? That was the VERY short-lived Chicago-style hot dog place that went in at 40th and Old Cheney in a former Little King location, circa January 1997 or 1998. They had great hot dogs, chili cheese fries, and more, but apparently a horrible business plan. The doors closed in about 12 weeks. I still miss that place.

It was followed by “Stuff-It Burgers”, which had a pleasant female owner but so-so food and no apparent business plan of any kind. And just to tie in to the thread above, there is now a Papa Murphy’s Pizza elsewhere in the center on that corner.

I remember Stuff-It, but I sure don’t remember Sydney’s. The idea behind Stuff-It was kind of cool: put the toppings inside the burger, rather than, erm, on top. I only went there once, but I remember finding my bacon cheeseburger to be very tasty. The food took forever to come out, though.

Mr. W - Stuff-It immediately followed Sydney’s - they used the same exact motif, and only added a couple quilts to the wall. The food did take forever - I tried it once at lunch and took too long and wasn’t able to again. It was a pair of ladies that owned it, and they seemed very nice, but they just weren’t ready for prime time.

Sydney’s was unique because it really looked like part of a chain or franchise - it was that well done. Although simply decorated, it was all professional with an actual motif and some ambiance. They had glasses with the logo on them, not just generic styrofoam cups. Someone spent a fair amount of $$ on signage and menu board, etc. I think the fatal flaw was that it was two brothers (forgive if this is sketchy, it was a long time ago). One ran the place, and the other financed it. I think no one accounted in the budget for working capital - you know, the money you need between when you open and when you break even. That can take months with the best business plan.

The other fatal flaws were the timing and lack of real advertising. Although the Hy-Vee was still in that center, there was not any real walk-by traffic. They opened in January in a year of brutal cold temps. And the name on the sign didn’t say enough to draw you in.

The only explanation was that the brother that financed it got *really* jittery in a few weeks and stopped the funding. Sad, cause the dogs were great.

It was an idea that would have been much better served with a hot dog cart on a busy corner of downtown.

Windy Cities tried the same thing on O Street a few years ago - the food was okay and the joint had the right look, but it was very pricy, they owner was not friendly at all, and due to an issue with Kuhl’s (? I thin) they had no seating! You had to stand to eat.

All of this, just for the pursuit of a good Chicago style dog in Lincoln!

I’ve wondered why there isn’t a place in town to get chicago style dogs. You’d think that would fly well here. Last time I was at the MN Sandwich place I asked and they either didn’t have them that day or it was a discontinued item all together, though still on their menu.

Mr T - I even think it’s possible that you could get them at the old A&W that was in the old Gateway food court before the remodel.

I was flying thru Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and saw the Vienna signs and kiosks for Chicago style dogs, but I was there at about 6:30 in the morning, and, alas, they aren’t serving up the dogs that early. The quest continues!

There was a place in town that had Chicago style hot dogs. It was called “Windy City Hot Dogs.” It was where the old Gomez Art Supply store used to be located. They served the Vienna dogs, Chicago style, and had lot’s of polaroid photos of their patrons on the wall. I was very sad to see it go. Unfortunately, if it isn’t bright red and say “Fairbury” on it, folks around here don’t really like them.