Drew's Eatery 7.16.10

Drew's Eatery

2207 W Montrose Ave

When hot dogs were born, the view on the food production was making a shift along with the rest of industry toward mass production. Things were being made faster, in greater quality and hopefully available more people. Added into all of this was the science of making food last longer and taste better even if the ingredients were below standard or not natural. Hot dogs fit well into this, being precooked, usually made of odd end meats and filled with nitrates to be preserved.

Mordern times have begun to re-examine these ways and found that making much, much more of something does not necessarily mean it is better. There are also health concerns and animal care concerns that should be brought into consideration. With this wave, Drew' s Eatry has come into existance selling nitrate free, grass-feed beef hot dogs.

The ordering process of Drew's is a bit confusing as there are two ordering sections, one for ice cream and the other for food, which is hidden a bit around the corner. I ordered a Drew Dog, with the Welles Park fixings of tomato, cucumber, pickle and celery salt on a wheat bun. Apparently there were other condiments that one could add on a bar behind the ordering counter with ketchup (not sure why as no fries were on the menu), mustard (6 different types), relish and onions, but we were not informed about it and did not notice it until after our meal. The hot dogs were warmed on a roller machine like 7-11 that was on an incline and moved up and down said incline.

The hot dog itself was good. The bun, while chewier and larger than a Rosen's, held up well and blended in as piece of the meal. It was a little harder to handle due to a larger size and caused one to have an ungraceful first bite. The condiments were very good and fresh, but it were incomplete due to not knowing about the other options.

The stickler for me though was the hot dog. One could tell that it was slightly healther, but the meat was too high quality. It had a softness once one broke through the casing that I found displeasing. I like a hearty hot dog that one has to chew and break up in the mouth. This hot dog reminded me of the Salmon Dog at fRed Hots. There was an airiness to it, which is not a hot dog characteristic in my book. It is like king in pauper's clothing, fancy shoes on a constrution site, champagne flutes at an old man bar. I am an understanding man and I try to embrace difference and change, but I guess I am slower to accept change in this realm. The Hot Dog is Great Depression food, not fine dining.

I could continue, but I think you get the point. In short, while I was not a fan of the hot dog, overall it was better then most run of the mill grease joint dogs. Drew's did put some thought and love into these dogs. If you are looking for a veggie dog or natural dog, I would recommend them. Yet for a classic dog, I guess I stuck in the old ways. In conclusion, I would give Drew's Eatry 2 out of 5 celery salt shakers.

Dan

I had mixed feelings about Drew's from the beginning. Part of me was excited to eat there, because I generally feel some guilt every time I eat a hot dog. I know that the meat is factory farmed and I know that this is bad not only for the animals that become my hot dog, but also for the environment and the people who are involved with every step of the production of that hot dog up to and including the employees at whichever restaurant I am frequenting. I know that the bun and the condiments and the fries and the soda and everything is being produced cheaply and yet at great cost to the world I would like to see. I know this, but I love hot dogs and so I justify that and eat them anyway.

I think that I knew Drew's would easy my conscious in some ways. The meat is grass fed and so I know that those cows lived better lives than most cows get and were able to be in touch with their "cowness," which is probably the best that it gets for cows that are eventually going to become food. Arguably I should have gone for the tofu dog, but even I have my limits. I believe I would rather give up hot dogs than eat tofu dogs, and maybe some day I will do that. In any case, I felt like a more conscious consumer by going to Drew's and I was prepared to pay for that privilege.

I will say that the employees' uniforms made me a little nervous. The male identified worker's said "eco dude" and the female identified worker's said "eco chick." Perhaps there were options that said "eco tranny" or "eco queer" and maybe they got to self identify every day but the binary those shirts set up made me slightly less happy to be there. Other than that, though, I enjoyed the ambiance of the place. There were no garbage cans, just a place for recyclable and one for biodegradables. I took that to mean that everything that was used there was one or the other and that's pretty cool. There was a kids corner complete with a small weinermobile and it made my heart happy to see the young ones being schooled in the ways of the hot dog. Both employees were nice enough and checked in to see how we were doing and all of that. It was a much calmer and more caring environment than your average grease joint.

On to the dog: first up, let me say that the bun choice was a bit difficult. The options were wheat or pretzel bun and both were large and in charge, creating potential for several bites that were nothing but bun. There were no poppy seeds in sight. The dog itself was grass fed and nitrate free. It was surprisingly good but did not have the snap that I love from a Vienna Beef dog. The consistency was also different. It was less chewy than your average hot dog. The toppings/condiments were delicious. It is the season for fresh produce and the dog came with cucumber, pickle, tomato, and celery salt. I am interested to see how this is handled during the season when produce cannot be grown locally in Chicago but for the summer months this is a definite plus. The toppings were by far the most fresh I have ever had on a hot dog. I later realized that there was a condiment bar where I could have added onions and relish, but I did not see this until I had finished my dog and it was not pointed out to me. This is a little disappointing, as was the fact that there was ketchup on the condiment bar despite an absence of fries or burgers on the menu. I'm going to assume that was there for the kids and leave it like that.

All in all my eating experience was better than I expected it to me. Sometimes natural food tastes natural and my taste buds are not used to such things. This hot dog wasn't such a shock to my system, although it certainly tasted different than most dogs I've had. I would go back to Drew's, especially if I wanted to feel more environmentally conscious. Maybe some day that will become my standard and these will be the only dogs I ever eat. For the moment, though, I eat hot dogs anywhere and everywhere. If I'm judging Drew's according to taste alone and leaving out the fact that the way those hot dogs are produced is more closely aligned with my values, I have to give Drew's a 3 out of 5 celery salt shaker rating.