SCUBAchef wrote:Yes, judging things/people/places
that you have never experienced
is, indeed, sad.

You don't need to experience this display to realize it's pathetic.

Though Tony Randall went to Northwestern,
I still question his expertise on where
to find the best hot dog in town.

SCUBAchef wrote:

merkay wrote:The Weiners Circle makes me sad, and I'm glad I have never been there.

Yes, judging things/people/places
that you have never experienced
is, indeed, sad.

I prefer not to witness drunken men screaming racist and sexist slurs at the women serving them hot dogs. As a female, that is not an environment I want any part of. Why would I want to put myself in the company of men who think this is appropriate behavior?

But, I'm sure the hot dogs are very tasty.

not that it makes any more acceptable, but dont the racist & derogatory slurs get flung both ways by the "drunken frat boy" customers, and the emplyees working there?

Not a place I have been late at night(past my bedtime), but I do enjoy their burgers and hotdogs during the daytime hours.

merkay wrote:me sad

If you ever venture into Ed Debevic's,
be sure you have your therapist
on speed dial.

stevez wrote:As we all know, Wiener's Circle turns out one of the better dogs (and burgers) for miles around.

I don't know that. I've never been there. I never will.

SCUBAchef wrote:

merkay wrote:me sad

If you ever venture into Ed Debevic's,
be sure you have your therapist
on speed dial.

Why the eye rolling? I wasn't aware that the waitresses at Ed Debevics traded in racist slurs. I have no problem with the screaming of insults. It's the racist aspect that makes me sad. It depresses me that there are still lots of privileged young men who will apparently jump at the opportunity to use racial slurs in public.

aschie30 wrote:I don't know that. I've never been there. I never will.

You should join Merkay and share a heaping portion
of self-righteousness! Sounds like you'll have enough,
you won't have to eat again for weeks.

SCUBAchef wrote:

aschie30 wrote:I don't know that. I've never been there. I never will.

You should join Merkay and share a heaping portion
of self-righteousness! Sounds like you'll have enough,
you won't have to eat again for weeks.

You're right -- I should take up your suggestion, and experience the "good" kind of drunken racial slurs.

aschie30 wrote:You're right -- I should take up your suggestion, and experience the "good" kind of drunken racial slurs.

Didn't you know using drunken racial slurs is OK as long as the targets are being paid handsomely to bear them?

As a DePaul graduate, I have been to Wiener's Circle more times than I can remember. And I love the char dogs, and very very rarely, the cheese fries.

I agree that occasionally some patrons get out of hand with what they say.

However, the vast, vast majority of people who go there at night go because they KNOW they are going to get verbally abused by the staff. Like a previous poster mentioned - like Ed Debevics, a much more aggressive, drunk Ed Debevics....

9/10 transactions in the evening go as follows:

1. Drunk guy/girl walks up to the window and yells that he wants a F$^%ing hot dog and cheese fries
2. Woman at the counter yells back at him/her and they go back and forth, ending with the woman completely destroying him/her with a brutal insult
3. Everyone laughs at the drunk guy/girl, he/she puts some money in the tip jar and happily takes his/her food

And repeat

The staff generally does not tolerate things when they get too racial, nor does most of the crowd (I've seen the hulking grill man throw someone out once). Yes, it happens sometimes and people make bad decisions, but at the end of the day, most people go there for harmless, albeit rowdy, fun and great dogs.

Characterizing this place as some evil, den of racist, privileged white people abusing defenseless employees is inaccurate.

Some people love it, some people don't, but I think it should at least be presented in an accurate light from someone who has been there drunk and sober, day and night.

While it does get pretty rowdy in there at night, I've never had any problems whatsoever during the daytime. I used to live just down the block from WC and the daytime girls that worked there all knew me and were as polite as I was. The only person they'd make fun of was the fry guy. IMO if you write this place off because of the late night antics, you're missing out on some great dogs, burgers and fries.

I would venture to say (and I don't want to hear any "ageist" crap about this post) that the VAST majority of posters on this site are NOT the target market for WC's late night "experience" and that there are many things that most of us did when we were college/post-college age that we wouldn't want published for all to critique (which makes me laugh whenever I see my young friends and relatives on Facebook but that's a whole other story...) If the staff there feel exploited by the drunk kids, I'm guessing there wouldn't be chocolate milkshakes for sale. And if you aren't up for having one, by all means stay out of there after midnight

Anyway, as some have already said, the daytime staff handles things completely differently--in fact, I once went in to pick up lunch for my then-Atkins diet following and now ex- husband and when I put my order in, the woman and the cook both said--"that's for Cary, right?" and I was suitably impressed. Granted the order was for something ridiculous like "2 double burgers hold the buns" or something like that but with an order like that, they certainly could've yelled/ridiculed/harassed me and yet, they were perfectly nice.

And while I haven't been over there in a decade, I do remember that the food was good for what it was.

I've never been late at night, but I like the hot dogs at WC. Thomas Keller was in town on Friday, and he was talking about where he eats when he comes to Chicago, which is fairly often. He first said Alinea, because he's close friends with Achatz, but next he said Wieners Circle. (Blackbird, the Publican and Spring when Shawn McClain was there rounded out his list.)

boudreaulicious wrote:If the staff there feel exploited by the drunk kids, I'm guessing there wouldn't be chocolate milkshakes for sale.

Because no one's ever had to do degrading things to feed one's family.

cilantro wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:If the staff there feel exploited by the drunk kids, I'm guessing there wouldn't be chocolate milkshakes for sale.

Because no one's ever had to do degrading things to feed one's family.

Thanks for posting that clip, David. I haven't been there in years and never at night, but that was stomach-turning. Painful to watch, I feel for the employees who put up with this in order to care for their families.

Another fun thing is to make panhandlers tap-dance for change. I always get a kick out of that.

aschie30 wrote:
I don't know that.

You do now.

SCUBAchef wrote:Yes, judging things/people/places
that you have never experienced
is, indeed, sad.

You are saying that we are not allowed to JUDGE things unless we personally experience them----

Taking your indefensible argument to its logical extreme, apparently you cannot JUDGE the events, nor are you able to have an opinion on the atrocities that occurred at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Nanking, Bataan, MyLai or at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Sorry to be a comedy killer, but words DO mean things.

Aaaand...Godwinned!

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Aaaand...Godwinned!

Anything to say about the VALIDITY of my argument?

If it makes you happy, I could remove the reference to Auschwitz and Buchenwald and replace them with a thousand other Non-Nazi examples.

cito wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Aaaand...Godwinned!

Anything to say about the VALIDITY of my argument?

If it makes you happy, I could remove the reference to Auschwitz and Buchenwald and replace them with a thousand other Non-Nazi examples.

Well, not to defend anyone, but I do think it's questionable to criticize a restaurant (or hot dog stand) that you've never been to. Just as it'd be questionable to criticize a piece of music you've never heard or a painting you've never seen.

Historical events...well, they're in a different category, don't you think?

The hot dogs are good, not great. And what goes on there late night is pretty awful...on both sides of the counter.

happy_stomach wrote:I've never been late at night, but I like the hot dogs at WC. Thomas Keller was in town on Friday, and he was talking about where he eats when he comes to Chicago, which is fairly often. He first said Alinea, because he's close friends with Achatz, but next he said Wieners Circle. (Blackbird, the Publican and Spring when Shawn McClain was there rounded out his list.)

Well, for all we know, Keller is a drunken racist who likes late-night "chocolate shakes."

cito wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Aaaand...Godwinned!

Anything to say about the VALIDITY of my argument?

If it makes you happy, I could remove the reference to Auschwitz and Buchenwald and replace them with a thousand other Non-Nazi examples.

Nope. I've only been to the WC (first day in Chicago; bag with all of my money was stolen there) so I really have no opinion whatsoever. I'm just shocked it only took three pages to get here.

So then the best thing that can happen is that people stop going, WC goes out of business, and the employees lose their jobs- and then everyone will be happy.

How do we know that the people behind the counter don't enjoy being as obnoxious as the customers?

You can cut the self-righteousness with a knife.

Relax people. It is just a restaurant.
Don't like it? Don't go.
You all are acting like it is a discussion of world economic conditions.

DML wrote:Relax people. It is just a restaurant.
Don't like it? Don't go.
You all are acting like it is a discussion of world economic conditions.

I think some folks think it's at least an indicia of Chicago economic conditions or conditions for working class folks.

For the record: I've been going there since I was 17 (my very first Chicago dog). They used to have drinkable milkshakes. Things are a lot rougher at night than they were when I went as a kid. I generally go in the day and or early in the evening. When I do, the same women are working from early evening through late night. It depends on how you treat them. I've never gotten anything but gracious, yeah I said it, service there.


Peace,

A good friend having moved in down the street, I've had the opportunity for a few late-night Polish sausages in the last three or four months, in varying states of tipsiness. Honestly, if you treat them fine, you can get perfectly normal service, even in the midst of drunken bro-ville.

Polish are quite good, but they're sparse with the grilled onions, which bothers me. However, the fact that they turn out really solid fries at such volume so late under such conditions, well, I find it impressive. Social ills, mores, constructs aside--WC is what you make of it. Food--I find it functions nicely as a hot dog stand, even in the midst of chaos.