Rand Red Hots

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

Lets start 2014 off with a trip on the Chicago Hot Dog Stand Tour. We'll head up to Des Plaines where Rand Red Hots opened up at last year. Upon its opening they had people quickly comparing them to a nearby favorite Gene & Jude's. I believe I read somewhere that the owner here used to work at G&J back in his HS days.

New Locals Favorite in Des Plaines

When you're pulling up on Rand it's a pretty cool sight. They restored an old drive up building and put some stand out colors on it while giving it a complete makeover inside. There's car shows in the summer. It's got the feel of a Chicago style fast food shack down pat. You walk up to the counter and place your order as steam separates you and the guy behind it. The menu is pretty standard. We're talking Vienna Beef Natural Casing Hot Dogs, Fresh Cut Fries, Polish Sausage, Bunch Tamales and Milk Shakes. Real one, not those from Wieners Circle.

As we enter

Rand serves old school aka depression style (though some hate that description) hot dogs. This means the aforementioned natural casing wiener gets topped with mustard, onion, relish and sport peppers and they come served on a regular old steamed hot dog bun with fresh cut fries included. First the good. This is my preferred style of hot dog and this is a perfect example of it. The fries were perfect, something a place like Gene & Jude's sometimes fails to do. But my problem with them was they don't stack the fries on the hot dog as they wrap it up. They come on the side and it just didn't feel right. I think part of it is that when the fries get smashed into dog it molds all those toppings and it together. This results in a few fries with some of the toppings attached to them, I like those ones the best. I also leave a few fries as topping on the hot dog. I've always done this since my days back to Demon Dogs.Other than that, no complaints from me.

A Rand Red Hot

Rand Red Hots
1441 Rand Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 699-0606
Website