A Repulsive Ice Cream Treat

When I lived in Myrtle Beach and was part of our local Knights of Columbus chapter, I volunteered with my brother Knights at a concessions stand inside the city’s minor league stadium. The name and theme of the stand—Windy City Wieners—played off the parent club of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans—the Chicago Cubs.

The signature item we served at the stand was the Chicago Dog. The Chi-Town staple consists of a hot dog placed in a poppyseed bun topped with mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato wedges, a pickle spear, spicy sport peppers, and celery salt. I got pretty good (and fast) at making Chicago Dogs for customers but I never had the desire to try one.

So when people found out I was going to Chicago they naturally asked me if I knew what a Chicago Dog was and whether I was going to order one while I was there.

Yes and no.

While I definitely knew what a Chicago Dog was after making so many of them with my own two hands, the last thing I would ever want to do was eat one. I am not a fan of most condiments, especially ones of the mustard and relish varieties.

However, if there was ever a possible exception to my Chicago Dog disdain, it was presented to me last week.

On Monday night, a vendor that attended the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education held a social at Chicago’s Ice Cream Museum. I wrote about our visit and shared some photos in a blog post from last week. However, in that post I refrained from sharing one of the more eccentric offerings in the museum.

In a corner of the facility was a young woman behind a cart offering ice cream Chicago Dogs. I know what you are thinking…What? How? Why?

This isn’t a joke! They make ice cream Chicago Dogs at the Ice Cream Museum.

I guess in the spirit of one of Chicago’s most beloved food items, the thought was that there should be an ice cream version. But to be honest, I think it was more repulsiveness than actual ice cream. This is how it is made: They take a poppy seed bun from a local Chicago bakery and fill it with hot dog-flavored self-serve ice cream! They then top it with the actual Chicago Dog toppings…well at least the mustard and relish from what I saw. Then people actually eat it!

Did I try it? Heck no! And that’s coming from an ice cream and hot dog lover like myself who would do just about anything for this blog. I did watch other people try it though. Cara and I observed one guy grimacing in genuine disgust as he tried to eat his. After that, I stopped watching people try to eat the monstrosity because it was just too weird and disgusting.

So there you have it, a true example of me giving a hard pass on “ice cream.” Would you try it?