It’s amazing that a family company that started 127 years ago is now selling in all of these places. We also sell all the hot dogs to Portillo’s, Shake Shack, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and hot dog restaurants all over the city and suburbs. Let’s be frank: Most people think hot dogs are made of leftover bits and parts, but the ingredients in Vienna Beef’s iconic dog are not as gnarly as you’d think. We’re in all the zoos, airports and all of the city’s museums along with all the Chicago Park District’s lakefront concessions and Navy Pier. Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate, Soldier Field, the United Center for the Cubs, Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks.
Vienna beef pro#
“Every single pro sports team and venue in Chicago sells our product. The foundation of the Chicago Style hot dog, Vienna® Beef franks are served at over 1,400 locations throughout Chicagoland for a memorable taste experience unique to The Windy City. Any true Chicagoan says ‘no’ to ketchup on a hot dog.”Ĭhicagoans have a lot of love for the city’s namesake hot dog and the memories that are often part of the package. It offers franks and sausages, deli meats, condiments, and soups and chilis to retail and foodservice customers. Adding ketchup on there just masks the flavors we’re trying to get out of this experience. Vienna Beef is a manufacturer of hot dogs.
We’ve got spicy, we’ve got mild, we’ve got crunch, we’ve got soft and all of these things are going on in the same bite. That’s because all of the condiments on a Chicago Style hot dog work together and don’t fight each other.
We’re not allowed to put ketchup on a Chicago Style hot dog unless you’re still using training wheels on your bicycle. From all of us here at Vienna, we thank and congratulate Jan, Denise, and their entire team, who helped build this iconic landmark to an important part of Chicago’s landscape.As for ketchup? Tom says no way. With our storied history, it seems fitting on National Hot Dog Day and on the cusp of Vienna’s 125th anniversary, that our Factory Store & Café be named as the 125th recipient of the Hot Dog Hall of Fame. Out of all of the thousands of Vienna Beef customers, we have recognized 124 nationwide since the award was inaugurated back in 2006. The Vienna Beef Hot Dog Hall of Fame was created to honor hot dog operations that have achieved longevity and have developed into true neighborhood and city landmarks. In 2016, Jan and Denise opened a second store across the street from our factory at Pershing Road and Morgan Street, on Chicago’s South Side. She hired Denise Parente, a former customer who has taken the store to a new level of operations and customer service. For the last decade, Jan Wix has been at the helm of turning the Factory Store and Café into the landmark it is today. Cristel Wiedle-Knight, who began as an employee in our Damen Avenue Factory Store, and is now our sausage miester. June Rohel had a great smile and was a friend to the employees and the neighborhood.
Joe Schnieder always had specials of the day, hour, and minute. When the Depression Era hit, the Vienna Beef Factory Store became one of the first hot dog stands featuring a Vienna Beef hot dog dragged through the garden, with yellow mustard, chopped onion, bright green relish, and cucumber to satisfy hungry folks in the neighborhood.įor the past 45 years, the Factory Store and Café has been located on the Damen and Fullerton property, with a ‘melting pot’ of noteworthy mangers, employees and customers. Manager Leo Braun is well remembered as being part of the lore that always had delicious sandwiches accompanied by great stories.
Vienna Beef was a very important element of the city with a store that catered to the community and whose staff had loads of personality-many of them were ‘characters’ in their own right. The original factory opened a store on Halsted and Maxwell Street, in the area that used to be referred to as ‘The Great West Side’. Since its inception at the Columbian Exposition/World’s Fair in 1893, Vienna Beef has always had a factory store and sandwich shop on the grounds of its manufacturing facility.