Superdawg at Devon, Milwaukee and Nagle Avenues, Chicago, Illinois. An authentic 1950s dashboard dining classic drive-in.

I am addressing some comments from many people: 

"Superdawg is too expensive!"

Superdawg has their own secret recipe for their Superdawgs, which are 6 to a pound hot dogs. No other hot dog stand, anywhere, serves a Superdawg. It's one-of-a-kind and is 100% pure beef.

Other famous hot dog joints like Gene & Jude's use Vienna's mass-produced hot dogs and are 12 to a pound. Half the weight of a Superdawg. I've heard people over the years saying that Superdawg is too expensive... so I personally called a dozen famous Vienna hot dog joints in the Chicago area (North, South, East, West and some suburbs) and they all use 12 to a pound dogs. 

Considering that you would need to buy two hot dogs or one double dog from Gene & Jude's to equal one Superdawg, it makes Superdawg a few cents cheaper! Don't forget that Superdawg also includes an order of fries, as do some other hot dog joints, but not all of the ones I called did. 

FYI: Vienna NEVER produced Superdawg's Hot Dogs.

Steaming a hot dog is the original and only way to cook a Vienna Chicago Hot Dog. Vienna

A Chicago-style hot dog doesn't dictate how the hot dog is cooked; boiled, char-broiled, grilled, or God-Forbid microwaved. As long as the hot dog contains ALL of these ingredients:

An ALL-BEEF hot dog on a poppy seed bun, top with yellow mustard, raw chopped onions, green sweet pickle relish, a "Claussen's" Kosher dill pickle spear, fresh tomato slices, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt.

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Superdawg DOES NOT serve the traditional "Chicago Dog." It's missing the celery salt and has a pickled green tomato wedge instead of fresh red tomato slices. I personally enjoy the sour green tomato and when I order a green tomato, I usually ask for two.

 

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ABOUT SUPERDAWG

Drive in, park, and order from your car. You press the button on the menu board, and the control tower inside will answer to take your food order. When the meal is ready, a carhop comes out and delivers your food to your car on a tray that hangs from the glass of your side windows that is partially opened. It's just some awesome fun. Of course, "rookies" can go inside to order and sit at a table inside or at one of the canopy tables outside.

When you are finished eating in your car and are ready to leave, flip a switch on the menu board, and the carhop returns to get the tray. I tip the carhop when my food order is brought to my car, ensuring a quick tray pickup if they are busy.

On most weekends, you'll find antique, vintage, and old muscle cars parked in the lot, eating. Totally worth the trip!

Superdawg brings a '50s-style red ketchup squeeze bottle on their tray and salt and napkins to your car's window. 

THE HISTORY OF SUPERDAWG
In May of 1948, Superdawg was established at the corner of Milwaukee, Devon, and Nagle in Chicago. Superdawg continues to be family-owned and operated in the exact location today.

Superdawg was under construction in 1948.

Maurie & Flaurie

Superdawg - August 20, 1963.

Maurie Berman, a recently returned G.I. from World War II, married his high school sweetheart Florence (Flaurie) in August 1947. Maurie attended Northwestern University, studying to be a CPA, while a recent Northwestern graduate, Flaurie, taught at the Chicago Public Schools. With their "school-year" schedules, the newlyweds wanted to open a business they could operate during the summer. Many other returning G.I.s were opening roadside hot dog carts, and Maurie and Flaurie decided to open their own roadside hot dog stand, one that would be as unique and distinctive as they were.

Maurie designed an architecturally distinct, 20' x 12' building topped with two 12-foot hot dog icons to beckon hungry passersby with their winking and blinking eyes. Maurie and Flaurie then created a proprietary, secret recipe to set themselves apart from the other hot dog stands that pop up around the city. They were almost ready to open with a distinctive look and delicious recipe. All they needed was a name. Inspired by the superheroes featured in the newly-created, popular comics of the 1940s, Maurie and Flaurie named their signature product and restaurant.

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A Superdawg is not a wiener, frankfurter or a red hot, but their own secret recipe. Our Superdawgs are placed in a poppy seed bun, and then the all-beef Superdawg (no pork, veal or fillers) is placed in the bun. Formally dressed in all the trimmings; golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, Red tomato wedge, chopped Spanish onions and memorable hot sport peppers, escorted by their often imitated, but never equaled, Superfries. 

In 1948, the Milwaukee and Devon store opened at the end of the streetcar line. The forest preserve and Whealan Pool across the street made the area an excellent destination for swimming families and cruising teens. Kids could ride the streetcar for a nickel and stop at Superdawg, where a Superdawg sandwich and drink cost only 32¢. On their way home, they often stopped and asked what they could buy for a dime. If they were a few cents short, Maurie and Flaurie would give them what they wanted and tell them to bring what they owed the next time they came, which they never failed to do.

In 1950, Maurie passed the CPA exam. Flaurie decided to keep operating Superdawg and open it year-round to retain the outstanding personnel who had become invaluable to fulfilling the Superdawg ideals. When Superdawg opened, the electronic speaker system had yet to be invented. Carhops went out to the cars to take orders, and customers signaled that they were ready for their trays to be picked up by turning on their headlights.

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Why Are There No Roller Skating Carhops at Superdawg?

In the golden age of drive-ins, roller-skating carhops were the norm. But Superdawg was never normal. Maurie and Flaurie Berman opted for intercom ordering and tray delivery to the car window—no skates, no balancing acts, no flirt-for-a-tip theater.

Why? Because Chicago muscle cars were tearing up the blacktop. Burnouts and fast exits turned the lot into a hazard zone. Skating servers were getting injured. Trays were flying. Food was lost. Revenue dropped.

So Superdawg ditched the skates and doubled down on dignity. Meals arrived in signature boxes, delivered with speed and respect. No spills. No showboating. Just pure Chicago efficiency wrapped in neon nostalgia.

In the early 1950s, the "carhop in a wire" electronic speaker system was installed, and Maurie designed the glowing blue "control tower" where an employee sits to answer the switchboard and take orders. As Superdawg grew into a successful business, Maurie and Flaurie found time to raise their family of three children (although not on Whoopercheesies alone).

Superdawg Drive-In opened a restaurant at 5110 N Western, Chicago in 1950.

The Superdawg trademark was registered in 1984. Throughout the years, minor changes have been made to the menu, like the addition of the Whoopskidawg in 1989 and the Superchic in 1991. However, the Superdawg recipe, the original trademark figures (continuing to flirtatiously wink at each other), and the drive-in concept have not changed. Customers can still order from their car and have a carhop deliver their order on a tray. Maurie and Flaurie's attention to quality products and service, preparing each customer's meal to order, affirming the belief that the customer is always right, and insisting that the customer should always be treated like family continues today. 

This photograph is not photoshopped.

In 1999, Superdawg underwent a makeover while retaining the original building and spirit. The classic '40s drive-in was updated with neon-studded canopies across the parking lot, a crisp new speaker system, and a cozy indoor dining room. The original rooftop figures were refurbished to continue serving as a Chicago landmark for years.

In May 2009, the ground was broken for a second location, 11 miles north on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, IL. Every effort was taken to recreate the look and feel of the Milwaukee and Devon locations. The blue tower, the canopies on the parking lot, the ordering speakers, the neon and diamonds along the building and canopies, the tile inside, and most importantly, the trademark Maurie and Flaurie figures on the roof were all painstakingly incorporated into the plans. Much of the equipment was custom-built as well. The anticipation grew over six months for a new Superdawg to open. In January 2010, Maurie, Flaurie, and the rest of the family were proud to open the Wheeling, Illinois, restaurant.

IT TASTES EVEN BETTER THAN IT LOOKS.

Since 1948, Maurie, Flaurie, their children, and grandchildren have scrupulously adhered to one goal: "always to serve you in a manner that will make you want to return – and bring your friends, and new generations, with you." From the bottom of our pure beef hearts... THANKS FOR STOPPING®.

Maurie Berman died from heart issues on May 17, 2015, at 89 years old.

Superdawg Chicago on the Travel Channel's Hot Dog Paradise  

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

by Superdawg
Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

"A Rambler's Notes" published in the Canton Weekly Register, January 4, 1906.

Mrs. Jeanette (Pigsley) Mitchell was born in Jefferson county, N.Y. near Sackett’s harbor, March 22, 1832, and is the second daughter of Welcome and Thirza Pigsley, who settled on the place (south of Canton, Illinois) where Calvin Fluke now lives, in 1836.

"We drove through from New York to Lake Michigan," said Mrs. Mitchell "and crossed the lake on a schooner. From Chicago we came overland to Fulton county, Illinois. When we reached Fulton county we stopped with settlers who had preceded us to the land which was said to ‘flow with milk and honey,’ until our cabin was erected. Calvin Fluke now owns the old Pigsley homestead and the cabin stood near the site of Mr. Fluke’s residence."

"The first thing after a new settler arrived was to find a suitable location and to set about building a cabin. Our cabin was a crude structure with one room. Trees of uniform size were selected for the new cabin, the logs were cut the desired length, each end being ‘saddled,’ or notched, so as to bring them as near together as possible. The cracks were ‘chinked’ or ‘daubed’ to keep the wind from whistling through. This ‘daubing’ had to be renewed every fall before cold weather set in. The building was covered with clapboards held in place by weight poles. A wide fireplace was cut out of one end of the cabin and the mud-and-stick chimney was built on the outside. A doorway was also cut through one of the walls and the door was made of spliced clapboards and hung on wooden hinges. This was opened by pulling a leather latchstring. The latchstring was always ‘hanging out’ as a welcome to all. The fireplace was large and would hold enough wood to supply an ordinary stove a week. Beds, splint-bottomed chairs, a pine table, a rude cupboard, and a large and small spinning wheel and few other articles constituted the furniture of the cabin homes of the early settlers of Fulton county. On either side of the big fireplace were poles and kettles and over all a mantle on which was placed a tallow dip. The mantle was sort of ‘Catch-all’ for the family and was generally loaded. To witness the various processes of cooking in those days would alike surprise and amuse those who have grown up since cooking stoves and ranges came into use. Kettles were hung over the large fire suspended on trammels which were held by strong poles. A long handled pan was used for cooking meat. It was held on the fire by hand. This pan was also used for baking shortcake. The best thing for baking bread was the flat bottomed bake kettle, with a closely fitting lid and commonly known as a ‘dutch oven.’ With hot coals over and under it bread will bake quickly and nicely."

"The loom was not less necessary than the wheel. Not every cabin however, in which spinning was done, had a loom. But there were always some in each settlement who, besides doing their own weaving did some for others. Nearly all the clothes worn by men and women were home made. We had no ‘boughten’ clothes in the earlier days of the county. Wheat bread did not become a common article of food for some years after we came to the county. Among the more general forms of amusements were the quilting bee, wool picking, log-rolling, house-raising, and later the apple and peach paring. There used to be plenty of apples and peaches, too, in Fulton county."

"Father had six girls, and only one boy, and much depended on us girls in assisting to clear his land and carry on his farming. Father was a farmer, teacher and preacher, and also did the shoemaking for the family. We girls helped to improve the old homestead and did much of the outdoor work. We lived there for 22 years, or until 1858, when the family moved to St. Augustine in Knox county, where both father and mother spent the remainder of their lives. Father died in 1874 and mother in 1879, ages respectively 77 and 73 years. Their remains are interred in the St. Augustine cemetery. Father was a member of the Missionary Baptist church and Mother belonged to the Freewill Baptist church. There are only four children of the Pigsley family now living. Mrs. Deborah Owens, residing in Arkansas; P. W. Pigsley, a resident of Cass county, Iowa; Mrs. Rebecca Ricketts, living in Sedalia, Mo., and myself."

"Both my father and Father Mitchell were bitterly opposed to secret organizations. I omitted to mention that we moved to Woodford county in 1848, lived there five years, and then moved back on the old Fulton county homestead. Mother used to earn $1 a day weaving. I have seen many a pack of wolves running across their field. They killed a pet lamb once, belonging to my sister Lavina, and she took a good cry over it. After we had been here awhile we girls had one calico dress for Sunday but we wore homespun gowns for every day and we made our own clothes, too. The country was thinly settled, our circumstances were limited, we were compelled to work early and late for our sustenance."

"I was married on the fifteenth day of October, 1848, to Joseph Mitchell, my father, the Rev. Welcome Pigsley, officiating. We have 11 children, all living: Albert C. who married Luella Brooks, lives in Fremont county, Iowa; Nancy M. is the wife of William May, of Joshua township; Mrs. Jennie L. Schafer is a resident of Fremont county, Iowa; Mrs. Thirza M. Haskins is the wife of Frank Haskins, living near Farragut, Iowa; Charles F. married Fanny Hall and their home is in Fremont county, Iowa; G. W. Mitchell married Nettie Bryte and they are residents of Page county, Iowa; Mathew H. resides on the old home place, in Deerfield township; Mrs. Bessie M. Keefauver is the wife of Charles Keefauver and lives on a farm in Joshua township; Mrs. Lula Ollis lives on a farm in Joshua township; Mrs. Addie H. Skinner is at home taking care of us in our old age. Mrs. Adele Spenny, wife of Forest Spenny, is on a farm in Joshua township."

"But I have told you enough for the present. Both Mr. Mitchell and myself have worked long and faithfully, have reared a large family of useful men and women, and thank God they are all living."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are getting well along in years and are among the earliest settlers of Fulton county still living. They have grown with its growth and have been no unimportant factor in making it one of the richest counties in the state. For more than 57 years they have permitted to walk life’s road together. They have 11 children, all living, and 35 grandchildren. This worthy couple celebrated their fifty-seventh wedding anniversary on the fifteenth day of last October. Joseph Mitchell is a staunch Republican and still takes quite an interest in political affairs. They both belong to the Baptist church and their membership dates back to pioneer days. With each passing year they have continued to add to the long list of their friends and are today very highly respected and esteemed in the community where the greater portion of their long lives have been spent. Intelligent and moral, they have been very useful citizens in helping build up home enterprises, and have been an influence for much good in social and religious matters.

by Jeannette Mitchell
Canton Weekly Register, January 4, 1906