Much like the New York style dog at Woofies, the New York Dog at Pam's is a midwestern interpretation, or better yet a homage to the east coast dog. However, it is far from the real thing. The New York dog at Pam's is a Vienna Beef dog topped with a brown mustard, sauerkraut and a spicy giardiniera. The addition of giardiniera is a nice touch, but has more to do with Chicago style Italian beef sandwiches and antipasto than a dog from New York.
Warren's Maxwell Street Polish Sausage
Paying respect to Maxwell Street in Chicago, the Polish Sausage at Pam's tasted like a slice of home to this grandson of Polish immigrants. Featuring a Vienna beef sausage that lives in the sweet spot between a natural cased hot dog and a Polish kielbasa, this dog is topped with yellow mustard, grilled onions and sport peppers. As I enjoy the play of sauerkraut and kielbasa, I had it added as a final touch. Smaczny!
Hot Dogs With Ketchup
Above you'll notice two hot dogs, naked, barren, dressed only in ketchup. To my knowledge, one was a Vienna Beef dog and the other was Pam's Turkey Dog. The menu at Pam's states "Turkey Dog - Served Chicago Style unless you request otherwise". I can only assume that is what happened here. Very sad.
Slaw Dog
The slaw dog at Pam's is a Vienna beef hot dog topped with chili, yellow mustard, onion and a creamy cole slaw. For me, this variation on a southern dog is much closer to the original than the New York dog. The chili is loose meat in a spicy sauce that pairs nicely with the slaw.
The Pamirito
Saving the most interesting for last we have The Pamirito. Pam's takes a Vienna beef dog and wraps it in a tortilla. The pair are then submerged into the deep frier until its brown and crispy. The fried roll is then topped with onion, tomato, cheese and chili to make the only knife and fork dog that we ran into on the menu. The Pamirito is a treat on par with the Slinger as an example of St. Louis required eating.
You'll notice that I didn't end up getting desert on either of my two recent visits to Pam's. I'll have to run five miles and get an all clear from my primary care physician before my next visit, because that's the only way I'll ever get a chance to experience a deep fried cupcake.
Opinion: Recommended