About Byrons Hot Dogs

When given the opportunity to cook for the president, most people would create something elegant, perhaps incorporating fancy cooking techniques and ingredients that were hard to come by. But Mike and Ann, owners of Byron's Hot Dog Haus, went a much different route. When they catered the 2010 Taste of the States picnic, they served President Barack Obama hot dogs.

Granted, these were the same Chicago-style Vienna Beef hot dogs that have been pleasing North Siders since 1975. And the dogs boast no shortage of accolades, including praise from a GQ writer, who said, "Here, the condiments are daringly different. I asked for everything and got, in addition to the usual, chopped lettuce, pickle rings (not spears), and green peppers (not hot). I loved the radical deviation."

Byron's staffers cook the hot dogs and everything else to order—including burgers, salty fries, and italian-beef sandwiches—inside a tiny shop that's just around the corner from Wrigley Field. Byron's also has a secondary location on Lawrence Avenue that opened in the 1980s.