The DNC Brings Wiener-Obsessed Politicians, Journalists, and Comedians to Chicago

While the Democratic National Convention may not be a boon for Chicago’s restaurant industry, local politicians, journalists, and comedians are still planning on sampling the city’s culinary delights this week. Some point to a lack of variety in those diets (we have some suggestions for that); there’s certainly a tendency to stay close to downtown and visit the same North Side neighborhoods. Still, there’s some fun to be had, even if these visitors have limited taste buds and stick with pizza and hot dogs. Eater scoured the convention floor and asked politicians what they put on their hot dogs.

Lori Lightfoot

After taking a nearly year-long hiatus, Lightfoot returned to the media circuit this week with DNC analysis on CBS Chicago. The former mayor, who chose an unorthodox smorgasbord for her Super Bowl spread in 2019, prefers a “modified Chicago-style” dog.

“Brown mustard, dill pickle slices, tomatoes, sport peppers, and celery salt,” Lightfoot says, “Sometimes also giardiniera instead of the sport peppers. But sometimes if the hot dog is really good and grilled right, just a dog in a bun.”

Jaime Harrison

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The DNC chair kept his restaurant plans under wraps but his spokespeople tell us he’s a slaw dog fan. Harrison tops his dog off with chili, coleslaw, relish, ketchup, mustard, and onions.

Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

The 28-year-old self-described “straight lesbian comedian” and Daily Show correspondent has a soft spot for Roost Chicken & Biscuits with locations in River West and Wrigleyville.

“I was living in Chicago when the pandemic hit and on the news they started talking about how we were going to go into lockdown,” she says. “My roommate Andrew and I turned to each other like ‘We need to order The Roost NOW.’ So we did and that was the last thing I ate before I started wiping down my groceries.”

During the DNC, Kuhlenschmidt will return to her old favorite and order the House-Style fried chicken sandwich with cheese on a biscuit, plus the chocolate chip bread pudding. When it comes to hot dogs, Kuhlenschmidt took a swipe at Chicago tradition: “When it comes to hot dogs, I need ketchup,” she says. “I really don’t care what Chicago or the National Hot Dog Association say. Ketchup is a divine condiment.”

DNC senior advisor Keiana Barrett (the chief diversity & engagement officer for developer Sterling Bay) plans on sticking close to McCormick Place and patronizing Williams Inn, the pizzeria and sports bar in the South Loop, owned by the same Black family as Jeffery Pub, one of the oldest queer bars in the country. She’ll start with the hot wings, “fried hard” with ranch dressing, and deep-dish pizza with mushrooms. Barrett only eats turkey hot dogs and prefers them grilled with mustard, barbecue sauce, relish, pickle, and a dash of seasoned salt.

Christy George

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Winner of the 2022 Banchet Award for Best Alternative Dining, Sinhá should expect a visit from the DNC’s executive director Christy George (Gov. Pritzker’s first assistant deputy governor for budget and economy). Among her top picks at the Brazilian restaurant: mango salsa, plantains, chicken curry, and steak.

“Best Brazilian food in the city recently had it and can’t wait to go back,” George tells Eater — not that there are a ton of Brazilian options in Chicago. “Their patio is intimate and beautiful, it’s a local woman-owned restaurant, and the food is killer.”

When it comes to hot dogs, George ignores Chicago-style rules.

“Ketchup and mustard, unapologetically,” she says.

Don Harmon

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The Illinois state senate president hasn’t had much time to sit down and dine during the DNC.

“I wish I had been eating anywhere but off the fat of the land, wherever food is put in front of me from reception to reception,” Harmon says on the convention floor on Tuesday before the delegates cast their vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Hot dogs you’ve only got three choices: you can eat it Chicago-style, you can eat it with mustard and onions, or you can eat it plain,” Harmon says, adding that he’ll eat any of those three options depending on the circumstance.

“If I can’t spill I’m not above a plain hot dog, mustard, and onions when I’m low-key and Chicago style if someone else is fixing it,” he says.