Minutes after 11 a.m. Tuesday, staff at The Wieners Circle were already knee-deep charring hot dogs and hurling swears at the long, chatty line of customers who had been waiting in the rain for free “glizzies.”
The popular hot dog stand on North Clark Street had promised free hot dogs if Bears’ quarterback Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes against the Dallas Cowboys during Sunday’s game — which he did, completing 19 of 28 passes for 298 yards and touchdowns to four different players: Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, DJ Moore and Cole Kmet.
Now, it was showtime behind the counter.
“Save the change for the homeless (expletive), get that (expletive) out of here!” (Tips in cash, however, were welcome. They were also accepting tips via Venmo.)
“Hurry the (expletive) up! Is it senior citizen day?”
The surly staff at The Wieners Circle had been cooking up hot dogs all morning to serve the expectedly winding line, which began piling up before 8 a.m.
Berwyn resident Ruben Barreto arrived around 7:30 a.m. with his friend Jose Figueroa, who later worked the crowds by passing out napkins and directing traffic — though the staff had no idea who he was.
Barreto said the Bears’ first win of the season was reaffirming to loyal fans who trudged along, despite the team’s “typical” performance. “(Williams) played a good game, and hey, I’ll take a free hot dog too. That’s two wins for me,” he said.
Meanwhile, John Murphy, who arrived at 10 a.m., was using a reusable tote bag from Aldi as an umbrella to shield against the morning’s drizzle.
Emma Kreis, Wieners Circle operations manager, said the staff was ready to handle the crowd — as always. Looking at the growing line, she joked that Tuesday is typically “the worst” day for restaurants.
Regan Eggert, one of the restaurant’s outrageously loud employees, started shouting across the deep fryer.
“We call them the talent here,” Kreis said. “It’s really like the town comedy club.”
Kreis said when Wieners Circle owner Ari Levy tweeted last Friday from the stand’s official X account that they’d give out free hot dogs if Williams threw four touchdowns, she laughed and asked him if it was legit.
“He said, ‘I mean, I tweeted it so yeah, if it happens we’ll do it’ — so then we had two days to prepare. We divided and conquered,” she said. “We’re a hot dog stand, but at the end of the day, everyone’s really passionate about being funny, and boosting morale in Chicago, even if it’s through the Bears or sports, is just a good way to bring everyone together.”
Kries said they expect to pass out between 2,000 and 3,000 hot dogs until supplies run out.
Vienna Beef dropped off several crates of hot dogs, while S. Rosen’s, the longtime wholesale bread company on Polk Street, provided approximately 2,000 poppy-seed buns.
“We were immediately on the phone with (The Wieners Circle) to get this going,” said Stephanie Powell, S. Rosen’s marketing director. “They’re only human back there; they can only make so many hot dog buns an hour, so 2,000 seemed like a good number to start, hopefully. And if we run out, our bakery is a mile away.”
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As an eager customer approached the counter — phone out, smiling wide — Eggert yelled, “Fries are not free, (expletive)!”
One woman asked for a free hot dog, cheese fries and plain fries with a side of cheese.
“Girl, you’re asking for way too much,” quipped Evelyn Morris, The Wieners Circles’ legendary general manager, who regularly fields orders.
The narrow kitchen quickly filled with smoke from freshly charred hot dogs as line cooks hustled.
It took line cook Angel Nogura around 17 seconds to immaculately dress each hot dog with “everything” — the canonical Chicago-style toppings of yellow mustard, neon green relish, white onions, a pickle spear, a slice of red tomato, celery salt and sport peppers — in that order.
He said he could probably do it in his sleep as well.
There was ketchup in Nogura’s toppings section reserved “only” for the burgers. The staff also put out a giant ketchup dispenser at the front counter — luring customers to dare.
Next to Nogura and Evelyn Morris, Toni Morris shouted at a male customer for not throwing cash in the tip jar. He chuckled, then nervously reached into his pocket to find a wrinkly dollar bill.
“Bye, (expletive)!” Morris yelled back, but quickly shifted her tone after spotting longtime customer Kymett Grulke.
Grulke, a North Side resident of nearly 30 years, ordered a grilled cheeseburger for dinner and grabbed a free char dog for lunch.
“I watch as they come in, and they’re not so soft with other people,” Grulke laughed. “And I remember the first time I came in here — they sure did shock me. But I love them, it’s good for the neighborhood.”
Shortly after noon, an hour after they’d opened, more than a hundred people had wrapped around the corner on Clark Street and Drummond Plaza.
Nurses Renee Dietz and Megan Cronk from nearby Lurie Children’s Outpatient Center stopped by during their lunch break. They stood at the back of the moving line.
Dietz, a nurse of 36 years, said she swings by The Wieners Circle about twice a month and came out on Tuesday for both a free hot dog and the vibes.
Gina Kotz, another customer, said she drove an hour and a half from McHenry County for the same.
A few feet away, Figueroa, the makeshift crowd-worker, tasked himself with igniting “Thank you, Caleb” chants, as he walked up and down the queue letting people know it wasn’t too much longer now.
Though Williams was not in attendance, he did send his dog, Supa, who came dressed in a No. 18 jersey. Bears mascot Staley also came by.
The crowd went nuts, and so did Figueroa.
“I hope everyone goes home happy,” he yelled. “Go Bears forever!”