Baby Al’s – Chicago hot dog and more

Small little lesser known shop on the left side of the Indian Trail Shopping Center near the intersection of US-29 and Indian Trail Rd. Location has been open for the past 4 years and is from true Chicagoan. Their menu has expended to other selections requested by clients such as slaw dog and the kraut dog, but has always been true to their Chicago style with proper Vienna beef sausages.

After our failed hot dog session on the 4th July, I was craving proper hot dogs and remembered this location from driving by all these years. Found great reviews on both Google and Yelp so was happy to try it out. Glad I did and regret having waited till now to do so.

They have a variety of “buff up” selections that comes with small order of fries and a fountain drink (1 refill included) for under $9.

https://goo.gl/maps/vD2BToeQigKWVec66

https://www.babyals.com/

#1 Chicago dog and Slaw dog buff up (drink and small fries), two dogs option can be mixed and matched. * Slaw Dog – nice balance of the slaw’s lightly sour creamy sweetness on top of a Vienna meet hot dog which was snappy and not salty. Glad it wasn’t smothered in slaw, well balanced. * Chicago Dog – as expected, the relish, tomato, pickle and pepper was not over powering the beef sausage. Poppy seed bun was light and wasn’t overly poppy. I’ve had others where the toppings were too sour or salty while this version had a nice balance. * Fresh cut fries were good and they had some seasoned salt counter side if that’s what you are looking for. Worth trying out the loaded fries on my next visit.

Polish Hot Link (right) – has a mild to medium spice that wasn’t over powering for the non spicy folks like Elly. Very meaty and dense but not overly salty. Has nice chew from the fat and tendons mixed into the meat of the sausage. The onions added a sweet blend to the entire bite. * Maxwell Street Polish (left) – full of flavor and meat had a nice mouth chew. The toppings of sweet onions and sport peppers gave the sausage a nice support making it balance.

Italian Beef (dipped w/ sweet pepper) – flavorful meet, dipped bread wasn’t salty but had a proper beef flavor. This is a nice steak burger if you didn’t want something overly cheesy like a Philly. Proper beef au jus. Will ask if can do the au jus on the side next time.