This one is from last year….. yes, I'm COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card). After returning from Chicago, I guess I mentioned Chicago Dogs one too many times…. the Missus suddenly wanted a Chicago Dog! We decided to check out Lefty's in Mission Hills……
Though I've been to the North Park location a couple of times, and even included Lefty's in my Chicago Dog marathon post (sadly the other two places have closed), I haven't been here since it was Phil's BBQ.
By San Diego standards the Chicago Dog and fries is a relative bargain at $4.25….. by Chicago standards…. well, let's put it this way; I could get a Chicago Dog and a generous portion of Duck Fat Fries from Hot Doug's for a buck more.
I like the Chicago Dog from Lefty's, the dog has a decent snap, there are most of the working parts I
enjoy in a Chicago Dog, the sport peppers, and so forth. I do wish that they'd put a bit more celery salt in the dog…. but hey, there are folks that don't care for the stuff I guess. The bun seemed a bit on the soggy side, but the Missus had no complaints. She also enjoyed the hand-cut fries; while not sporting a good amount of skin, it had a nice potato flavor.
I ordered a Chicago Beef, which at $7 is about two bucks more than Chicago. I didn't expect anything close to what I had in Chicago, which was a good thing, since this was basically a French Dip with bottled Giardiniera.
This was much too dry, the beef tasted like regular roast beef dunked in processed "jus".
Oh well, you can't win them all. I'll stick with the Chicago Dogs….
Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria
4030 Goldfinch St
San Diego, CA 92103
Postscript: I've had a couple folks ask, and recommend Chicago style deep dish/stuffed pizzas (including you Liver!). And if you wonder why you've never seen a post…. well, the explanation's rather simple. But I'm sure you'd rather a have a story instead, right? More than couple of years ago, I was in Chicago on business. I had my eyes on some stuffed pizza, but one of the folks I was with insisted that we go here first.
Pizzeria Due…… we kill a deep dish, but man, all that cheese is killing my lactose intolerant self. We head off and stop at Giordano's. Because I'm with the folks I work with…. well, I gotta at least try…….man, this was tough. I'll spare you the gory details and just say, all that cheese almost killed me……. talk about "due"……