Chicago's Dog House, the hot dog stand that has anchored a corner of Lincoln Park since 2009, is planning a third Chicago location inside Ogilvie Transportation Center at 500 W. Madison Street. The target opening date is December 1, though the exact spot within the transit hub has not been confirmed.
The move comes per a report from WhatNow, which says the business has landed an 1,800-square-foot space in the West Loop. Chicago's Dog House is owned by Aaron Wolfson, and WhatNow reported it had reached out to him for comment on the new location but had not yet received a response at the time of publication.
Ogilvie Transportation Center sits on the east side of the West Loop and provides access to multiple Metra lines. According to Metra, the station serves the Union Pacific West, Union Pacific Northwest, and Union Pacific North lines, making it one of the busiest commuter rail hubs feeding into downtown Chicago.
A Familiar Menu Heads to the Train Station
Chicago's Dog House already operates at 816 W. Fullerton Avenue in Lincoln Park and on Level 4 of 520 N. Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile, per the same WhatNow report. The business describes itself as serving “Chicago's finest hot dogs, since 2009,” and its menu includes Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, the Original DogHouse Cheeseburger, and a Blagojevich hot dog — a Chicago-style dog topped with ketchup, a nod the shop seems to enjoy given the city's famously strict no-ketchup hot dog etiquette. Seasoned fries and chili cheese fries round out the lineup.
The restaurant's own site lists Chicago-style hot dogs alongside burgers and grilled chicken as part of its regular offerings, according to originalchicagosdoghouse.com. The website also notes that catering comes in two forms — a Chicago-style hot dog bar or a burger and grilled chicken sandwich bar — though it specifies that a 15 percent catering discount using the code CATERING15 applies only at the Lincoln Park location.
Other Dining Options at Ogilvie
WhatNow's report also lists Polombia, Soul & Smoke, Jamba, and Sushi Box as dining concepts at the transit hub.
The West Loop expansion follows a chapter that didn't pan out for the chain downtown. Chicago's Dog House formerly operated inside Washington Food Hall but closed that location this past summer, according to the WhatNow report. A review from Nick in the Loop notes that Chicago's Dog House closed after Washington Hall itself ceased operations, offering some context for why the Loop outpost didn't survive even as the brand looks to put down roots in a new transit-heavy corridor just blocks away.
