Hot Dog of the Day: Old Town Social

Old Town Social Chicago’s reigning sausage king, Jared Van Camp, has made every kind of encased meat under the sun for his gastropub, whose late-night atmosphere is a curious cross between turn-of-the-century elegance and nightclub douchebaggery. But he says his toughest challenge was creating these all-natural mini hot dogs ($10) from scratch. The trio of diminutive franks includes a fluffy corn dog, served with housemade mustard sauce; a Coney with chili, chopped onions and yellow mustard; and, of course, a Chicago-style dog, minus the tomato and poppyseed bun. These adorable redhots are fun to eat and delightfully springy, so bring on the tiny weiner jokes.—John Greenfield