A Lucky Find- Hot Spot Hot Dogs

Have you ever found a truly awesome place to eat or shop totally by accident? Whenever I find myself in that scenario, I always feel so proud of myself, like somehow my good taste helped me maneuver my way into a lucky find. When in actuality, it is just that. A lucky find.

After a recent trip to a very cool park with my boys and some good friends, we ventured out to find some lunch near by. One mom knew of a great little local sandwich shop, but when we got there we realized it had fallen victim to the poor economy and closed down. So, being in an area that none of us were all that familiar with, we were forced to go with what was in the same strip mall. Lucky for us, we stumbled into Hot Spot Hot Dogs.

Located in a strip mall near the Fountains of Carols Stream (near the corner of Gary Ave. and Leis Rd.), Hot Spot Hog Dogs is a small little eatery with big flavor. The unassuming exterior may lead you astray. But once inside, the food is great! Hot dogs, burgers, Italian beef, and tamales (yes, tamales!) are the mainstays of the minimal menu. We tasted a little of everything between those in our group. It was all fabulous. The extras are amazing too. The fries are unpeeled, home cut, and fried to be a little soft and perfectly salty. I got some pasta salad with the intention of feeding it to my 1yr. old and ended up eating most of it myself. It was de-lish!!!

The cool factor gets taken up a notch when you pick your beverage. You can certainly order the run-of-the-mill 12oz. soda in a can. But, they also have all kinds of old-school sodas in bottles cooled in big metal tubs. Orange Fanta, Root Beer, yummy sweet tea. HotSpot has dozens of different bottled drinks to quench your thirst and give you that little bit of nostalgic flare.

The prices are reasonable, probably because they haven't invested too much in seating for their customers. The only downside of my new favorite lunch spot is their lack of table space. They only have two picnic tables and a few bar stool tables for those of us who like to eat-in. It seemed that most of the constant stream of customers had their food packaged to-go. But what they lack in atmosphere, they more than make up for in taste and friendly service. They do have a super cool metal representation of the Chicago skyline on the wall.

It is a lucky find, indeed. One I will be going back to again and again and telling all my friends about. It was that good. And I was that lucky to find it.

HotSpot Hot Dogs
1030 Fountain View Drive
Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 690-3644
Mon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.