Gene & Jude's Red Hot Stand
River Grove, IL 60171-1325
Phone: (708) 452-7634
- Price:
- $
- Cross Street:
- Grand Avenue
- Directions:
- Bus: 319, 331 to Grand Ave/River Rd
- Specialties:
- Hot Dog
- Best of Citysearch:
- Hot Dog 2007
- Hours:
- Sun-Thu 10:30am-1am, Fri-Sat 10:30am-2am
Editorial Review for Gene & Jude's Red Hot Stand – by Chris Barsanti
The Scene
Gene & Jude's is a fast-food haven on a particularly desolate stretch of River Road. The customers are a motley bunch, coming from far and wide to worship at this greasy altar since the '50s. The dirty-white interior is barren but for the counter and a shelf to eat at standing up.
The Food
It takes longer to read a street sign than it does to read the entire menu. Choices are: hot dog, double dog, tamale and fries. The dog is best eaten with mustard and sweet relish, its tough skin bursting open with juicy perfection. The fries are eye-openers, too: Hearty, thick-cut wedges of skin-on potatoes, they come in a generous sack (or rolled up in waxed paper with your dog), slippery with greasy good taste, hardly needing salt or ketchup. The gooey, spicy corn tamales are best scooped up with a spoon.
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User Reviews for Gene & Jude's Red Hot Stand
08/05/2008 Posted by JohnnyAngelNIU
For what it's worth, the place does have a rich history (pun intended, the owners are millionaires), having been around since the late 50's. My dad went there with his buddies when he was a kid. Here's the skinny: As for the hotdogs themselves, they're great. The menu, perhaps what has made the place infamous, is quite simple. All they sell are hotdogs, fries, tamales, and drinks. Nothing more. (No beefs, hamburgers, italian sausage, you get the hint). A hotdog and fries is $2, which is a nice bargain. The fries come piled high ontop of the hotdog and are wrapped up with it. In my opinion, the fries aren't all that great, but some people love homemade potato fries. They can be soggy and although you can reheat the hotdog later, the fries usually are just mush and I throw them out. As mentioned above, the place is a goldmine and is open long hours, usually to about 1am. When I say there are lines literally out the door, they can literally be out the door. I have seen upwards of 75 people (give or take) in a line once. The line usually moves quickly, but the massive amounts of people inside can irritate you, especially on a hot day. There are no places to sit inside, they have some window "tables" where you can stand and eat. I recommend either getting the food to go, or eating it in the parking lot. Which leads to this... This place, over the years, has also become a "hangout", a lot of high school and maybe college kids just standing around eating in the parking lot and basically loitering and looking for trouble. Especially being open late hours at night - do the math. This may be a turn off for some people. I'm in my 20's, and I have gone there several times with friends just to get food and have come out walking past dozens of younger people loitering, smoking, or girls just looking for "attention." This is usually only in the later hours of the evening though. The place has great HOT DOGS and I'd recommend overall.
Pros: Rich history, great HOT DOGS, economic prices, nice hangout (for younger crowd)
Cons: Long lines, kinda dirty/messy inside, average fries, and a 'hang out' at night.
07/14/2008 Posted by TwoBuckTim
I've gone to this place several times. It was never good. The positive reviews are either shilling for the place or they don't know what a good hot dog is. The dogs are small and they don't have a full range of condiments. You can find better dogs at many other places. Bottom line: Skip the hype and patronize your local stand. Unfortunately for the folks in River Grove, their local stand isn't very good. They are the only ones who should travel for a hot dog. Don't waste your time or gas to go to this place.
Pros: Can't think of one
Cons: Too many to list
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