 Tony was born and raised in Chicago, at Southport and Grace, which
is the neighborhood known as Wrigleyville.An electrician by
trade, Ramos has been an IBEW Local 134 member for 17 years and owns
a small electrical company up in Riverside called Ram Electric.
Things have been slow with the housing market, and Ramos has two
employees minding the business while he takes a chance to get a
local eatery established in Lincoln.
It was asked how a Chicago electrician ended up opening a hot dog
business in Lincoln.
It wasn't that much of a leap, as Ramos explained. They have
relatives in Lincoln, Robert and Marisa Cummings, and the Ramoses
have been to Lincoln often, enjoying their visits. This summer, Tony
had the idea to open an eatery that would bring many of the Chicago
neighborhood food favorites to central Illinois.
In Chicago, the neighborhoods are dotted with small hot dog
businesses that offer specialty Italian beef, sausage, Tom Tom brand
tamales and of course the famous Chicago dog. All the sandwiches
come with a generous helping of french fries to make the meal
perfect.
Many of these businesses do extremely well offering fare that
isn't available at any fast-food franchise in the city.
Ramos said he drove all around central Illinois looking at
various cities as well as sampling dogs from various businesses
within the towns.
He said that rarely did he find a hot dog that he felt was
anything near what a Chicago dog is.
He also decided that Lincoln would be the best location to open
the eatery, and the rest, as they say, is hot dog history. Tony and
his wife love the city, and although they are currently renting they
do have plans to buy in Lincoln
Ramos is very upbeat about Lincoln, explaining how helpful
everyone has been to his family.
From Les Last, code enforcement officer, to the Lincoln Fire
Department, Tony said everyone showed him what needed to be done in
order to open. He said there have been frequent customers from the
fire department since day one, and he has had big orders come in
from the shifts at the bottle factory.
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Ramos says he gets all his supplies from small, mom and pop central
Illinois vendors and orders on a continuing basis to make sure
everything is fresh.
The students from Lincoln College have been coming in as well,
and Ramos will add a few items that the students have specifically
asked about. One will be pizza puffs. Another is a Chicago specialty
called a combo, where a large sub bun has Italian sausage and
Italian beef together. Then the meat is covered in cheese.
Tony says the lunch hour trade has been very good and says word
of mouth, hopefully, will help get the business more evening and later
hour customers.
The business also offers Polish sausage, chili and cheese dogs,
and cheese and chili and cheese fries.
The Tom Tom brand tamale has been a big hit with Lincolnites who
have never had this brand available locally. Ramos laughed that he
brought in a case, and they started selling immediately. In no time
the entire case was gone. Pointing to a couple, Tony said they come
in every day to get a tamale. The tamale can also have chili or
cheese added if the customer wishes.
Tony and Brenda are trying to become involved in the community
right off the start by supporting the Lincoln/Logan County Food
Pantry.
Their goal is simple. Offer really good food at an affordable
price, and they believe word of mouth will do the rest.
The store is open daily at 11 a.m. and the number to call for
carryouts is 735-4300.
Note: What makes a Chicago dog a Chicago dog?
All-beef Vienna hot dog, poppy seed bun, yellow mustard, chopped
onion, green relish, tomato wedges, pickle spear, celery salt and
sport peppers.
[By
MIKE FAK] |
