River Grove is a sleepy neighborhood of Chicago located about 25 minutes by car Northwest of ‘The Loop’. It’s mostly a residential area with little in the way of restaurants or nightlife, but Gene & Jude’s has been calling Chicagoans, tourists, and hot dog lovers for nearby states for the last 70 years to this modest suburb. It’s iconic and a must-visit on any trip to Chicago, but how has this small joint stood the test of time in a quickly changing food scene?

The sign outside actually says "Gene's and Jude's," but there's only one possessive in the official name, one of many quirks that distinguish this beloved hotdog stand, which has occupied the same parcel in River Grove since 1950. Gene & Jude's favors the "Depression Dog" style, which means that the only condiments to find their way onto their hot dogs are mustard, green relish, onions and sport peppers.

There are lots of places in our great nation to get your hot dog on. Detroit has its Coney Island dogs smothered with chili. Coney Island has its Nathan’s Famous dogs, consumed each year in epic eating contests. Angelenos eat them with pork rinds, fried egg, seaweed and pickled papaya — one hopes not all at once. But Chicago’s hot dogs outshine them all.

For hot dog lovers, Gene And Jude’s is a destination to not be missed. Started For hot dog lovers, Gene & Jude’s is a must-visit destination. For more than 60 years, this River Grove institution has been serving up a classic menu of hot dogs, french fries and tasty ...

“Relished since 1946,” this neon-lit throwback in the near west Chicago ‘burbs is almost as famous for their superb fresh-cut, fried-to-order spuds as they are for their no-frills Vienna Beef (what else?) dogs. The iconic Depression Dog comes topped with mustard, onions, relish, sport peppers and a handful of French fries.

As a Chicagoan native, it was only a matter of time before Jeff Mauro, the "Sandwich King" on Food Network, did an episode dedicated tohot dogs and sausages. It was also appropriate that this "Sausage Fest" aired on October 7 during National Sausage Month.

As in every episode of "Sandwich King," Mauro picked an iconic Chicago spot to learn a thing or two about the meal he planned to make. Not surprisingly, he chose Gene & Jude's of River Grove, IL, a hot dog stand that has been serving classic Chicago dogs since 1946.

It's long been argued that Chicago has the best hot dogs in the country—and now Rachael Ray has put her stamp of approval on it to make the claim official. In the March issue of Every Day With Rachael Ray, the perky budget-focused chef, along with three judges from Serious Eats, named River Grove's Gene & Jude's the No. 1 hot dog in the U.S.

Another week, another best-[insert food]-in-the-country list, but this is one we can stand behind and cheer.

Gene & Judeʼs Red Hot Stand, River Groveʼs purveyors of just hot dogs, tamales and fries since 1946, will be named the number one hot dog stand in the country in the March issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. The magazine goes on newsstands this week.

The adjudication was handled by Serious Eats, the James Beard Award-winning blog with food writing heavyweights Ed Levine, Adam Kuban and Hawk Krall. Their hot dog-scouting team chose 64 stands throughout the nation, divided into four geographic regions. A March Madness-like competition eliminated restaurants round by round, until two hot dog stands remained: Aqui con El Nene in Tucson, and our own Gene & Jude's. Our hometown hero won. “Itʼs a great honor for anyone to notice us,” said Dan Ciancio, general manager of the stand for 20 years. “We go through a lot of trouble to have such a small menu. Weʼve just kept it the same. And I feel proud that weʼre doing something right.”

If you had told us that a major food blog would pick a Chicago hot dog stand as the best dog joint in America, we wouldn't have been surprised for a minute. Hot Doug's, probably, or Superdawg, or maybe a dark horse like Wolfy's or Jimmy's Red Hots.

But if you'd said the winner was in a little suburb out by O'Hare? We might have been left scratching our heads.

Still, as The Stew wrote yesterday, that's just what happened: Serious Eats picked Gene & Jude's Red Hot Stand in River Grove as the purveyor of America's best hot dog.