According to Huffington Post, "Charlie Xu, a 21-year-old University of Chicago student, traveled 15 miles on a bus with two of his friends on a Wednesday morning to try it for the first time. When they arrived around 10 a.m., thirty minutes before the place opened, they were already number 107 in line."
During this past summer, the lines stretched for a third of a mile. On one day, the restaurant was open until 10:30 PM just to serve those who were in line when the store was supposed to close at 4 PM. Finally the owner started handing a "closed" sign to the last person they would be serving that day. Everyone else was advised to go home and try another day. Last Wednesday, they were officially open for only ten minutes. They opened at 10:30, and at 10:40 they handed out the "closed" sign and told everyone behind it in line to go home. They already had more than enough people in line to last until 4 PM.
The reason for the pandemonium: Hot Doug's is officially going out of business. This Saturday, October 4, will be their last day in existence.
Owner Doug Sohn says it's time to do something else with his life. He has been behind the counter manning the cash register for 14 years. The last time the store was open and he wasn't behind the register was probably five years ago, he says. So I guess it does sound like he could use a break.
So it looks like Portillo's may be our new favorite hot dog place. Their lines are nowhere near five hours long. It just won't be the same.
