Thursday, May 15, 2008

Memories of Famous Freddie's


Downtown on the southwest corner of Hitt and Locust was a neat little hot dog shop called Famous Freddie's. In the mid 1980's an MU student, working with limited funds and hard work, renovated a derelict building to open a shrine for his home city of Chicago. On the walls inside were posters of the Chicago sports teams along with movie stills and city scenes related to his home town. He had all the meat shipped in from Chicago to recreate their famous style of serving hot dogs, which I guess was one part meat and nine parts fixings because he piled it on. It was like a full, balanced meal that fit in your hand.

In the beginning Freddy was the one who took your order and also the person that piled on all the ingredients to make a wonderfully flavored experience. He would explain what made a good Chicago style hot dog in a neat accent that sounded like a gangster from a 1940's movie. It did not take long for Famous Freddie's to become, well, famous as MU students flocked there for the excellent hot dogs and Polish sausages. Freddy did so well that he opened another location in St. Louis and was gone much of the time. Soon afterward the store closed with the rumor that the Famous Freddie's in St. Louis was going so well that he did not have time to run both stores. There was also a rumor that he had sold the rights to a company that planned on franchising it out. What ever the story I just remember how good those hot dogs were and the fact that a college student built a business from the ground up and did well. I don't know if he even graduated from MU or not but I remember good food for a good price close to campus.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so enjoying having found your site!!!

Famous Freddies was a favorite of mine from the day I first found them. I still say they have the best chili dog with cheese and onions (grilled of course!!!) that I have ever eaten.... And I've eaten at most ALL the top-rated places for dogs in Chicago.

The thing that I remember as much as the hot dogs though, was the FRIES!!!!!! As far from fast food as you could get. They were cut from Idaho potatoes each morning, and cooked to order in small batches. They were served in cup, and smothered in a tangy cheese sauce. WOW!!!

What I wouldn't give for a Famous Freddie's chili dog and a large cheese fries right now.

Your site is making me cry. Cry out for GREAT FOOD!!!

Unknown said...


I worked there in the early 1980s. I loved that place and made many friends there. I ran the cash register and later the grill. I remember the Chicago style hot dogs with pickles, the amazing brownies and the famous ONION BRICKS.

General Corman said...

Lived a block away and ate there as often as I could.

General Corman said...

Lived a block away and ate there as often as I could.

General Corman said...

Lived a block away and ate there as often as I could.

Bill said...

I’m a Chicago dog junkie and ate there whenever I could afford. The onion brick was my favorite

Anonymous said...

Loved the onion bricks!

Anonymous said...

Anyone have the recipe for the onion brick? I loved them!

Anonymous said...

You need a deep fryer!

Anonymous said...

This might be close

https://foodiewish.com/recipes/miller-and-carter-onion-loaf-recipe/