Two fans of a unique Chicago hot dog store are learning that even the sincerest form of adulation has its limits.
Nico Westlund and Gary Michaels, whose Hot Doug Drop made Loop deliveries from Hot Doug’s, a specialty-sausage stand in Avondale with a cultlike following, shut down their service Tuesday — at the request of Hot Doug’s owner Doug Sohn.
Sohn was flattered by the Web site, which called him “the Sultan of Sausage” and vowed that the service was “brought to you out of love for the product,” but still asked Westlund and Michaels to cease and desist.
“One, [the site] was done without my knowledge, which I’m not pleased about,” Sohn said. “We’re certainly flattered that people want our food, but the complete loss of control is problematic. And two, not to ride a high horse, but this goes against the grain of what we do. We’re here, and you’re coming in. [Hot Doug’s] is more than just a bag of food; it’s a whole experience.”
Westlund and Michaels, who have marketing and finance backgrounds and an abiding love for Sohn’s work, began the service in February. The two collected lunch orders from friends, picked the food up at Hot Doug’s and delivered the encased-meat delicacies to drop-off points at the Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade.
Business boomed to the point that the pair launched a Web site that enabled online ordering. That was the point at which Sohn politely (both sides say they’re on amicable terms) called a halt to the operation.
“We caused too much of a ripple,” said Westlund, whose admiration for Hot Doug’s has not diminished. “We’ve taken a hiatus, and hopefully we can make it possible to bring Hot Doug’s to the Loop in a way that won’t compromise his standards.”
