In June 2013, my favorite Chicago hot dog joint posted this on their Facebook page: 65 years of Superdawg memories...where to begin? Help us by sharing your favorite memories at Milwaukee and Devon...

So, here's one from me:

My father, Mike Royko (the late Pulitzer-winning Chicago columnist), was a serious Superdawg fan from way back, and his usual order, which I was frequently dispatched to fetch once I had a drivers license (we lived close by in the Edgebrook neighborhood), was a Superdawg plus a tube tamale. My mother, Carol, went further back with Superdawg; she had been a student at Taft in 1948 when Superdawg opened, and it was on her walking route from her house at 5408 N. Central to the high school. For Mom, it was a Superdawg and a chocolate malt, or occasionally, a pineapple malt.

One of the last times I saw my father (he died unexpectedly at 64 of an aneurism in 1997) happened to be bumping into him at Superdawg. I walked in to order and he was waiting for his food at the window with a friend. Soon after that, I ran into the friend after Dad had died. He told me that Dad was delighted to run into me there, joking that it showed he had been a good influence on me. Sure, Dad might’ve been joking, but what’s that they say about truth coming out through humor?

David Royko, June 6, 2013 

Miscellaneous Mike Royko Index