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Ave et Vale, Wolffy’s

Am I the last to know? Wolffy’s Place, the “real” Chicago eatery on the edge of the Gaslamp (844 Market Street) is no longer.

The two Wolffys, Bob, and his brother Steve

I worried about it for a long time. Place was built to be crammed with raucous Chicagoans and wannabes like me, bawling out for the Cubs, shouting out Carl Sandford’s love letter to the Windy City (“tall, bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities/ Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action…”), joshing about "the lake effect," and tarring and feathering anyone ignorant enough to try to put ketchup on their hotdog.

The late, lamented Polish kielbasa hotdog. Notice, no ketchup

In Chicago, you “drag it through the garden,” meaning add chopped onions, tomato wedges, sport peppers, and always some of that nuclear-green sweet relish Chicagoans love. Plus celery salt and a pickle spear.

And as much mustard as you want, but never, ever ketchup. If you wanna live. It’s just a Chicago thing. Why? Uh, dunno. And now the two Wolffys, Bob, and his brother Steve, aren’t there to tell us.

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Am I the last to know? Wolffy’s Place, the “real” Chicago eatery on the edge of the Gaslamp (844 Market Street) is no longer.

The two Wolffys, Bob, and his brother Steve

I worried about it for a long time. Place was built to be crammed with raucous Chicagoans and wannabes like me, bawling out for the Cubs, shouting out Carl Sandford’s love letter to the Windy City (“tall, bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities/ Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action…”), joshing about "the lake effect," and tarring and feathering anyone ignorant enough to try to put ketchup on their hotdog.

The late, lamented Polish kielbasa hotdog. Notice, no ketchup

In Chicago, you “drag it through the garden,” meaning add chopped onions, tomato wedges, sport peppers, and always some of that nuclear-green sweet relish Chicagoans love. Plus celery salt and a pickle spear.

And as much mustard as you want, but never, ever ketchup. If you wanna live. It’s just a Chicago thing. Why? Uh, dunno. And now the two Wolffys, Bob, and his brother Steve, aren’t there to tell us.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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