Gene and Jude's

Gene went to a baseball game at Wrigley Field with his mates one July day in 1945. He had no idea it was the day of creation. The party ordered hot dogs and beers while watching the game. He noticed something was missing when he looked down at the meal in his hands. The experiment had already begun by the time he arrived home. He had a brilliant idea and used it to create a little stand on Polk and Western Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, in 1946, providing hot dogs and fries, as well as a few other items on the menu.

The dogs and fries alone were such a hit that he dropped the rest of the menu, and Gene and Jude's was born in 1950 in River Grove, Illinois. Although known as Gene and Jude's, the River Grove site had no name on the outside of the building at first, and many residents referred to it as River Road Hot Dogs.

• Website: geneandjudes.com
• Location: 2720 N. River Road River Grove IL 60171
• Phone number: 708-452-7634