\u201cWe use skinless hot dogs,\u201d he said. \u201cI prefer skinless because they\u2019re more tender and the flavor lasts longer if you steam them a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
De la Torre brought his dogs to San Antonio and opened a food truck during the COVID-19 pandemic. He shut the truck down after a year and opened a brick-and-mortar in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years and three months later, Chicago Hot Dogs<\/a> ranks among the most popular hot dog eateries in town. It holds Yelp\u2019s No. 1 <\/a>spot with a 4.6 rating based on 236 user-generated reviews.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably half our customers are from Chicago,\u201d said de la Torre, the owner.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those customers form a strong business core because Chicago hot dogs evoke memories of the Windy City.<\/p>\n \u201cThey say it feels like being home,\u201d said Roxana de la Torre, the owner\u2019s wife and head cook. \u201cThey feel like they went to Chicago and came back.\u201d<\/p>\n The de la Torres are preparing for the year\u2019s single biggest hot dog consumption day. <\/p>\n Beginning Friday July 3, Chicago Hot Dogs is offering a Fourth of July special through July 10: one Chicago hot dog, one San Antonio hot dog (mustard, mayo, jalape\u00f1os, bacon, onion, tomato and Mexican seasoning) or one chili cheese dog (no bean chili and melted cheddar) with fries and a drink for $9.50.<\/p>\n Less than a week after the special ends, the de la Torres will hunker down for National Hot Dog Day, July 15.<\/p>\n \u201cJuly is definitely our biggest month,\u201d the owner said.<\/p>\n Business has not come easily for them. Amado de la Torre says he left a thriving restaurant in Elk Grove Village, a Chicago suburb, not because of the cold but because of the sky. Cloudy winters. Not enough sun year round. \u201cI was tired of the darkness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His brother invited him to San Antonio. He fell in love with the culture, the food, the sunny skies. The restaurants were full during his visit in 2019. So he brought his family to South Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n In August 2020, de la Torre opened a hot dog truck just south of Southtown when the pandemic restricted restaurants to only 50% capacity. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t really make any money there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He moved the truck from one neighborhood to the next, trying to attract business. <\/p>\n He found a brick-and-mortar spot on Jones Maltsberger Road, signed a lease and opened in March 2021.<\/p>\n Business boomed, then flattened. Employees left. Chicago Hot Dogs struggled to remain open. \u201cThe first three years were really hard,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He continued to draw some income from Big Sammy\u2019s in Illinois. He doordashed to earn extra money. He ran up credit card debt. By necessity, the restaurant became a family-run business.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe only way we made it the last two years was by not having any employees,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just me and my wife and the kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Amado de la Torre Jr., 19, takes orders and serves customers. Nathan, age 10, handles the cash register. Kimberly, 23, works social media. William, 28, once a part owner, advises on business and social media.<\/p>\n The family takes pride in the sourcing of their menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur hot dogs, buns, relish, pickles and peppers are straight from the Vienna beef factory in Chicago,\u201d the owner said. \u201cIt costs more money. But it\u2019s authentic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The second-best selling item is Amado de la Torre\u2019s creation: an Italian beef sandwich made from scratch. He slow-roasts Angus inside rounds for three hours and allows the meat to cool overnight. He cuts thin slices of beef the next day and serves it with hot giardiniera peppers in Turano French bread from Chicago.<\/p>\n Back in the Windy City, Portillo\u2019s served an Italian beef that became Amado\u2019s go-to sandwich.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut when I learned how to cook it, I stopped going because I liked mine better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Roxana de la Torre added: \u201cI think it\u2019s popular because of the freshness of us cooking the beef in the restaurant and baking the French bread here.\u201d<\/p>\n Home cooking warms the taste buds and stirs nostalgia. It carries some customers back to the shores of Lake Michigan. It gives others the taste of an original Chicago dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amado de la Torre grew up on the big dog from Chicago: the all-beef frank with mustard, relish,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[127349,127350,127351,3221,82,84,83,92,3028,94,56569],"class_list":["post-358504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-amado-de-la-torre","tag-chicago-hot-dogs","tag-gene-judes","tag-portillos","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-top-story","tag-typedaily","tag-wc-750-1000","tag-yelp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
Chicago-themed apparel and other souvenirs gifted to the restaurant from customers over the years decorate the kitchen window at Chicago Hot Dogs on Jones Maltsberger Road. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1782993730_593_ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
The Chili Cheese Dog, the Chicago Style Dog and the San Antonio Dog that are on special for the holiday weekend at Chicago Hot Dogs. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1782993731_500_ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
Chicago Hot Dogs owner Amado de la Torre brings out two popular menu items at his restaurant on Jones Maltsberger Road: the namesake Chicago Style Dog and a classic Chili Cheese Dog. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1782993732_578_ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
Chicago Hot Dogs owner Amado de la Torre, left, and chef Roxana de la Torre at their restaurant on Jones Maltsberger Road on June 30, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1782993733_705_ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
De la Torre\u2019s hot dogs are made with poppy seed buns from the Vienna Beef company that are delivered to the store from Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1782993734_650_ChicagoHotDogs_AllBeefFranks_ViennaBeef_LocalSmallBusiness_JulyFourthFoodSpecials_July4IndependenceD.webp\")
Roxana de la Torre, Chicago Hot Dogs chef and wife of Amado, checks on Italian sausages to serve at the restaurant on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n