What to order at Wiener and Still Champion

FRY ME TO THE MOON You don’t think bacon packs enough fat? Neither does Wiener and Still Champion, which country-fries it (center). Bring a defibrillator.

Photo: Anna Knott; Models: Carrie Brown/Elite, Andrew Hsu/Chosen, Brett Faulds/Chosen

Wiener and Still Champion

THE GLUTTONOUS LAST SUPPER
Think about this decade for a minute and you’ll wonder how you ever survived it. In the past ten years we’ve been attacked by every dark force: Terrorists. Wall Street. Texans. Dr. Atkins. Did we survive it all on the merits of our healthy eating? Hell, no. We sought comfort in handheld pastries, chemical-laden molecular meals and countless heritage breeds of pigs, and those calories carried us through.

At present, there’s nothing suggesting the next decade will be any easier than the last. So better to calorie-load now, and best to do it at Wiener and Still Champion, because while you can get your fried food fix anywhere, it takes a special fryer to make it all taste like the bite you’ve been waiting for your whole life. That’s what the corn dogs here taste like. As well as the country-fried bacon and the country-fried gyros and the double-fried fries with all of their highfalutin dipping sauces. This isn’t just a cheddar burger and a bunch of fried food. It’s the cheddar burger, the pile of fried food, the one that—along with some good Champagne—is going to carry you forth into the 2010s, where you may be tested, you may lose money, you may hear too many Sarah Palin speeches—but you’ll never, ever go hungry. —DT

802 Dempster St, Evanston, 847-869-0100

MORE DECADENT OPTIONS

Edna’s 3175 W Madison St, 773-638-7079
A soul-food stalwart, with famous buttermilk biscuits and legendary fried chicken. Get there before Edna decides to retire.

Barbara Ann’s BBQ 7617 S Cottage Grove Ave, 773-651-5300
Smoked sausage and juicy rib tips—but, unfortunately, for carryout only.

Smoque BBQ 3800 N Pulaski Rd, 773-545-7427
If it’s barbecue your gluttonous soul cries out for, this North Side brisket is incomparable (in Chicago, at least).

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