{"id":391860,"date":"2025-09-23T23:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/391860\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T23:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T23:48:13","slug":"caleb-williams-touchdowns-spur-wieners-circle-hot-dog-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/391860\/","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Williams’ touchdowns spur Wieners Circle hot dog giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minutes after 11 a.m. Tuesday, staff at The Wieners Circle were already knee-deep charring hot dogs and hurling swears at the long, chatty line of customers who had been waiting in the rain for free \u201cglizzies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The popular hot dog stand on North Clark Street had promised free hot dogs<\/a> if Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> \u2014 which he did, completing 19 of 28 passes for 298 yards and touchdowns to four players: Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, DJ Moore and Cole Kmet.<\/p>\n

Now it was showtime behind the counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cSave the change for the homeless (expletive), get that (expletive) out of here!\u201d (Tips in cash, however, were welcome. They also accepted tips via Venmo.)<\/p>\n

\u201cHurry the (expletive) up! Is it senior citizen day?\u201d<\/p>\n

The surly staff at The Wieners Circle had been cooking up hot dogs all morning to serve the expectedly winding line, which began piling up before 8 a.m.<\/p>\n

Berwyn resident Ruben Barreto arrived around 7:30 a.m. with his friend Jose Figueroa, who later worked the crowds by passing out napkins and directing traffic \u2014 though the staff had no idea who he was.<\/p>\n

\"BearsBears fans and hot dog fans line up at The Wieners Circle on Sept. 23, 2025, for free hot dogs after Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes Sunday. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Barreto said the Bears\u2019 first win of the season was reaffirming to loyal fans who trudged along, despite the team\u2019s \u201ctypical\u201d performance.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Williams) played a good game, and, hey, I\u2019ll take a free hot dog too. That\u2019s two wins for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, John Murphy, who arrived at 10 a.m., was using a reusable tote bag from Aldi as an umbrella to shield against the morning\u2019s drizzle.<\/p>\n

Emma Kreis, Wieners Circle operations manager, said the staff was ready to handle the crowd \u2014 as always. Looking at the growing line, she joked that Tuesday is typically \u201cthe worst\u201d day for restaurants.<\/p>\n

Regan Eggert, one of the restaurant\u2019s outrageously loud employees, started shouting across the deep fryer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call them the talent here,\u201d Kreis said. \u201cIt\u2019s really like the town comedy club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kreis said when Wieners Circle owner Ari Levy tweeted Friday from the stand\u2019s official X account that it would give out free hot dogs if Williams threw for four touchdowns, she laughed and asked him if it was legit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I mean, I tweeted it, so, yeah, if it happens we\u2019ll do it\u2019 \u2014 so then we had two days to prepare. We divided and conquered,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re a hot dog stand, but at the end of the day, everyone\u2019s really passionate about being funny, and boosting morale in Chicago, even if it\u2019s through the Bears or sports, is just a good way to bring everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EvelynEvelyn Morris, left, and Toni Morris serve up free hot dogs and attitude on Sept. 23, 2025, as The Wieners Circle fulfills its promise to give out free hot dogs after Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes on Sunday. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)
\n\"TheThe Wieners Circle kitchen team works to fulfill the restaurant’s promise to give out free hot dogs Sept. 23, 2025, after the Bears’ Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes Sunday. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Kries said they expected to pass out between 2,000 and 3,000 hot dogs until supplies run out.<\/p>\n

Vienna Beef dropped off several crates of hot dogs, while S. Rosen\u2019s, the longtime wholesale bread company on Polk Street, provided about 2,000 poppy-seed buns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were immediately on the phone with (The Wieners Circle) to get this going,\u201d said Stephanie Powell, S. Rosen\u2019s marketing director. \u201cThey\u2019re only human back there \u2014 they can only make so many hot dog buns an hour \u2014 so 2,000 seemed like a good number to start, hopefully. And if we run out, our bakery is a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Review: The Wieners Circle, Chicago\u2019s most notorious hot dog stand<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As an eager customer approached the counter \u2014 phone out, smiling wide \u2014 Eggert yelled, \u201cFries are not free, (expletive)!\u201d<\/p>\n

One woman asked for a free hot dog, cheese fries and plain fries with a side of cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirl, you\u2019re asking for way too much,\u201d quipped Evelyn Morris, The Wieners Circle\u2019s legendary general manager, who regularly fields orders.<\/p>\n

The narrow kitchen quickly filled with smoke from freshly charred hot dogs as line cooks hustled.<\/p>\n

It took line cook Angel Noguera about 17 seconds to immaculately dress each hot dog with \u201ceverything\u201d \u2014 the canonical Chicago-style toppings of yellow mustard, neon green relish, white onions, a pickle spear, a slice of red tomato, celery salt and sport peppers \u2014 in that order.<\/p>\n

He said he probably could do it in his sleep.<\/p>\n

\"BearsBears fans and hot dog fans line up as The Wieners Circle fulfilled its promise Sept. 23, 2025, to give out free hot dogs after the Bears’ Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes in Sunday’s game. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

There was ketchup in Noguera\u2019s toppings section reserved \u201conly\u201d for the burgers. The staff also put out a giant ketchup dispenser at the front counter \u2014 luring customers to dare.<\/p>\n

Next to Noguera and Evelyn Morris, Toni Morris shouted at a male customer for not throwing cash in the tip jar. He chuckled, then nervously reached into his pocket to find a wrinkly dollar bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cBye, (expletive)!\u201d Morris yelled back, but quickly shifted her tone after spotting longtime customer Kymett Grulke.<\/p>\n

Grulke, a North Side resident of nearly 30 years, ordered a grilled cheeseburger for dinner and grabbed a free char dog for lunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watch as they come in, and they\u2019re not so soft with other people,\u201d Grulke laughed. \u201cAnd I remember the first time I came in here \u2014 they sure did shock me. But I love them, it\u2019s good for the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after noon, an hour after they opened, more than a hundred people had wrapped around the corner on Clark Street and Drummond Plaza.<\/p>\n

\"DavinDavin Strouse rewards his dog Clark with a free hot dog on Sept. 23, 2025, as Bears fans and hot dog fans line up at The Wieners Circle for free hot dogs after the Bears’ Caleb Williams threw four touchdown passes Sunday. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Nurses Renee Dietz and Megan Cronk from nearby Lurie Children\u2019s Outpatient Center stopped by during their lunch break. They stood at the back of the moving line.<\/p>\n

Dietz, a nurse of 36 years, said she swings by The Wieners Circle about twice a month and came out Tuesday for both a free hot dog and the vibes.<\/p>\n

Gina Kotz, another customer, said she drove an hour and a half from McHenry County for the same.<\/p>\n

A few feet away, Figueroa, the makeshift crowd-worker, tasked himself with igniting \u201cThank you, Caleb\u201d chants as he walked up and down the queue letting people know it wasn\u2019t too much longer now. <\/p>\n

Though Williams was not in attendance, he did send his dog, Supa, who came dressed in a No. 18 jersey. Bears mascot Staley also came by.<\/p>\n

The crowd went nuts, and so did Figueroa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope everyone goes home happy,\u201d he yelled. \u201cGo Bears forever!\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 23, 2025 at 6:16 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minutes after 11 a.m. Tuesday, staff at The Wieners Circle were already knee-deep charring hot dogs and hurling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,1036,692,391,2493,7,68136,6,68135],"class_list":{"0":"post-391860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-caleb-williams","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bears","12":"tag-chicagobears","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-free-hot-dogs","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-the-wieners-circle"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115256289262247837","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}