Jim’s Original

Jim’s Original is a 24-hour sandwich stand at 1250 S Union Ave on the Near West Side, at the southwest corner of Union and James Rochford Street, a block from the old Maxwell Street Market site where the business started in 1939. The stand sells the Maxwell Street Polish with grilled onions, mustard and sport peppers, plus steamed all-beef hot dogs dressed the same way, bone-in pork chop sandwiches and burgers. Every sandwich comes with a bag of fries. Eater Chicago and Time Out Chicago list Jim’s on their Chicago hot dog maps.

What to know

• Jim’s began at Maxwell and Halsted in 1939 and moved when UIC expanded.
• A second location is at 2775 N Elston Ave, at the corner of Diversey, Elston and Western.
• There is no indoor seating, only a walk-up window and a strip of counter.
• The UIC-Halsted Blue Line stop is about a ten-minute walk.