Say It Ain't So- Hot Doug's closing and Portillo's for sale??? (Skokie: retirement, deal)

[Drover]

Darn. I may never get the chance to stand in line for half an hour for a hot dog.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Drover

Darn. I may never get the chance to stand in line for half an hour for a hot dog.

I'd rather drive a half hour up to Poochie's. Well not any more, obviously. But when I lived at California and Argyle I did. Though I guess I was lucky, the two times I went to Hot Doug's there was no line.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

I think you're projecting. Did you read the interview? The guy isn't bitter or pissed or defeated. He just doesn't feel like doing it anymore.

He's always run that place in a very hands-on way. I've never placed an order there that he didn't take, in person, standing at the register. Could he surrender some control, cut a deal and keep the business going? Sure he could. You know he could. He just doesn't seem to feel like it, so he's going to go do something else. Seems reasonable to me.

My point was that the Doug Sohn seems like he has consciously decided it makes sense to "go out before the inevitable" happens and running the thing is no longer fun.

I seems like he basically acknowledges that. (And for a contrast to this happy / fun / casual way of annoucing the "permanent vacation" think back to the less than pleasant way that Charlie Trotter shut down his place, had unkind things to say about how little some of the auction items were sellng for and ultimately the sad circumstances of his death. That is not anyway for respected chef to scale back...)


I don't think Doug Sohn has any "grand plan" with what is next, he just knows that dueling with a landlord that undoubtedly wants a much more lucrative lease was not what he considers "fun".

In someways my sense is that Mr. Portillo is simillarly trying to get what he wants -- my sense is that he would like to have an orderly transition for his business. Undoubtedly when he drives past the places that have been bought by huge corporations and are now vacant or just shell's of what they once were, he can't help but think that places that carried the family names like Dominick's Finer Foods or Mortons's Steaks may loom large in his thoughts... At the stage of life that Mr. Portollo is at he certainly could oversee an orderly expansion / transition of the firm and all its details to something that will be a legacy AND he can probably appreciate the fact that if wants to spend time doing something that is not so all-consuming the right time for such a transition is now...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Drover

Darn. I may never get the chance to stand in line for half an hour for a hot dog.

There's ways around it - I've gone a few times basically 30 minutes before they close on a Thursday or Friday - no line or only a few people. Not sure if that will change now with the closing announcement. Since Hot Doug's is famous around the country and even world, you may see even more people trying to get there.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by chet everett

My point was that the Doug Sohn seems like he has consciously decided it makes sense to "go out before the inevitable" happens and running the thing is no longer fun.

I seems like he basically acknowledges that. (And for a contrast to this happy / fun / casual way of annoucing the "permanent vacation" think back to the less than pleasant way that Charlie Trotter shut down his place, had unkind things to say about how little some of the auction items were sellng for and ultimately the sad circumstances of his death. That is not anyway for respected chef to scale back...)


I don't think Doug Sohn has any "grand plan" with what is next, he just knows that dueling with a landlord that undoubtedly wants a much more lucrative lease was not what he considers "fun".
.

Again, I didn't read any of that in there. I suppose it's like that old quote: "We see the world not as it is, but as we are."

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

I'd rather drive a half hour up to Poochie's. Well not any more, obviously. But when I lived at California and Argyle I did. Though I guess I was lucky, the two times I went to Hot Doug's there was no line.

Literally every time I've been by there and it was open, there's been a line well out the door. That's why I've never eaten there yet. If I ever catch the place without a line, or at least a line not out the door, I'll stop in. But now that word's out that it's closing, I expect the lines to be longer than ever.

Originally Posted by marothisu

There's ways around it - I've gone a few times basically 30 minutes before they close on a Thursday or Friday - no line or only a few people. Not sure if that will change now with the closing announcement. Since Hot Doug's is famous around the country and even world, you may see even more people trying to get there.

There may be "ways around it" but honestly I'm not going to reorder my affairs around the opportunity to eat a hot dog; I don't care how good it is.

[jman07]

He must be a control freak or something. If the business was profitable, then it has value if he sold it. What business owner would just close the doors without selling a successful business? It would be like throwing away money. At the least, he could bring on a partner or train a GM to run it. He didn't have to be there every hour it was open. Like I said, probably a control freak.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by jman07

He must be a control freak or something. If the business was profitable, then it has value if he sold it. What business owner would just close the doors without selling a successful business? It would be like throwing away money. At the least, he could bring on a partner or train a GM to run it. He didn't have to be there every hour it was open. Like I said, probably a control freak.

As I alluded to, Charlie Trotter, while running a business that was serving a VERY different price point probably is an instructive example of someone that flames out, even before there was any mention of his ill health he was well known to be someone with an attitude that empitomized perfectionsim, a trait that is not at all uncommon among successful chefs / resturantuers. Of course when there is a some way to channel that into a productice direction that is one thing...

There is a well know trait among folks with both perfectionism AND foresight to simply "capitulate when they cannot compete on their own terms" -- Doug Sohn: Q&A with Hot Doug's founder - Chicago Tribune

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Drover

There may be "ways around it" but honestly I'm not going to reorder my affairs around the opportunity to eat a hot dog; I don't care how good it is.

Well if going to get a hot dog at 3pm is that then fine. If you really want it - go right before they close.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jman07

He must be a control freak or something. If the business was profitable, then it has value if he sold it. What business owner would just close the doors without selling a successful business? It would be like throwing away money. At the least, he could bring on a partner or train a GM to run it. He didn't have to be there every hour it was open. Like I said, probably a control freak.

If you read the interview, you'd know why he doesn't want to sell it to someone else. And to be honest, I was giving him crap before I read it, and what he said makes perfect sense.