A Maxwell Street Polish consists of a grilled all-beef Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and mustard on a bun. The sandwich was first created by Jimmy Stefanovic, a Macedonian immigrant, who took over his aunt and uncle's hot-dog stand (now Jim's Original) in Chicago's Maxwell Street marketplace in 1939.[1] It is sometime referred to as a "Jewtown Dog," or "Jew Dog"[citation needed]. (Part of the market was called Jewtown after the original Jewish merchants.)
The Maxwell Street Polish soon grew to be one of Chicago's most popular local dishes, along with the Chicago hot-dog. It is served by restaurants around the city, and is common at sporting events. Many small vendors specialize in the Maxwell Street Polish along with the pork-chop sandwich.
Some variations exist. For example, some hot-dog vendors offer a "Maxwell Street hot dog" in which a hot dog is substituted for the Polish sausage. Others like to add sport peppers to the Maxwell Street to give it more heat.
Due to UIC's South Campus development (ongoing construction, started in 2002), the two famous Maxwell Street Polish stands on the corner of Halsted and Maxwell streets, Jim's Original and Maxwell St. Express Grill, were displaced to nearby Union Avenue, adjacent to the Dan Ryan Expressway on-ramp at Roosevelt Road.
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