Superdawg
A family-owned Chicago drive-in restaurant known for its signature hot dogs, carhop service, and oversized rooftop figures.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Superdawg is a historic drive-in hot dog restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the few original American drive-ins still operating in a substantially recognizable form. Maurie and Flaurie Berman opened the restaurant in May 1948 at the intersection of Milwaukee, Devon, and Nagle avenues in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood. The business remains family-owned and is associated with the same location, service rituals, visual identity, and core food concept that defined it in its early years. The restaurant is particularly recognizable for its roadside architecture and the large anthropomorphic hot-dog figures named Maurie and Flaurie mounted above the building. These figures date from the restaurant's opening era and function as both signage and landmark imagery. Superdawg's identity is closely tied to mid-century American drive-in culture: customers pull into designated carports, place orders through metal speaker boxes, and receive their food from carhops using trays attached to partially lowered car windows. A walk-up window and limited outdoor seating are also available at the original Chicago site, while the later Wheeling location provides a larger indoor seating area. Superdawg's principal offering is its namesake hot dog, which the restaurant distinguishes from an ordinary frankfurter or conventional red hot. The sandwich uses a spicier proprietary-style wiener and is served with a pickled green tomato, an element that differentiates it from the standard Chicago-style hot dog presentation. Sandwich orders traditionally include crinkle-cut French fries packed in the same box, allowing the food to retain heat. The menu also includes hamburgers, double cheeseburgers known as Whoopercheesies, and diced ice cream among other items. The brand has expanded cautiously rather than pursuing a broad national chain model. A second location opened on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois, in 2010. Superdawg also operated a concession location in Concourse B at Chicago Midway International Airport from 2003 to 2010. Its operating model has otherwise emphasized continuity, family ownership, local recognition, and preservation of the drive-in experience rather than rapid geographic growth. Superdawg has achieved visibility beyond Chicago through appearances on Food Network programs including Unwrapped and Emeril Live, as well as PBS programs such as Check, Please! and A Hot Dog Program. It has also been included in travel and food guides, including 1,000 Places to See Before You Die and Hot Dog Chicago: A Native's Dining Guide. The restaurant has attracted food critics and enthusiasts because of its longevity, visual character, service format, and distinctive menu. The business has also actively protected the Superdawg name. Its trademark was registered in 1984, and the restaurant has sought to stop other food businesses from using confusingly similar names. It successfully pursued litigation against a New York City hot dog establishment called Superdog after that business did not agree to discontinue the name. In 2014, Superdawg partnered with Chicago's Lake Effect Brewing Company on Super Bier, a lager-style beer connected to the restaurant brand. Maurie Berman died in 2015 and Flaurie Berman died in 2018. Their deaths marked the passing of the founders, but the restaurant continued under family operation. Superdawg's present positioning is therefore less that of a standardized fast-food chain than of a preserved Chicago institution: a local restaurant brand whose product, architecture, service system, and family history are presented as a unified experience.
History
Superdawg began in May 1948 when Maurie and Flaurie Berman opened a drive-in hot dog stand in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood. The original site occupies a prominent intersection formed by Milwaukee, Devon, and Nagle avenues. From the beginning, the restaurant used a roadside format that was common in postwar American car culture: customers arrived by automobile, ordered from their parking spaces, and received meals from carhops. The building's most recognizable visual feature is its pair of large anthropomorphic hot-dog figures, named Maurie and Flaurie after the founders. The figures were installed at the beginning of the business and became a permanent part of the restaurant's identity. Although the property has been expanded and remodeled over time, the figures and the drive-in concept have remained central to the brand. Superdawg's service system preserves several mid-century practices. Customers park beside carports and use retro-style metal speaker boxes to place orders. A cashier responds through the speaker, and a carhop brings the order to the vehicle on a tray that hooks onto the window. After the meal, the customer can activate a switch on the speaker box to request tray collection. The restaurant also has a walk-up service window and outdoor tables at the Chicago location. The Wheeling restaurant, opened in 2010, retains the brand's visual and service concept while offering a larger indoor dining area. The food program has remained focused on the restaurant's signature hot dog. Superdawg presents its namesake sandwich as a distinct product rather than simply another Chicago red hot or frankfurter. It uses a spicier-than-usual wiener and includes a pickled green tomato, an unusual accompaniment that has become one of the brand's defining food characteristics. Sandwiches are served with crinkle-cut French fries in a heat-retaining box. Other menu items include hamburgers, Whoopercheesie double cheeseburgers, and diced ice cream. The business has made limited, targeted expansions. A Superdawg concession operated in Concourse B at Chicago Midway International Airport from 2003 until 2010. In the same year that the airport operation ended, the company opened its second conventional restaurant in Wheeling, Illinois. These moves broadened access to the brand without transforming it into a large national chain. Brand protection has been another part of Superdawg's history. The Superdawg trademark was registered in 1984. The restaurant has challenged businesses using similar names and successfully sued a New York City hot dog restaurant called Superdog when it would not stop using the name. This legal activity reflects the importance of the name to a business whose reputation is strongly tied to a single, highly recognizable local identity. Superdawg also developed partnerships and media visibility. In 2014, it worked with Lake Effect Brewing Company on Super Bier, a lager-style beer. Television appearances on Food Network's Unwrapped and Emeril Live and PBS programs including Check, Please! and A Hot Dog Program introduced the restaurant to audiences outside its immediate neighborhood. Its inclusion in food and travel books further established it as a destination associated with Chicago dining and historic roadside restaurants. Maurie Berman died in May 2015, followed by Flaurie Berman in May 2018. The restaurant continued as a family-owned and family-operated business. Its enduring significance rests on the combination of continuity and distinctiveness: the brand has retained its original drive-in setting, signature food cues, carhop mechanics, family story, and oversized rooftop imagery while making only selective changes to its footprint and menu.
- 2018
Flaurie Berman dies
[1]Co-founder Flaurie Berman dies on May 1, 2018.
- 2015
Maurie Berman dies
[1]Co-founder Maurie Berman dies on May 17, 2015.
- 2014
Super Bier collaboration released
[1]Superdawg and Lake Effect Brewing Company create a lager-style beer associated with the restaurant.
- 2010
Wheeling location opens
[1]A second restaurant opens on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois; the Midway Airport operation also ends during this period.
- 2003
Midway Airport location begins operation
[1]Superdawg begins operating a concession in Concourse B at Chicago Midway International Airport.
- 1984
Superdawg trademark registered
[1]The Superdawg name receives trademark registration, supporting the restaurant's later efforts to protect its brand identity.
- 1948
Superdawg opens in Chicago
[1]Maurie and Flaurie Berman open the original Superdawg drive-in in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood.
Products and positioning
A nostalgic, family-owned American drive-in centered on a distinctive Chicago hot dog, preserved carhop service, local heritage, and landmark roadside design.
Hot dog · 1948
Superdawg
The restaurant's signature hot dog uses a distinctive, relatively spicy wiener and is presented as a proprietary Superdawg rather than a standard red hot, frankfurter, or ordinary wiener. It is served with a pickled green tomato, a characteristic accompaniment that separates it from the conventional Chicago-style hot dog format. The sandwich comes with crinkle-cut French fries packed in the serving box.
Double cheeseburger
Whoopercheesie
Whoopercheesies are Superdawg's double-cheeseburger offering. They extend the menu beyond hot dogs while retaining the restaurant's drive-in service format and accompanying fries. The product is part of the broader menu that allows Superdawg to serve customers seeking a burger within the brand's nostalgic roadside setting.
Dessert
Diced ice cream
Diced ice cream is a dessert item associated with Superdawg's menu. Its inclusion reflects the restaurant's broader preservation of distinctive drive-in food traditions rather than a menu limited exclusively to hot dogs and burgers.
Beer · 2014
Super Bier
Super Bier was a lager-style beer created in 2014 through a collaboration between Superdawg and Chicago craft brewer Lake Effect Brewing Company. It extended the restaurant identity into a beverage partnership and served as a limited brand collaboration rather than evidence of a separate permanent beverage business.
Marketing campaigns
- 2014Super Bier collaboration
Chicago metropolitan area
Superdawg partnered with Lake Effect Brewing Company to create a lager-style beer carrying the Super Bier name.
Outcome. The collaboration was documented as a branded product partnership; its longer-term availability is not established in the supplied sources.
Brand decisions
2014
Super Bier product collaborationProduct launchBackground
Superdawg sought to extend its recognizable restaurant brand through a collaboration with a local craft brewery.
Action taken
The restaurant and Lake Effect Brewing Company produced a lager-style beer called Super Bier.
Aftermath
The source records the collaboration but does not establish whether the beer became a continuing product.
2010
Selective geographic expansion to WheelingStrategyBackground
The family-owned restaurant expanded beyond its original Chicago site while retaining a limited-market, regional operating model.
Action taken
Superdawg opened a second location on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois.
Aftermath
The Wheeling site continued the brand's drive-in identity and added substantial indoor seating.
2003
Temporary airport concession expansionStrategyBackground
Superdawg extended its Chicago presence beyond the original neighborhood drive-in by operating a concession in Concourse B at Midway Airport.
Action taken
The company opened and operated an airport location from 2003 to 2010.
Aftermath
The airport operation ended in 2010; the supplied sources do not explain the commercial reasons or financial results.
Recent events
- 2018
Superdawg co-founder Flaurie Berman dies[1]
Leadership change
Flaurie Berman, the restaurant's co-founder and longtime family operator, died on May 1, 2018.
- 2015
Superdawg co-founder Maurie Berman dies[1]
Leadership change
Maurie Berman, who co-founded Superdawg with Flaurie Berman in 1948, died on May 17, 2015.
- 2014
Superdawg launches Super Bier collaboration[1]
Product launch
Superdawg collaborated with Chicago craft brewer Lake Effect Brewing Company on a lager-style beer called Super Bier.
- 2010
Superdawg opens a second location in Wheeling[1]
Other
The family-owned restaurant opened a second location on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois, extending the brand beyond its original Norwood Park site.
Sources2 sources
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