There’s a “stuffed” pizza, a pizza so thick with gooey cheese and other ingredients you HAVE to use a fork and knife. There’s also the Italian Beef sandwich, made up of slices of rump roast beef marinated in a gravy of its own juices and spices, placed on an Italian roll, covered with sweet or hot peppers (maybe even cheese) and dipped whole back into its gravy of savory juices. Yum. But the most delicious (and portable) Chicago food is your good old-fashioned, classic Chicago-style hot dog.

I know what you’re saying, “there are hot dogs everywhere. Why not make or get one where you live?” My friends, the answer is simple. You can’t have a Chicago-style hot dog just anywhere because only in Chicago can all the proper ingredients be found, not to mention you’d then be enjoying it in the town that made it famous. Everyone has their favorite place to get their dogs (mine is Portillos or Superdawg), but throw a rock anywhere and you’d most likely hit a place that serves Chicago-style hot dogs especially if you get out to explore Chicago’s wonderful, eclectic and amazing neighborhoods.

The “Chicago Style” hot dog got its start from street cart hot dog vendors during the hard times of the Great Depression. Money was scarce, but business was booming for these entrepreneurs who offered a delicious hot meal on a bun for only a nickel. Thus, the famous Chicago-style hot dog was born! They’d start with a Vienna Beef hot dog, nestle it in a steamed poppyseed bun and cover it with a wonderful combination of toppings: yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, juicy red tomato wedges, a kosher-style pickle spear, a couple of spicy sport peppers, cucumber and finally, a dash of celery salt. This unique hot dog creation with a “salad on top” and its memorable interplay of hot and cold, crisp and soft, sharp and smooth, became America’s original fast food and a true Chicago institution.

The Chicago-style hot dog is one of my favorite foods and is definitely “worth the splurge.” When I tried to find the calorie count for a typical Chicago-style hot dog I couldn’t find a consensus from one place to another, one website to another. So, erring on the side of caution, I am going to most-agree with the highest calorie count I found simply because this column is called “worth the splurge” and I want you (and your waistline) to be prepared. But even if this calorie count is true, at almost 400 calories you could do far worse in terms of eating, I think, especially given all the non-unique food choices we face every day.

• Calories: 377
• Total Fat: 19.7g
• Cholesterol: 30mg
• Sodium: 2387mg
• Total Carbs: 38g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.3g
• Protein: 12.4g

If you go, the legendary Superdawg is on the corner of Milwaukee and Devon (pronounced de-VAHN by us natives), while Portillos is a chain whose location in the heart of downtown is on the corner of Ontario and Clark. That’s tasty eatin’, indeed, so enjoy!

If you ever find yourself in New York City head on over to Greenwich Village. Nestled within it’s eclectic streets is a wonderful little Italian restaurant called Palma. It was there I had one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

It started with cheesy artichoke appetizers, fried cheese balls, meatballs (the best appetizer of the bunch) and roasted cauliflower. Great tasting but other places have served fried cheese balls before.

But then I had a culinary revelation, the reason I am making this “worth the splurge.” I was next treated to a sampling fresh ravioli pasta stuffed with both butternut squash and Bolognese “gravy.” Each one was out of this world. These little pasta delights (you get about 5 ravioli per plate) is well worth the calories. The tastes of the Bolognese inside the pasta topped off with a cheesier sauce was incredible.

Finally, for dessert (or desert as it as printed on the receipt after) I tasted a creme brûlée made with figs and a ricotta cheesecake. Decadent, amazing and worth every calorie.

Like I’ve said before eating like this is a treat, to be sure. But if you find yourself in an “Empire State of Mind” check out the ravioli at Palma. You won’t regret it.

Anywho, I was ravenously hungry when I arrived so we decided to order a couple of rounds of appetizers before our main course.  And as we are chit-chatting away the mildly-spicy and honey BBQ wings arrive, along with an order of guacamole, salsa and chips.

Why am I telling you this? Why do I dare start the day with mentions of yummy food stuffs? Because  I made the deal with myself to have and enjoy (on occasion and as a treat) the foods I have always loved. After all, I don’t want to be a grumpy bastard because I don’t have a buffalo wing or cookie from time to time.

The wings were really, really good, particularly the honey ones. They were what I should have stuck with the entire night. Kind of like not mixing liquor when you go out. Noooooooo, instead I ordered something on their menu called the BigASS Burger.

Why I do this to myself I’ll never know. This burger had a hamburger patty, pulled pork, bacon and sausage (I kid you not) on a bun with bbq sauce and cole slaw. Instead of ordering both fries AND cheddar grits it was wisely suggested I just get one or the other so I went for the cheese grits (I looooove grits and they’re hard to find around these parts). When the burger came it wasn’t as big as I thought it would be (thank God, again why I order such things…). It was just tall. So I schmushed everything down between the buns, opened my big mouth and took a bite.

I guess I’m telling you all this because there are some foods worth the splurge, worth it enough that the calories you eat are worth it because the taste of something is sooooo good. Like the wings. They were totally worth the splurge. The burger on the other hand? So-so.

There was so much meat on this burger that it ceased being a burger and was more a cacophony of food noise in a bun. The overall taste wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t make out any of the ingredients except for maybe the sausage. The pulled pork was totally lost, as was the slaw and I had to add sauce to the whole thing to keep it tasting all bbq-ey.

Would I eat that burger again? Nah. The bacon, sausage, hamburger and pork on it was like a heart attack and a bypass rolled into one and no one should eat that more than once (I think). But I would eat at the place again. Cheddar grits were great as were the wings.

And with this begins a new segment on the website – WORTH THE SPLURGE, a list of places and foods around the world worth the calories. And if you guys have any suggestions, from anywhere, send them to me. But don’t forget to tell me where the place is, what items are worth the splurge and describe them to me.

And by the way, I will be eating healthier for the next couple of days to make up for the BigASS burger. Although that burger ain’t as big ass as some burgers I’ve had, the biggest and best one from Boston Blackies in Chicago.

Now there’s a great, BIG ASS BURGER…