• EAT: I became aware of Chicago's love affair with hot dogs -- excuse me, red hots -- when I visited for a family member's 50th birthday eight years ago. All anybody talked about was going to Portillo's for a frankfurter. I didn't get it until I bit into the wiener, piled high with salad-like toppings, and felt the casing snap between my teeth.

I haven't dug a dog that much until last week, when I grabbed takeout for my family at Chicago's, a new bakery and deli in Coconut Grove that is as Windy City as it gets in Miami. Chicago's ``dog'' is a Vienna Beef classic, topped with pungent Dusseldorf mustard, onions, nuclear-green sweet relish, dill pickle, tomato wedges, pickled peppers and celery salt on a poppy seed bun. It comes alone for $5. (Who needs a side salad when there's a garden blooming on top of your bun?)

The hearty Al Capone Italian Beef, with piles of warm, thinly sliced roast beef and spicy peppers on a white baguette, is just as authentic. (Hurry home before the juices sog the bread.) But the Dog and The Chicago Fire -- a two-inch thick Reuben sandwich -- were my family's hands-down favorites.

Other offerings include Da Bear (a turkey-ham-bacon combo), The Ditka (Polish sausage with mustard and grilled onions), The Comisky Park (roasted beef, bleu cheese, lettuce and tomato) and The Oprah (chicken or tuna salad). There's even a Miami twist with The Rush Street, a Chicago take on the Cuban sandwich.

Tip: If spicy is not in your family's repertoire, ask for the peppers on the side for most orders or you will be putting out the Great Chicago Fire all night.

A rotisserie chicken was just added to the menu. A platter of it comes with a roll, creamy barbecued beans and coleslaw. We enjoyed the crispy skin, moist breast meat and slight kick (second warning, spice wimps).

This is a bakery, too, and the neighborhood fave is the Tower of Fudge, chocolate layer cake with chocolate icing and curls. Order it (and dinner) early; the tower sells out fast and this deli closes at 6 p.m.

• DRINK: Goose Island Summertime, a pale thirst quencher, or another Chicago brew such as Three Floyds, Half Acre, Metropolitan or Two Brothers.

• WATCH: Play hooky on a 1980s spring day in downtown Chicago with Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

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