[Photograph: Joe Roy]

Once you move beyond the already eclectic sausage menu at Franks 'n' Dawgs, things start to get a little random. Both Creole red beans and a Brussels sprout salad are available if you don't feel like ordering a roasted beet salad. Australian desserts like Lamington bites and Anzac cookies share sweet real estate with French macarons. And included as one of four separate fry preparations is the Lyonnaise Fries ($6.95), a take on the eponymous French salad.

Hand cut fries, frisée, and braised pork cheek are tossed in a dijon mustard vinaigrette and topped with a poached egg. Admittedly, the fries on their own right aren't much of a draw—they're undersalted and paler than I like to see in hand cut versions. But the braised pork cheek more than makes up for any French-fried shortcomings in the dish: tender and nearly falling apart, the well seasoned pork is rich and unctuous, and, when combined with the other components of the dish, makes for a surprisingly satisfying diversion from the various dogs and sausages on offer.

Paired with the breakfast sausage-laden Brunch Dog or lox-inspired Slammin' Salmon, these fries would make an excellent late breakfast for two. Maybe menu randomness isn't such a bad thing after all.

Franks 'n' Dawgs

1863 N Clybourn Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 (map)
312-281-5187
franksndawgs.com