Duks dogs

I’ve been driving by this hot dog stand in East Village for years, and I think I realized just a few weeks ago that the place is called Duks and not Duke’s. Anyway, it’s a creepy little slice of Coney Island on an otherwise uneventful corner. It’s a 24-hour carnival-time-warp that seems to infuse summertime picnic bench chillin’ with a dog and a shake even in January, yet it also looks like a movie set that would fall over if you gave it a high-five. The other thing about Duks is that everyone seems to have a story about it. Usually that story involves a drunken pit stop from a random night at Betty’s Blue Star Lounge, or a place of respite while trying to find a taxi at Ashland and Grand in the middle of winter. Either way, the place intrigues me like those portable carnivals that set up shop in the middle of my neighborhood, Tilt-a-Whirl and all. I’ll venture in for a Duk dog soon and report back. And speaking of Duks, will someone please go to Hot Doug’s with me for chrissakes? I’ve been dreaming of duck fat french fries from the second I heard of them. Duks, 636 N. Ashland Ave., 312.733.0069; Doug’s, 3324 N. California Ave., 773.279.9550