Hey! Hot Dog Sweet Corn Stand Opens: Fruits, Veggies On Way

JOLIET, IL — One of the most popular places around Joliet to purchase locally grown sweet corn — plus other fruits and vegetables — is now open. B.J. Uedelhofen's sweet corn stand is at two locations: his Hey! Hot Dog restaurant on Ruby Street in Joliet and in the gravel parking lot along Black Road in Shorewood, between Route 59 and River Road.

By mid-afternoon Monday, both sweet corn stands were sold out for the day.

"Saturday was the first day, and it was busy," Uedelhofen told Joliet Patch's editor. "We picked as much as we could, and it was gone."

Uedelhofen said this summer's drought put him about two weeks behind schedule for the sweet corn.

"The drought is really hampering what we have to sell," he said. "We're going to run into days where there won't be any corn."

As for Uedelhofen's other produce, he wanted everyone in the Joliet area to know he expects to sell tomatoes in about two more weeks.

In August, Hey! Hot Dog will be selling cantaloupes and muskmelons, he said.

In addition to the sweet corn, he already has eggplant available. He was just sold out by mid-afternoon Monday when Joliet Patch arrived to interview him.

How much does it cost to purchase Uedelhofen's locally grown sweet corn?

A dozen ears of sweet corn are $9, or you can get a half dozen ears for $5.

He said the Shorewood sweet corn stand opens around 10 a.m. and the Hey! Hot Dog stand opens at 11 a.m. and stays open "until it's gone," he said. "Which lately has been around 2 p.m.

"Things are coming in slower just because of the drought," he said. "But the tomatoes look phenomenal. We planted a mile of tomato plants this year, which is a lot of tomatoes.

"We do about 30 acres per year of just sweet corn."

Uedelhofen's long-time Hey! Hot Dog employee, Lauren, also farms in Plainfield.

As for their vegetable stands on Ruby Street and on Black Road in Shorewood, "Right now, it's just sweet corn and eggplants and in two weeks, we'll have tomatoes," Uedelhofen explained.

During Monday's interview, Joliet Patch asked Uedelhofen about his Hey! Hot Dog business.

After all, it's been a year-and-a-half since the Portillo's Pickup opened its triple drive-thru in Joliet along Larkin Avenue, just a couple miles away.

Hey! Hot Dog has been a part of Joliet since 1959 when it was on Joliet's East Cass Street. It's been here at 601 Ruby St. since 1978.

"We put some new signs on the building and business has been really good, as good as any summer," Uedelhofen remarked. "With Portillo's down the street, thank God, we've got our customers."

If you're visiting for lunch or dinner, Hey! Hot Dog is open six days a week, from about 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the summer. Hey! Hot Dog is always closed on Sundays.

Uedelhofen said that adding the two new signs to the front of his building has worked wonders, even though he has not made any major changes to his restaurant's menu for years.

"Even though we've been making Polish sausages and BBQ sandwiches for 30 years, all of a sudden, we put these two new signs up, and I think a lot of people never knew we've been selling Polish and BBQ. The BBQ, it's a Sloppy Joe that we make from scratch," he said.

If you're coming to purchase the sweet corn from his sweet corn stand on Ruby Street, Uedelhofen has this advice.

"We've been selling out a good two to three hours early every day," he pointed out.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Sweet Corn Stand At Hey! Hot Dog: 'Oh Yeah, It's Really Good'

New Portillo's Can't Stop Hey! Hot Dog: 'We're Still Getting Lines'