After nearly 90 years in the Maxwell Street area, Jim’s Original is moving to Pilsen. The stand popularized and very possibly invented the flea market’s famous street snack: a sausage smothered in grilled onions, mustard, and sport pepper.
It’s the Maxwell Street Polish.
A Crowdpleasing Sausage
While Chicago visitors are wowed by our trademark hot dog, I always encourage them to try a Maxwell Street Polish too. It’s got heft. An addictive garlicky finish. The glistening peel shines like a beacon.
Maxwell Street Market was founded by Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s, but the Maxwell Street Polish as we know it today emerged around 1939. That’s when Jim’s Original opened in its first location on Maxwell and Halsted.
Founder and Macedonian immigrant, Jimmy Stefanovich is generally considered the inventor, according to “Made in Chicago,” though nearby Express Grill maintains its own claim. On Harrison Street, there’s also the popular Original Maxwell Street.
My mom, Chris, who emigrated from Austria with her family in 1956, fondly remembers Maxwell Street’s open-air sausage stands, too. “The smell of grilled onions was so …” she trailed off, trying to think of the right word. “It made you hungry.”
I guess the draw is genetic. At Vienna Beef’s Hot Dog University, there was a griddle in the middle of the classroom, caramelizing onions. I couldn’t focus on anything else.
Hot Dog University instructor Bill Murphy separates Vienna Beef Polish sausages. (Emmi Mack / City Cast Chicago)
A Changing Maxwell Street
Jim’s Original stood at 911 W. Maxwell St. till 2001, through the decline and eventual end of Maxwell Street Market. What was once a mecca for street vendors, blues music, and, yes, encased meats, diminished greatly under Mayor Richard J. Daley’s urban renewal agenda.
In 1957, construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway cut Maxwell Street in half. The following decade, Daley championed the opening of the University of Illinois at Chicago nearby. In 1966, the city formally deemed Maxwell Street “a slum and blighted,” opening a path for UIC to exercise eminent domain there.
UIC expansion pushed Jim’s Original onto Union Avenue in 2001. There, it maintained its legacy and found a hungry fanbase in the UIC community.
Now, UIC is forcing Jim’s Original to move again. The school owns the restaurant property and wants to develop. Back in 2021, landlord UIC also forced Jim’s Original to end 24-hour service to deter crime around campus.
With the move, we lose one more Maxwell Street remnant on the Lower West Side. But with plans to increase the hours back to 24 in Pilsen, new memories surely await.
Nothing hits like a Polish at 3 a.m.
The sign on the side of Jim’s Original nods toward the eatery’s history. Renderings of the new location, on 18th Street, include paler yellow bricks. It’s set to open in the fall. (Emmi Mack / City Cast Chicago)
