The "mother-in-law" sandwich is quite possibly the strangest, most inventive, and most overstuffed Chicago culinary concoction. It consists of a Chicago corn roll tamale--you may know it as a Tom Tom--placed on a hot dog bun and covered with chili. And since mother-in-laws are usually sold at hot dog stands, they may be further topped with some or all of the traditional toppings of a Chicago-style hot dog: mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato wedges, a pickle or cucumber spear, sport peppers, and celery salt. A variation of this sandwich is the "father-in-law," sometimes called the "humdinger," which is a mother-in-law covered with cheese. The late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once called the mother-in-law "the evil stepbrother of the hot dog" and also "perhaps the greatest, most uniquely Chicago food invention."
The story of the mother-in-law begins with the late John Pawlikowski, who owned Fat Johnnie's Famous Red Hots at 7242 S. Western Avenue in Marquette Park on Chicago's Southwest Side. In 2008, Pawlikowski told the Southern Foodways Alliance that as a teenager he would buy a corn roll tamale on a bun topped with ketchup from a Lithuanian-American pushchart vendor who called this sandwich the mother-in-law. Pawlikowski replaced the ketchup with chili and put the mother-in-law on his menu when he opened his own hot dog stand in 1972. Other establishments, mostly around the city's Southwest Side, also began selling the mother-in-law. Pawlikowski passed away in 2024, but Fat Johnnie's is still in operation and is still the go-to spot for mother-in-laws. (A recent internet search yielded Fat Johnnie's as the only remaining sure bet for finding the mother-in-law.) Fat Johnnie's and the mother-in-law were featured on an episode of Bourdain's show "No Reservations" in 2009.
And then there's the story of the Chicago corn roll tamale, which is believed to be a variation of the "hot tamale" or "Delta tamale" from the Mississippi Delta region. In the early twentieth century, Mexican laborers in the Mississippi Delta shared their tamales with African-American laborers, who then put their own spin on the recipe. Tamales from the Mississippi Delta are generally smaller than Latin-style tamales, are simmered instead of steamed, have a gritty texture from the use of corn meal instead of corn flour, have more spice, and are usually serviced with juice that is the byproduct of simmering. Delta tamales were brought to Chicago by African-Americans during the Great Migration in the 1920s, when hundreds of thousands of African-Americans moved from the South to the northern regions of the country.
Chicago corn roll tamales are manufactured by Tom Tom Tamales in the city and the Supreme Tamale Company in Elk Grove Village. These tamales also use corn meal, are usually filled with ground meat instead of the traditional shredded meat, and are perfectly formed cylindrical tubes sold in paper or plastic wrappers instead of the traditional corn husks. They can be found at Chicago-area hot dog stands such as Gene and Jude's in River Grove, Jay's Beef in Harwood Heights, and the ubiquitous Portillo's Hot Dogs, as well as many local grocery stores.
But why name the sandwich the mother-in-law? According to director of the Southern Foodways Alliance John T. Edge, mother-in-laws aren't easy to handle. According to Pawlikowski, both types of mother-in-law will give you indigestion or heartburn. They said it, not me.
And finally, is the mother-in-law any good? Just because you can put a tamale on a bun and smother it with chili and hot dog toppings, does that mean you should? Is it worth braving the warning that's cheekily built into the name?
I made my first mother-in-law with a spirit of morbid curiosity, fully expecting it to be gross. I ended up being surprised at how good it was. First of all, the tamale fits perfectly inside the hot dog bun. And the bun serves the important purpose of holding all the toppings together. I thought the corn meal from the tamale combined with the bun might have made things too starchy, but that was not the case. The meat inside the tamale and the chili on top balanced things out. Double the carbs and meat, double the fun. In addition to the chili, I used chopped onions, tomato wedges, and sport peppers as my toppings, and the flavors all melded together nicely. I couldn't bear to put mustard, relish, a pickle or cucumber, or celery salt on top, though, That just seemed too weird, even for me. I can attest that eating one mother-in-law did not give me indigestion or heartburn. If I would have eaten two, though, that might have been a different story.
For the adventurous among us, here's instructions on how to assemble your own mother-in-law. Let's keep this strangely delicious Chicago tradition alive.
Mother-in-Law
-Makes 1
hot dog bun
Tom Tom or Supreme beef tamale
canned chili
Optional:
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onions
sport peppers
tomato wedges
pickle or cucumber spear
mustard
relish
celery salt
Heat up the chili on the stove. Prepare your toppings. Unwrap and cook the tamale according to the directions on the package. Wrap the hot dog bun in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 10-15 seconds. Place the tamale on a bun an put on a plate. Spoon some chili over the top. Add additional toppings as you desire. Bonus points if you add cheese; that makes it a father-in-law. Enjoy grossing out the more squeamish members of your household.
Sources:
Jamie Katz, "Searching for a Mother-in-Law Sandwich," Smithsonian magazine (April 19, 2009).
"Jumpballs, Gym Shoes, Mother-in-Laws, and the Maxwell Street Polish: Four Stick-to-Your-Ribs Classic Chicago Sandwiches," WTTW (August 11, 2022).
Monica Eng and David Hammond, Made in Chicago: Stories Behind 30 Great Hometown Bites, 3 Fields Books, 2023.
"Oral Histories: John Pawlikowski," Southern Foodways Alliance (March 25, 2008).
"An Introduction: Hot Tamales and the Mississippi Delta," Southern Foodways Alliance (accessed April 7, 2026).
Vanessa Barron, "9 Chicago Restaurants Anthony Bourdain Loved," Tasting Table (December 29, 2025).
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