Eat a dozen chili dogs, join the Hall of Fame: Rockford's Corner Bar

Every town needs an institution, and Rockford’s serves chili dogs. The Corner Bar has anchored Main Street for generations, and since 1968 it has run the Hot Dog Hall of Fame: eat twelve of its chili dogs in one sitting and your name goes on the wall, forever. More than five thousand people have done it — there are champions who’ve gone well past twenty — and the plaques covering the walls read like the town’s family tree.

That history nearly ended on August 14, 2017, when a dumpster fire spread and gutted the century-old building down to its brick facade. Rockford’s response told you everything about the town: the owners rebuilt behind the original front, and when the doors reopened just over a year later, the line stretched down North Main Street before eleven in the morning. The Hall of Fame picked up right where it left off. Some traditions are fireproof.