The legend of "Jim's Original" started over 80 years ago, when a young, bright-eyed European immigrant named "Jimmy" arrived in America. Once in Chicago, Jimmy began working at a small hot dog stand on the bustling corners of Maxwell and Halsted Streets. Jimmy worked hard, bought the stand from his aunt, and then made it literally "World Famous." He piled succulent polish sausages high on the grill and created the first Maxwell Street Polish Sausage sandwich, with sweet grilled onions and a smear of mustard. Perhaps there has never been a pleasure as great and as simple as taking a bite into one of Jimmy's original sandwiches. Due to UIC expansion and City pressures, that little stand, Jim's Original, was relocated first in 2001 and then in 2005 a block North and a block East to the Southwest Corner of Union Avenue & James Rochford Street. Today we continue to serve the Original Maxwell Street Polish Sausage Sandwich as Jimmy did when he first "invented" it in 1943, along with several other sandwiches including the pork chop sandwich "with the bone on a bun".

Jim's Original is the longest continuously operating hot dog stand to have once done business on Maxwell Street. Except for a short closure in 2001 when we were relocated from Maxwell Street to Union Avenue, we have been in business since 1939, with 62 years of history on Maxwell Street. Jim's was so well-known and has so consistently served Chicagoans that we became the cornerstone of the Old Maxwell Street Market until its relocation in 1994. People still identify the Old Maxwell Street Market with the sweet smell of onions that emanated from Jim's stand.