:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59605553/DcMj3BdX4AANj0J.jpg_large.0.jpeg)
Florence Berman, a co-founder of Chicago’s iconic Superdawg Drive-In, has died at 92. Berman co-founded the drive-in on Chicago’s Northwest Side with her husband Maurie Berman. The two are personified on the restaurant’s roof as two giant 12-foot hot dog sculptures nicknamed Flaurie and Maurie. Her death comes almost exactly three years after her husband died in May 2015.
It is with profound sadness that we inform you that our matriarch, Florence Berman, passed away peacefully in her sleep last night. For seventy years, Flaurie worked alongside and supported her husband and best friend, Maurie Berman as they built a business and a family. pic.twitter.com/Zr5LQ8ZcqR
— Superdawg Chicago (@Superdawg) May 2, 2018
Superdawg’s Twitter feed announced the news. She died on Tuesday in her sleep. The restaurant’s been around for 70 years as the couple opened it in 1948. Ownership has maintained the retro vibes as a time capsule where food runners bring out food to drivers parked in the restaurant’s parking lot. The hot dog is a variation of the Chicago-style dog served in a cute cardboard box embedded in an order of crinkle-cut french fries.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10768521/30424973_10156637986331320_3156710615040366878_o.jpg)
“When you see the winking Superdawgs greeting you from our roof, remember that it was never just Maurie. It has always been Maurie and Flaurie,” a Tweet from Superdawg read.
The Sun-Times reminded fans that Berman had a life before the restaurant as she earned a degree at Northwestern University and taught at Chicago Public Schools.
Maurie & Flaurie Berman opened Superdawg Drive-In together in May of 1948. They were partners in business & in life, and today, Flaurie is still the top dawg ❤️ Happy International Women’s Day!!
Posted by Superdawg on Thursday, March 8, 2018
