I have a four year old Hardy Chicago. I didn't protect it in the winter of 2013, and it died back to ground. It bounced back nicely last year and produced 40+ figs.
The past winter I spent a lot of efforts protecting other rarer varieties and neglected this one. The tree died back again, to ~2 inches above ground.
It bounced back vigorously this spring and now is ~6 feet tall, and loaded with figs (essentially one fig per leaf)!
I am fully convinced that this variety is highly reliable, and I will definitely give it better protection this winter.

 

I have 3 year old HC .... same thing - 100+ figs,strong grower.

Yeah, that pretty much describes my HC. Its a great grower and produces some of the nicest tasting figs too. If I had to pick only one fig for here in zone 7b, it would probably be HC.