cheap eats- thirsty piggin it.

not to be confused with “porky piggin it”, which is the condition of wearing a shirt, but no pants or underwear (a la porky pig).

i love a hot dog. red hot dogs. foot long hot dogs. 7-11 roller hot dogs… in my meat eating days, i would shovel down those natural casing lovelies (THE SNAP!) like they were going out of style. and then i became a vegetarian, and my hot dog prospects became instantly very very grim. tofu pups? seriously?

over time, i have managed to find some work arounds. i’m a big fan of the yves  veggie dogs, i think they have the most realistic hot dog flava available in the mass consumer fake meat marketplace (especially when buried under sauerkraut, onions, and spicy mustard). they’re even better if you grill them in a pan with butter (sorry vegans!).  as it turns out, they are slightly less good if you roast them over a fire.  surprise! it’s blister covered corpse dogs!

although the worst thing about it is that i can’t just stroll through tommy’s park and grab a red snapper from mark’s on a summer afternoon… or any one of portland’s many varied and awesome hot dog stands. it sucks. so when linda bean’s famous bullshit chowder something something shut down, and the thirsty pig moved in (and actually carried a veggie dog), i was pretty fucking excited.

SAUSAGE RESTAURANT. super simple menu with a few good sausages (all locally made i’m told) and a few good beers served in exactly the kind of atmosphere where beers and sausages are best enjoyed. lots of wood. sweet deck. no excruciating symphony flat tvs blaring multiple sports (just one i think).  room for live music if needed.

i stopped in for lunch a few weeks ago, and you will see from this photo, that i devoured my hot dog so fast that i forgot to take a picture of it in full sauerkrauted glory. it’s not so much that my veggie dog was any more wonderful than any other dog previously available to me, but it was nicely grilled on a perfectly toasted bun with a side of B&M vegetarian beans (which are the superior vegetarian baked bean BTW) and and allagash white (don’t tell my boss that i was drinking during the work day). for $6, it it was exactly what i wanted. it tasted like summer, and made me forget for a second how superbly crappy it can be sometimes to give up meat for ethical reasons, when you still remember how delicious it is.

i spoke with the owner briefly, and she was both sweet and spunky, and very committed to getting the majority of her food locally produced. also, who doesn’t love a woman whose dream is to own a sausage and beer restaurant? WHO?

*please note that the thirsty pig is in no way affiliated with the linda bean extravaganza.  she does still carry the linda bean lobster roll on the menu, but that is merely a condition of her sublease.

i heard a rumor that chicago dogs out in scarborough also has a veggie dog. has anyone tried it? i am also presently seeking suggestions for new and exciting hot dog toppings.  discuss.