Sausages – The Unvegan

9/4/2018 Events Saint Paul

Minnesota State Fair 2018

State Fairs are often an afterthought. A relic of times past when most of us lived in rural areas and guessing the weight of a pumpkin was the best entertainment of the month. They offer variations on the same rides, foods and entertainment that you find at your local Memorial Day Carnival or County Fair and, I mean, how many people even go to those? But the Minnesota State Fair is so far from an afterthought that it seems to be on the minds of Minnesotans for the 50 weeks of the year in which it is not in operation. Plans are made, new foods are devised and longed after; then, just like that, it’s over again. This year, however, the Unvegan paid a visit to see how it would all stack up.

Bacon Beers Cheese Cheese Curds Chicken Duck Events Greek Italian Meat Meatballs Minneapolis Minnesota Minnesota State Fair Northwoods Pork Pork Belly Sandwiches Sausages St. Paul State Fairs Travel Turkey

9/10/2017 Reviews Harbor Springs

Tunneling to Legs Inn

As you drive through the Tunnel of Trees in Northern Michigan, you get the feeling that it could go on forever, that there could literally be no end to the trees. And most likely that was actually what Michigan was like a few hundred years ago. But, the tunnel ends eventually and the light at the end of that tunnel is the Legs Inn, which feels out of place in what can easily be referred to as the middle of nowhere.

Cross Village Legs Inn Michigan Pierogies Polish Restaurants Sausages Travel Up North Michigan

7/24/2017 Strange Eats Taiwan

Street Food Spotlight: Taiwanese Sausage

I often find it amazing how universal sausage is. It seems like every culture has its own version of tube meat, like all humans have some sort of collective conscience that led us to grind up meat and stuff it inside of an intestine. And while you might think that Taiwanese sausage would basically be the same as Chinese Sausage, you would be wrong.

Asia Sausages Strange Eats Street Food Taipei Taiwan Taiwanese Travel

5/21/2017 Reviews Denver

Exotic Tube Meats at Biker Jim’s Gourmet Sausages

Could there be a more inviting name for a sausage spot than Bike Jim’s Gourmet Dogs? You’d be hard-pressed to find one, but that only partly explains the rise of this brick and mortar that began as a simple (and yet gourmet) hot dog cart. I went to the location in downtown Denver and struggled to find the right sausage for me.

Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs Colorado Denver Hot Dogs Mac and Cheese Pheasant Rattlesnake Restaurants Sausages Travel

3/14/2017 Reviews Glendale

Plattered Up at Zeke’s Smokehouse

What is Montrose? For the first 6+ years I lived in LA I probably would have answered that it is some sort of mythical creature composed of combining a mongoose with an albatross. The fact is that it is neither. Instead, it is a town up near Pasadena, built into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. And in that town is a restaurant called Zeke’s Smokehouse.

Barbecue BBQ Brisket Los Angeles Mac and Cheese Montrose Restaurants Ribs Sausages

12/27/2016 Reviews Pasadena

A Torta at Tortugas

That's some cheese porn. — That’s some cheese porn.

Torta is Mexican for sandwich and there is a sweet semi-new spot in Pasadena that deals pretty much exclusively in that hand food from south of the border. It’s called Tortugas, and is either a reference to turtles, an island in Haiti or a national park (the dry one). Regardless, the place has a great variety of Mexican sandwiches and one in particular screamed out to my unvegan belly.

chorizo Featured Hot Dogs Los Angeles Mexican Pasadena Restaurants Sandwiches Sausages Tortas Tortugas

4/20/2016 Reviews Los Angeles

Straight Outta Compton at Bludso’s

Bludso’s in Compton is very often hailed as the best BBQ in LA. Yet, for some reason, a number of people find it difficult to make it to that part of town. Thus, Bludso’s spun off into Hollywood with a bar and que concept that creatively includes a bar along with BBQ. In other words, my long-awaited trip to BBQ heaven (and possibly like real heaven) in Compton was put on hold to make the trip to Hollywood.

Barbecue BBQ Bludso's Brisket Featured Hollywood Los Angeles Pork Restaurants Ribs Sausages

3/12/2014 Reviews Washington

A Long Time Coming at Ben’s Chili Bowl

Some cities have restaurants that have been around since the beginning of forever. In Washington, D.C., that place is Ben’s Chili Bowl, which I believe has been serving up chili since the Lincoln presidency. No? Well Eisenhower is close enough. Our current POTUS has paid the place a visit at least once and according to a sign is one of only two people (aside from his family) that eats free. The other, obviously, is Bill Cosby.

My trip to Ben’s Chili Bowl started out ominously. After waiting in line for more than 30 minutes and marveling at the inefficiency (perhaps some spillover from congress?), I had to run to a show down the street before ordering. Upon my return, however, I snagged a spot at the counter and was (at least in Ben’s Chili Bowl time) quickly waited upon.

Ben's Chili Bowl Chili Hot Dogs Restaurants Sausages Travel U Street Corridor Washington DC

2/28/2012 Reviews Milwaukee

Meat Stacks at Smoke Shack

Chili? In Wisconsin? In February? Shocking!

Here we have a long-awaited new guest blog from none other than @RGspiegel. Catch more of his writing here.

Disclosure I: David Marcus, one of the owners of Smoke Shack, is my second cousin.
Disclosure II: I’m starting a movement such that cousins are classified only as first or second cousins. How much better is that than trying to figure out your exact relationship to your dad’s first cousin’s son with somethingth-cousin-somethingths-removed? A lot.
Disclosure III: Smoke Shack was legitimately awesome.

Now that my and Unvegan’s journalistic integrity are squarely intact, I can begin the review of my glorious Saturday lunch at Smoke Shack, a BBQ restaurant that opened up about a month ago in Milwaukee’s third ward.

Bacon BBQ Chili Mac and Cheese Meat Milwaukee Restaurants Sausages Smoke Shack Wisconsin

2/16/2012 General Thoughts

Charlito’s Way with Sausage

Last week, an unexpected parcel arrived. I immediately suspected anthrax and was ready to detonate it in the street when I noticed it was from my future brother-in-law. For some, this may be further reason to suspect anthrax, but Dustin has never me reason to believe he’d want me dead. I opened it up and found a pair of sausages with an awesome letter welcoming me to the family. Truth be told, had I known sausages were in the mix, I’d have popped the question long ago.

The letter also informed me the sausages came from a friend of a friend of his in New York who had recently started up a sausage company called Charlito’s Cocina. I was excited to try them and although it took me a few days to get to it, I was safe knowing the dry-cured sausages could handle it. But aside from being dry-cured, what kind of sausages were these? The answer is Trufa Seca, which means they were full of black truffle. Aside from that, these were pork through and through with sea salt as the final flavoring ingredient. According to the website, the pork was a heritage breed and pasture-raised, which made me feel even better as I sliced off my first bit.

Charlito's Cocina New York Sausages Trufa Seca

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‘Sausages’