Hot dogs without buns

The night before we left town on vacation, we needed dinner and something that wouldn’t create any leftovers and wouldn’t take too much time. We decided to try HD 1 because we’d heard they had some vegan options and it seemed like somewhere we could order the exact right amount of food.

So, there are two vegan “hot dog” options: the Field Roast sausage and the carrot dog. And the chili is vegan and so are a bunch of the sauces. And the waffle fries. But you know what’s not vegan? The fucking buns. We didn’t feel like going somewhere else, so just stuck with it. Behold, bunless dogs:

That’s the South of Chi-Town with the carrot dog.

And that’s the Cubanita, already dug into. We also got some waffle fries and the server kindly gave us some of the chili to try. It was good on the fries.

Sure, the sauces were really nice and all, but I see no point in going back unless the get some freakin’ vegan buns.

The Porter & Mayer Hawthorne

Last Friday we had tickets to see Mayer Hawthorne at the Variety. Beforehand we met friends at The Porter for dinner. We started with the Belgian fries and they were ridiculous. Slathered in garlic oil. So good.

The vegan option at The Porter is the black bean burger. Oh, look, more fries. Now, given the reputation The Porter has for their food, I was expecting a little more from this black bean burger. It was .. okay. Not bad at all, just nothing memorable about it. Although that red pepper mustard was delicious.

Beer was consumed as well. I started with a Hopscotch, then dialed back the % to a Terrapin Easy Rider. It was like going from Winter to Summer. Easy Rider could become a regular summer beer.

We didn’t arrive at the venue until towards the end of the opener’s set. And our favorite seats were already taken. So we headed to the balcony. We found a pair with a perfect view except for the people shuffling to and from the stairs.

We first saw Mayer Hawthorne as an opener for Chromeo. Even if you aren’t 100% into the Motown, blue-eyed soul kind of music he puts out, the show is fantastic. It really is a good time.

And here’s a better view from the floor. These days there’s no need to be that person holding up their phone or camera the whole show because someone else definitely will.