& FOOD DRINK

Here, Here

A food truck favorite opens permanent digs on the West End, serving diner faves with twists

For fans of Dips Dips – the popular orange food truck posted up at Moniker Brewery – There, There is now here on West Fountain Street to stay, where Bucktown used to be. Cursive lettering appeared late spring above the well-known Coca-Cola sign that remains from the former chicken spot, and in June, the new eatery opened for business.

“The notion of opening a diner-ish burger joint that was equal parts cozy and weird seemed like a direction we really wanted to explore,” shares There, There owner Brandon Teachout, who originally opened Dips Dips as a high-quality, fast-casual sandwich concept. “We’re jazzed to mess around within the canon of American diner and burger culture.”

This includes their mainstay Dream Burger, a monstrosity of two grass-fed patties, American cheese, special sauce, sherried onion jam, and shredded iceberg lettuce on a grilled sesame bun. Fans flock for their selection of “dawgs,” which are “kind of a hot dog, kind of a bratwurst, all ground, seasoned, and cased in-house,” explains Teachout, who dresses it up in the WF (West Fountain) Dawg with house mustard, chili, sweet onion, and hot sauce. On the beverage end of things, Sam McCaughey has devised a Co ee Milk with his own “cowboy” co ee syrup shaken with ice, Wright’s Dairy Farm whole milk, and sweetened condensed milk. “Once you try it, everything else just clicks – old and new all at once,” says Teachout.

Despite operating out of a small building resembling a summer camp snack shack, the team takes full advantage of its history and charm to invite patrons inside for a handheld, or takeaway is always an option. “We are really excited to have our little nook in our rad neighborhood. We just want to use our space to have fun, cook our butts o , and o er a level of hospitality that can only come with a little neighborhood joint like ours,” says Teachout. “We’re just happy to be here.” 471 West Fountain Street, ThereTherePVD.com |

By Abbie Lahmers

Hot Diggity Dog!

Let’s get frank about Rhode Island’s favorite summer dog and its rise to the head of the pack

It’s a beautiful warm Sunday, and the first annual Saugy hot dog-eating contest is about to start as the highlight of the Cranston Spring Festival. Ten-year-old Elijah from Providence is the youngest and smallest of a dozen builtand-burly male competitors lined up at a table in Rolfe Square. So far Elijah has had three false starts, lunging at his basket of a half-dozen Saugys before the o cial start bell. “No, no, no, no, no, not yet!” the event emcee would shout with a laugh. “Aargh!” he complains with a dramatic eye roll and head flip. “I want my Saugys!”

We all do, Elijah – and it’s been that way in Rhode Island since 1869. The local German-style hot dog known for the distinctive snap of its natural casing came to Rhode Island as the brainchild of German immigrants Augustus and Alphonse Saugy, who successfully operated the company for decades, with a brief hiatus during World War II, when food rations prevented the couple from sourcing the high-quality meats and spices that makes the dogs so distinctly flavorful.

Saugy’s current owner, Mary O’Brien, is the granddaughter of Leo McCaughy, who started working at the company in 1912 at the age of 14 and eventually became its CEO and president. As a teenager, Mary knew that her family’s franks deserved universal attention. She took over in 2001, bringing with her updated manufacturing technology and thoughts about growing the brand with new recipes (bratwurst and a “skinless” ballpark-style dog), products such as relish and mustard, and fun marketing initiatives including the hot dog eating contest. Not that Rhode Islanders need reminding that Saugys are great – “They

ON A ROLL are very loyal customers,” Mary says, and she’s got a faithful cadre of out-of-staters to whom she ships as evidence.

Find the Saugy Food Truck popping up at events all summer, including all full WaterFire lightings and many Providence College events. Find their event schedule at Saugy.Square.Site.

Rhode Islanders can find Saugys in just about every local supermarket, and increasingly on the menu at places such as Tomaselli’s at Rosario in Providence, Valley Country Club in Warwick, and several Chelo’s throughout the state, and they’re the exclusive hot dog served in Brown University’s dining halls. You’ll find Haley Meiklejohn and her dad, Scott, enjoying the dogs at Proclamation Ale in Warwick. “He used to get them all the time when I was little and cook them on the grill,” Hailey says. “I didn’t love the snap back then, but now I absolutely love them! When he wants to cheat on his diet, we head straight here!” Even late-night talk show veteran and part-time Rhode Islander Jay Leno was known to regularly enjoy Saugys at Wally’s Wieners in Newport.

Today, despite his best e orts, Elijah doesn’t lead the pack when it comes to eating Saugys. No, today the biggest Saugy fan on the planet is Johnathan Gonzalez of Cranston, who wolfed down 10 Saugys – ketchup on the side – in 10 minutes to claim his crown at the first annual Saugy contest. How was the experience for him? “Piece of cake!” he says with a laugh and two thumbs up.