thelocaldiner.com

A couple of months ago, while pulling together some garden paraphernalia at our local hardware megastore Power Townsend, I happened upon a curious little snackbar just inside the door by the grills, mowers, and patio furniture. It was called “Big Dog Chili Dog,” and its young proprietor served monstrous yet succulent polish sausages and garlicky beef franks, accompanied by no fewer than five different hot mustards. It was just the meaty meal a guy needed before embarking on a hardware safari, but sadly the snackbar did not survive the summer.

So I’m not taking any chances with waiting to report my recent discovery of Good Dog, an honest-to-goodness hot dog cart camped on the northeast corner of the Capitol lawn. You won’t find it there every day, but if you do, cancel any other lunch plans you may have and enjoy a locally made sausage from the Real Food Store served on a locally grown-and-baked bun from Wheat Montana. (Real Food doesn’t make frankfurters–yet–so Good Dog gets those from a ranch in North Dakota.)

This is the kind of food cart I would run if I could get out of the office enough. Real Food makes the best sausage around, and with a few return visits you can taste all of them at Good Dog: bratwurst (solid and subtly seasoned), andouille (mace and allspice notes punctuating a hot cayenne baseline), italian sausage (zesty fennel and red pepper), chorizo (deep red chili seasoning with garlic and oregano), and chicken apple sausage (slightly sweet with sage).

Good Dog offers three sausages a day, including the basic frankfurter and one each of hot and mild sausages, grilled to order over a gas-powered hibachi mounted to the side of the cart. There’s organic lemonade and root beer to drink, and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. My walk home to let Lena out brings me past Good Dog’s location, and I haven’t yet been able to turn it down when the cart is set up. (Here’s to hoping it stays open into the cooler months, or at least reopens for the Legislature.)

Food carts, like roadside stands and the odd hardware store snackbar, deserve our attention because they provide a cheap way for people to offer diverse foods (don’t take my word for it–listen to an economist). For my money, Montana’s most distinctive, most “local” food comes from such unorthodox outlets like Good Dog. So attention Helenans and visitors to the Capitol: Go there now. (And let me know about any of your favorite Montana street food.)

Good Dog
Southwest Corner of Sixth Avenue & Roberts Street
(across from the Montana Historical Society)
Open for lunch, closed occasionally.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 8th, 2004 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Fast & Street Food, Helena. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.