Galen's Days of the Week: Tasty Tuesday: Pete's Polar Parlor

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Tasty Tuesday: Pete's Polar Parlor

Have y'all been listening to the new 24-Hour Comedy channel? It is now the only radio station I listen to (besides WABE [I'm an adult!]). Today, I heard a bit that resounded deeply with me: this comic was saying that he loves hot dogs, despite their dubious ingredients. "I love rat lips. I guess their feces is one of my favorite things." I hear you, man. I know that I'm not supposed to eat them, that they're made of all the extra parts of all these animals, but I really don't care. Hot dogs is so good.

Up til now, I may have given you the impression that I am a Very Healthy Eater. Homemade juice, leafy soups - yeah, I make some good stuff. But that's only part of my profile. See, the reason I eat healthy at home is because anytime I leave the house, I'm liable to eat red meat or high fructose corn syrup. Taco Bell, Chick-fil-a, and QT call me with their cheap and easy options; I will stab somebody for their Angus Burger from McDonald's. And yes, I have seen Food Inc. and read Fast Food Nation, and they both scared the ever-loving tar out of me. But I am nothing if not weak-willed, and I am a sucker for delicious, delicious chemically-altered "food."

So I overcompensate on the home front. I cook vegan/vegetarian dishes, eat reasonable portions, and avoid sweets. That way, if I eat half a Bloomin' Onion when I'm out with friends, the damage won't be too great.

If you like to eat healthily, then we have that in common. But if you don't, then you and I will also get along just fine.

Today's post is not the healthiest - but it is delicious. It's all about a magical hot-dog-and-ice-cream joint: Pete's Polar Parlor.

Is that mascot cute, or what?

Scoutmob, beloved deal-creator, brought me to this little corner of paradise. It's only a couple miles from my apartment, and that's great, because it'll give me lots of opportunities to go back.

See that little sign for fried pickles? I did, too.

The first time I went to Pete's, I had an offer for a free hot dog. I thought I'd get a dog on a bun, slap some mustard on it, and call it a day. But no! The wonderful people at Pete's know what they're doing, and so they pro-rated the cost of my Chicago Dog. After $2.35 for the dog was subtracted from my total, I only owed 40 cents. But then the pistachio ice cream caught my eye...