Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!
If you read yesterday's blog post, you will know that I have decided that this week is INTERNATIONAL PIG WEEK on LilyOnTheLam.com. I started off this pork-themed week of blog posts with the fantastic Divin Porcello - Friends of Ham- restaurant in Budapest, Hungary. It is now time to take this Pig Week to the United States - Portland, Maine to be exact.
I love Portland, Maine. It has this weird zen calming effect on me.
Of course Portland, Oregon also has the same weird zen calming effect on me ... so perhaps just the word "Portland" calms me.
(Side note: which by the way, I have FINALLY started watching Portlandia from IFC. After years of doing the "Yeah yeah, I know I should watch it - I'll get around to it eventually," I have finally watched a few episodes. Which, by the way, is the same thing I said about Modern Family [love it] and have continued to say about Downton Abbey and The Strain [yeah yeah I'll get around to it.] Each episode of Portlandia makes me miss Portland, Oregon. The quote "Portland is where young people go to retire" cracks me up every time I hear it in the following Portlandia sketch. Probably because it is somewhat scarily true! The Dream of the 90's really is alive in Portland! Sigh ... I miss the 90's.)
While walking down the streets of the historic downtown Portland, Maine area, I saw a sign for "The Thirsty Pig." I looked it up online and saw that it was known for its quality, specialty sausages and great beer selection. Win-win! I knew it was time to check this Pig out!
At The Thirsty Pig, you order your meal at the front counter. If you like chatting with cute, male hipster counter staff while watching retro cartoons, this is your place! (Side note: I always love any place with cute, male hipsters.)
The decor is warm, homey and eclectic. Very pub-like. Very friendly. The patrons and the staff are great.
And who doesn't want their own "dial out a handful" of peanut machine? I had never seen so many peanut machines in one place!
And in homage to my listening to Cary Elwes' book on the Princess Bride on audiobook, I feel compelled to add this clip when talking about peanuts. Rest in Peace, Andre the Giant.
But back to the bar/restaurant review ... I saw that The Thirsty Pig menu had a pretzel with mustard and cheese. I know I shouldn't load up on bread in a specialty sausage house, but I am powerless to resist a good pretzel.
And this was a good pretzel.
The cheese and mustard were OK, but the pretzel was top notch.
Next on to the pig ... Thirsty Pig's kielbasa with their fantastic pickles on the side! But to my great surprise, The Thirsty Pig has collard greens as a side dish. I love me some fantastic collard greens, so I ordered it and hoped the Thirsty Pig could make collard greens as good as I was used to in the South.
I don't know how Portland, Maine made such great collard greens, but they did it!
And reviewers raved about their pickles and they were NOT wrong ... crunchy, tangy - everything you want in a pickle.
And of course, a cold beer ... or in this case, a cider beer.
The Thirsty Pig indeed has tasty, gourmet, quality, specialty sausages. I was surprised at how delicious the food was- usually pubs focus more on the beer than the food. The atmosphere was friendly, jovial and warm. If I lived in Portland, Maine, this is the type of place I could see myself hanging out once a week. I only wished my stomach were bigger to allow me to sample more of The Thirsty Pig's fine sausages. But it gives me a great reason to travel back to Portland, Maine.
P.S. The Thirsty Pig has great merchandise too. Look at this fantastic t-shirt I purchased that I just HAD to have!
How are you enjoying International Pig Week on LilyOnTheLam.com? What are your favorite pork restaurants? Let me know in the comments section below!
If you read yesterday's blog post, you will know that I have decided that this week is INTERNATIONAL PIG WEEK on LilyOnTheLam.com. I started off this pork-themed week of blog posts with the fantastic Divin Porcello - Friends of Ham- restaurant in Budapest, Hungary. It is now time to take this Pig Week to the United States - Portland, Maine to be exact.
I love Portland, Maine. It has this weird zen calming effect on me.
Of course Portland, Oregon also has the same weird zen calming effect on me ... so perhaps just the word "Portland" calms me.
(Side note: which by the way, I have FINALLY started watching Portlandia from IFC. After years of doing the "Yeah yeah, I know I should watch it - I'll get around to it eventually," I have finally watched a few episodes. Which, by the way, is the same thing I said about Modern Family [love it] and have continued to say about Downton Abbey and The Strain [yeah yeah I'll get around to it.] Each episode of Portlandia makes me miss Portland, Oregon. The quote "Portland is where young people go to retire" cracks me up every time I hear it in the following Portlandia sketch. Probably because it is somewhat scarily true! The Dream of the 90's really is alive in Portland! Sigh ... I miss the 90's.)
While walking down the streets of the historic downtown Portland, Maine area, I saw a sign for "The Thirsty Pig." I looked it up online and saw that it was known for its quality, specialty sausages and great beer selection. Win-win! I knew it was time to check this Pig out!
At The Thirsty Pig, you order your meal at the front counter. If you like chatting with cute, male hipster counter staff while watching retro cartoons, this is your place! (Side note: I always love any place with cute, male hipsters.)
The decor is warm, homey and eclectic. Very pub-like. Very friendly. The patrons and the staff are great.
And who doesn't want their own "dial out a handful" of peanut machine? I had never seen so many peanut machines in one place!
And in homage to my listening to Cary Elwes' book on the Princess Bride on audiobook, I feel compelled to add this clip when talking about peanuts. Rest in Peace, Andre the Giant.
But back to the bar/restaurant review ... I saw that The Thirsty Pig menu had a pretzel with mustard and cheese. I know I shouldn't load up on bread in a specialty sausage house, but I am powerless to resist a good pretzel.
And this was a good pretzel.
The cheese and mustard were OK, but the pretzel was top notch.
Next on to the pig ... Thirsty Pig's kielbasa with their fantastic pickles on the side! But to my great surprise, The Thirsty Pig has collard greens as a side dish. I love me some fantastic collard greens, so I ordered it and hoped the Thirsty Pig could make collard greens as good as I was used to in the South.
I don't know how Portland, Maine made such great collard greens, but they did it!
And reviewers raved about their pickles and they were NOT wrong ... crunchy, tangy - everything you want in a pickle.
And of course, a cold beer ... or in this case, a cider beer.
The Thirsty Pig indeed has tasty, gourmet, quality, specialty sausages. I was surprised at how delicious the food was- usually pubs focus more on the beer than the food. The atmosphere was friendly, jovial and warm. If I lived in Portland, Maine, this is the type of place I could see myself hanging out once a week. I only wished my stomach were bigger to allow me to sample more of The Thirsty Pig's fine sausages. But it gives me a great reason to travel back to Portland, Maine.
P.S. The Thirsty Pig has great merchandise too. Look at this fantastic t-shirt I purchased that I just HAD to have!
 |
| The front of the T-shirt has The Thirsty Pig logo on it |
How are you enjoying International Pig Week on LilyOnTheLam.com? What are your favorite pork restaurants? Let me know in the comments section below!
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