Vanguard Still King of Sausages

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Not long after opening in 2014, Vanguard became one of Bay View’s most beloved restaurants. It was an instant hit, fitting the personality of the neighborhood perfectly. It’s casual and irreverent, with a take-us-as-we-are attitude, lots of whiskey and an obsession with theatrical, professional wrestling that’s either ironic or completely earnest—it’s hard to tell.

It also helped that Vanguard has always had a laser-like focus on its specialty: sausages. In the beginning, chef Shay Linkus steered the ship, until he left to open Snack Boys a couple years ago. Since then, Patrick Joyce, who worked at Vanguard from the beginning, has taken the helm. He’s kept the same sausage heaven heading laid down by Linkus but has expanded on the concept with even more unique ways of serving and pairing sausages.

Joyce changes the menu up a couple times a year, shuffling out a handful of seasonal items for new ones in the “styled sausages” menu category. The items in this category have more in common with composed restaurant plates than with the brats and dogs you slap on the Weber. I imagine that new items are conceived not by wondering “what else can we do with sausage?” but by reverse engineering a sausage from a dish that inspired it.

The Nashville Hot Chicken Sausage ($8) is a good example. The trendy fried chicken is all over the place, so how do you turn it into a sausage? The chicken sausage is flavored with paprika and cayenne, then deep fried in a thin, crisp batter shell. It’s not nearly as hot as anything you get in Nashville, but the experience of eating it is just as satisfying, especially with the creamy mayo and chopped pickles on top.

Some sausages don’t come on a bun, and are served on a bed of something else, carbs or otherwise. The Curry Chameleon ($10) is served on top of fries, soaking up the spicy, Thai green curry sauce. The seared sausage is made with coarsely ground chicken and pork, tangy with tamarind. Another Southeast Asian-inspired sausage, the Hoo Kee Phed ($10), made with pork, lamb, Thai chile and galangal, comes on top of Thai green papaya salad. And the Wee-bey ($14), made with crab, corn, rice and seasoned with Old Bay, is served alongside confit red potatoes, baby corn and slaw, in a Maryland crab boil rendition.

There are plenty of sausages served on buns too, though the squishy, untoasted buns have been a perplexing weak spot since the beginning. They still hold up with everything thrown in them, at least, whether it’s the duck BLT ($10) or the Guerrero ($9), a red chorizo topped with thick mole negro, copious amounts of chopped carrot escabeche and chihuahua cheese.

If you want a plain old sausage, there’s 11 varieties, from good old bratwurst ($6) to three different vegan styles made with seitan. Toppings like onions, kraut and various peppers and pickles are free, or get it topped by city—think Chicago style ($1 extra) or Milwaukee ($2) with cheese curds, cheddar and house made cheese “whiz.”

The menu of sides has expanded under Joyce. Seven different types of poutine or loaded fries are offered, and that’s great considering the fries are thicker and sturdier than they used to be. The Belgian beef poutine ($6-$9) includes beer braised beef, smoked gouda, brown gravy and chopped apples to cut through the richness of it all.

Baked Potato Balls ($6) are just as good as ever, and the smashed, seasoned and deep-fried potatoes topped with all the fixings are hard to resist. They’re joined by a number of new favorites, like pan fried green beans with roasted garlic, white wine, lemon and freshly grated horseradish. The fried triangles of burnt ginger tofu ($6) topped with a thick ginger glaze with lime and roasted garlic are a cult favorite, whether vegan or not.

Besides a great selection of whiskey, there are eight tap cocktails, including two types of Old Fashioneds and a dozen tap beers, most local. In summer, they’re all available on the cute, rustic patio out back. It practically doubles the space of the restaurant and is the first area to fill up in nice weather. Though there are no Webers in sight, sausages eaten at a picnic table in a backyard under oak trees will always feel right.