Regional Cuisine Quest: Garbage Plates

What is this mess of globby, colorful ingredients staring you in the face? Apart, they are nothing. Together, they create powerful heap of delicious junk food, appropriately named "the Garbage Plate." We had our first at the birthplace of this mess- Nick Tahou Hots or simply, “Nick Tahou's,” in Rochester, New York. It was after 1 am, we weren’t sober, and yet we have no regrets. This disaster in a styrofoam container is good. (Note: We'd like to see the styrofoam replaced with a recycled paper container, but our suggestion was lost in the line of 30 impatient garbage plate customers behind us.) Dissect the making of a garbage plate and you will find:

Choose One: cheeseburger, hamburger, Italian sausage, hot dog, “white hots”, chicken tenders, eggs, fish , grilled cheese or fried ham.

Then pick two: home fries, macaroni salad, french fries, or baked beans.

Top it off with optional: mustard and onions, ketchup or hot sauce.

It's served with rolls or Italian toast on the side, in case you’re still full. (Or want to make a sandwich?)

After a short-lived and unsuccessful hunt, we have yet to find a similar Garbage Plate in Chicago. The closest we came is a short road trip away to Frank's Diner in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Their garbage plate isn't quite the same but seems to be inspired by the original pile of food scraps. Frank's includes: hashbrowns, green peppers, onions, jalapenos, eggs, and choice of meat (ham, bacon or sausage). This got us thinking what the garbage plate would have been if it had been first crafted here. Polish sausage over thick crust pizza and tamales? Replace ketchup with cheese and onions with giardinera? Mebbe. With the endless amounts of open-late, greasy food places in this city we don't really need another, but if a Chicago-inspired Garbage Plate ended up on a menu somewhere, we would gladly indulge. So long as it's after 1 a.m.

Frank's Diner is a shortish roadie away at 508 58th St. in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 262.657.1017