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Friday, September 25, 2009

New in Street Food: The Grillwalker

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 11:57 AM

Eat me.
  • gaijinrunner / stranger flickr
  • Eat me.

In Germany: guys with propane strapped to their backs and grills strapped to their fronts who make and sell sausages while walking around. It's low overhead, fast, and WHY CAN'T WE HAVE THIS HERE. The New York Times has the story and the video: "Across Berlin, they walk the streets: half man and half machine... 'I sink it's a good idea. He can move every—wherever he want!'"

Now it is really lunchtime. I so, so wish one of these guys would walk up to me right outside the office.

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Comments (18) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
zephsright 1
Um....I can see a problem with KABOOM! Propane tank strapped to his back? Did I mention kaboom?
Posted by zephsright on September 25, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Renton Mike 2
Not to mention stomach burns.
Posted by Renton Mike on September 25, 2009 at 12:29 PM
diminished 3
i saw these on a recent vacation to the EU. they were...awe inspiring.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/di…
Posted by diminished on September 25, 2009 at 12:40 PM
elenchos 4
Why is this a good idea exactly?
Posted by elenchos on September 25, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Fnarf 5
I recommend the ten gauge aluminum shirt.
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on September 25, 2009 at 12:55 PM
6
I hope they don't do that during the summer. Can you say heatstroke?
Posted by keshmeshi on September 25, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Abby 7
@6: they did it in the summer when I was there. They're definitely all around Berlin, particularly in touristy areas (for obvious reasons.) They've been there for years...
Posted by Abby on September 25, 2009 at 1:14 PM
yelahneb 8
you too can be a Grillwalker!

http://www.grillwalker.de/seiten/vers_en…
Posted by yelahneb http://www.strangebutharmless.com on September 25, 2009 at 1:28 PM
9
For some reason, Seattle has always had a problem with hot dogs except at baseball games.
You go to other parts of the country such as NYC and hot dogs a the main diet of most downtown workers. There is probably a word for why Seattlites think they're too good for hot dogs but it escapes me now. Maybe there's a lot of those vegan dickheads that boycott everything because its not made from tofu.
Posted by Seattle is full of Losers on September 25, 2009 at 1:32 PM
10
At baseball games in Japan, there are girls in ridiculous cheerleader costumes with little keg backpacks and taps in holsters on their waists. When you buy a draft Yebisu from them, they act like you just paid their way through college or something . It's excellent.
Posted by joihn cocktosin on September 25, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Abby 11
@9: well, someone's never been out in Seattle after dark...
Posted by Abby on September 25, 2009 at 2:23 PM
diminished 12
@9 have you been outside chop suey/neumos/the comet? the hot dog culture is thriving and well here in seattle. theres also shorty's, the dude that sells dogs in pioneer square during the day, and a couple of roving hot dog vendors that go 'where the action is'. and most of those vendors have veggie dogs, and some of them have vegan dogs.
Posted by diminished on September 25, 2009 at 2:25 PM
elenchos 13
The hot dog culture. It's a culture.

Like Harlem in the jazz age, or the Bloomsbury group. Like that, except instead of inventing a major musical or literary genre and forming a multifaceted social network around it, instead you buy a hot dog and, you eat it.
Posted by elenchos on September 25, 2009 at 2:38 PM
14
If these guys were in Seattle, we'd find a way to outlaw them (health code, safety code, code code). Wurst idea ever.
Posted by Cornichon http://cornichon.org on September 25, 2009 at 2:52 PM
laterite 15
@9: that word is "nitrates".
Posted by laterite on September 25, 2009 at 3:26 PM
PedestrianMe 16
I lived in Berlin for 3 years and there was a price war between the Grillwalker and the Grillroller, a guy in a wheelchair who sold his own Bratwuerste (for one euro and ten cents).
Posted by PedestrianMe http://carfreeusa.blogspot.com on September 25, 2009 at 3:40 PM
jezbian 17
i was photographing the grillwalkers yesterday when walking around alexanderplatz (exact same place where the image linked to in #3 were, but closer to the U-bahn stairs/entrance) - was going to post to questionland about them to find out why nobody's done this yet in the states. and now you've beat me to it!

okay after 1am and i need to finish going through shit since i'm flying out in under 30 hours. hope seattle still has the sunshine i heard it's been having when i return...yeah i won't hold my breath.
Posted by jezbian on September 25, 2009 at 4:14 PM
18
Calling this "new" is pretty weak. The Grillwalkers were there at least five years ago when I first loved them, and they were still there two weeks ago when I last enjoyed their delicious street meat.

Just because the NYT finally found out about it doesn't make it "news".

But yeah, we should totally have these in Seattle. http://grillwalker.de/ has been offering licensing deals for at least five years.
Posted by Tyler Pierce on September 25, 2009 at 6:18 PM

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