Sullivan’s Castle Island

Hamburgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls. This is the kind of food that customers have been flocking to Sullivan’s on Castle Island in South Boston for decades. And now you can get a taste of South Boston here on the South Shore at the brand new Sullivan’s in Hanover.

Sullivan’s originally opened up in 1951, and the little takeout shop is still standing and still thriving. 70 years later, it's now run by the fourth generation of the Sullivan family. So they decided to go modern, more spacious, much bigger. Plus, they got a full bar. Yes, that's right. You can now get a nice craft beer or a fresh made cocktail right here at Sullivan’s.

Now let's talk about the food. The number one selling item at Sullivan’s and it has been since day one is the hot dog. It's a Kayem hot dog. It's beef and pork. They come out with a nice char grilled marks on the outside and that casing has the perfect snap to it. These are small and kind of thin dogs so you can eat many of them at a time and I do. It’s served up in a traditional New England style split top bun and you look at it, see how it's nice and toasted and they toast it without any butter so you are getting the pure flavor of the hot dog itself. Some people will just get a straight up plain hot dog. I like to use the Sullivan’s terminology and either get one “all” or “all inc.” Getting a hot dog with “all” means mustard, onions, and relish. Get a hot dog with “all inc.” that's ketchup, mustard, onions, and relish. But if you're getting ketchup on your hot dog and you're over eight years old, you're no friend of mine. Ketchup is for kids, kids.

Burgers are another extremely popular item at Sullivan’s and it is easy to see why. These are nice fresh ground patties, they make them fresh every single day and they cook them sort of West Coast style. Thin patty, so they're nice and crispy on the outside and then the inside stays nice and juicy. Because they’re so thin I always recommend getting a double burger here. To me the Double Cheeseburger Deluxe is the perfect burger at Sullivan’s. Two patties. Two slices of cheese, comes with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo on a nicely toasted hamburger bun. Boom. You're happy. Interesting to note about the cheeseburgers here: they put the toppings on the bottom. So I guess you would call that bottomings. That doesn't sound right. But it does taste right.

For a lot of New Englanders, seafood, summer, and Sullivan’s go hand in hand. And the good news is here at Sullivan’s in Hanover, they serve up amazing seafood and they do it all year round. The lobster rolls at Sullivan’s are absolutely legendary and for a good reason. They take some great fresh local lobster, we're talking just claw and knuckle meat, the good stuff, that's mixed up with a little bit of mayo and frankly, nothing else. Take a big mound of that thrown into a nice toasted hot dog bun so you have the cool sweet lobster salad with a crispy, nice toasted bun. I mean really do you need anything more than that? If you're putting all fancy stuff into your lobster roll, you're doing it wrong. Just take the good stuff and eat the good stuff. That's what a Sullivan’s lobster roll is all about.

As a guy who grew up on the North Shore, I'm all about the fried clams and I can't believe it because here in the South Shore, they're serving some of the finest fried clams you can get. These are absolutely plump, sweet, filled with the flavor of the sea, that's a well made fried clam and it's served over a giant bed of crinkle cut French fries which of you asked me is the superior type of French fry.

Now since this place is so new and the kitchen is so big, they can do a lot of stuff here that they cannot do on Castle Island. And believe it or not, you can now get pizza at Sully’s. And this is their number one selling pie here: the Pepperoni, Ricotta, and Hot Honey. It is absolutely packed with that cup and char pepperoni which curls up a little bit so it catches all that delicious grease, some nice fresh dollops of ricotta would add that richness to it. The pizzas are made with a five cheese blend so it really stretches has a great mouthfeel and the crust gets all toasty and crispy around the edges. The hot honey just brings that sweetness and the spiciness it just rounds out the whole thing. So for a place that's known for burgers and dogs, I can't believe it but the bar pizza actually pretty awesome.

Here’s another dish you can only get at the Hanover Sullivans: the mac and cheese, specifically, the lobster mac and cheese. It's made with shell pasta studded with fresh shucked lobster meat and on top they throw on some bread crumbs. So when it comes out of the oven, it is nice and crispy and bubbly and buttery and cheesy. So it's basically an adult mac and cheese for a New Englander. I qualify for all these things. So yeah, I love it.

The good news is Sullivan’s ain't just for summertime anymore. Now you can get all your favorite foods all year round as the new Sullivan’s at Hanover Crossing. You the man, Sully.