Hot diggity dawg.
If you’re looking for somewhere to go for generous American-style burgers, hot dogs, shakes, fries and zero restraint on the Bellarine, Piggy Smalls is it.
If you’re not familiar with these guys, they’ve been feeding Keilor East locals since the before times, back in 2019.
After running successful restaurants around Melbourne over the last decade, the owners of Piggy Small had a dream to open a funky burger and hotdog restaurant with a point of difference and some serious American flair.
Starting as just a pilot outlet in Keilor, the team spent the better part of the last year refining their menu (during a pandemic) before expanding their unique brand, opening stores in Essendon, Altona, and Caroline Springs.
Now they’re bringing that American-style burger concept to Ocean Grove. They’ve taken over Shop 6 in the Kingston Village Square in Ocean Grove, directly opposite the main car park and near Woolies. That evening pre-dinner shop just got a little bit harder…
The key takeaways
- Piggy Smalls opens in Ocean Grove
- The Melbourne-born business kicked off back in 2019 and has since earnt a solid reputation for their loaded dogs
- You’ll find the burger bar in the Kingston Village Square
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While Keilor East operated with only an outdoor dining area, the Ocean Grove store is bigger than the original with a proper 40-seat diner open seven days a week, taking cues from their Essendon diner.
While the locations vary, the standard of the food remains consistent every time, with an American-style menu filled with classic and reinvented burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, Philly cheesesteaks and Smokey Bourbon BBQ ribs.
If you’re here for the hot dogs, there are six different wieners that you can relish, with the classic American Mustard and Tomato sauce; the Brooklyn; the Messy Piggy with chilli con carne, melted cheese and jalapeno; the Bad Boys; Tokyo Drift; the Vegan Boys Dog; and our personal favourite, The Hangover, with pickles, jalapeno, crispy bacon, Frank hot sauce glaze, pickled onions, melted cheese and American mustard. Simply round it out with your choice of filling (hot dog, beef sausage or cheese Kransky) and you’re good to go.
For Piggy Smalls burger first-timers, we’d recommend something simple like The Piggy Burger, or The Cheese Burger which gets you a gnarly Wagyu beef patty, American cheese, pickles, mustard and tomato sauce. Pretty standard stuff, but well-executed.
People with a few more burgers under their belt (guilty as charged) should probably tackle their most beefed-up options, like the Notorious: crispy fried buttermilk chicken, wagyu beef patty, crispy bacon, lettuce, southern slaw, tomatoes, American cheese, jalapenos and piggy sauce. Or, the Bronx Stack, with double wagyu beef patties, lettuce, tomatoes, double American cheese, bacon, caramelised onions, jalapenos, mustard and special piggy sauce. It’s a belt-busting mouthful.
If you’re not feeling a dog or a burger, there’s also an exhaustive list of Philly Cheese Steaks, finger-licking chicken ribs, buffalo wings, calamari, nachos, beef or pork ribs, Wagyu Scotch fillet, chicken parma or schnitty, as well as mac and cheese balls, pulled pork open donuts (yes!), crunchy onion rings, sweet potato chips, and loaded piggy fries. Oh and there’s a kids menu with a bunch of piglet sized meals.
For the Veggos, Piggy Smalls’ has you well looked after. You can rock ‘What Beef? The Veggie’ Philly cheesesteak (with the option of vegan cheese), plant-based dogs, vegan pulled pork, vegan crispy chicken and beefless patties.
As we all know, milkshakes are an essential part of the burger-eating experience so rest assured they’ve got some serious cheek-puckering deluxe shakes, including the Nutella Ripple, Salted Caramel Crunch, Strawberry Delight, and the Mega Oreo (seriously, look at them here), alongside a list of your standard shakes and some pretty tasty looking desserts. Our eyes are on the Sticky Date Pudding…
Ocean Grove, pop on your stretchy pants and paint the town red.
Piggy Smalls is located at Shop 6, 122 Grub Road, Kingston Village Square, Ocean Grove and is open for dine-in or takeaway. Visit the website for more info.
