Would you permanently alter your body for a lifetime of free hot dogs? That’s the deal from the Silhouette Lounge in Allston, which tempts the twentysomethings and townies that frequent the beloved dive bar with a free hot dog, everyday, in perpetuity, if you get tattooed with their logo or other Silhouette Lounge insignia.
It turns out, a dozen Bostonians most definitely would. Since launching the “free hot dogs for life” promo in 2022, at least 12 people have gotten tattoos inspired by the Sil. That’s how many have tagged the Sil in photos of their tattoos on social media, at least, according to a representative of the Boston bar. “But there are more out there who just come in and show their tattoo to cash in," the rep says.
Are these tattooed people hot dog enthusiasts, barflies or body modification pros? They’re mostly just young people, having fun in the city.
“I kind of say, I did it for the bit,” says Jolie Frazer, 25, and a freelance stage manager for theater.
The student-heavy neighborhood of Allston is Boston’s grungiest, historically home to rock music venues, dive bars and a fair share of the city’s booming rodent population. It’s affectionately known as Rat City and its residents, "Allston rats." The typical Sil tattoo features a rat with wings sipping a beer, a mascot of sorts drawn by Annabelle Tocco for the Silhouette Lounge after new owners took it over a few years ago.
“I think it's a really cute tattoo,” says Frazer, who had handpoke artist Kavi recreate it on Frazer’s right arm. “I love this neighborhood, and I think it would be really funny if I got this,” she says. Frazer enjoys a good hot dog every now and then, but “honestly, I don't think I'd ever had a hot dog at the Sil before I got the tattoo.”
Charlotte Seaman, 28, estimates she’s cashed in on upwards of 20 free hot dogs at the Sil since artist Alina Gerrish MacLean inked a beer-sipping rat on her left arm last year. “I don't care about, like, the carcinogens or whatever. Hot dogs are so good,” Seaman says. But she got the tattoo for reasons bigger than that. “It was more that Allston has been a really important place for me,” says Seaman, who’s in her third year of law school at Northeastern University and is bartending at Sloane’s as well as interning with a law firm this summer.
The Sil has been a go-to place for low-key dates and friend hangs since she moved to Boston in 2020. “I like going to bars that have been there for like 30-plus years, and it's harder to find those,” Seaman says. Her first-ever roommate in Boston also has a Silhouette Lounge tattoo. Though he’s moved away now, he recently visited and she brought him by the bar to get his first free hot dog. “Part of that is just because of the time in my life, being the first place I lived as a real adult, but also part of that is because I think Allston is a really special place.”
When she’s behind the bar at Sloane’s, which opened last year in a changing part of Allston, “I get a lot of comments on it, both from people who know about the Silhouette and the promo, et cetera; and people who just think it's cute.”
The Silhouette Lounge limits tattoo bearers to one free hot dog per visit, which doesn’t constitute dinner to Seaman. “I'm not counting out one hot dog, because I think it is a great snack. But as a meal, for sure, I would need at least two,” she says. She typically tops the simple Sil sausage with mustard and ketchup, despite hearing in certain circles that ketchup on hot dogs “is only for little kids. But I think that's dumb. I'm in favor of loosening these rigid rules that we have around food,” Seaman says.
At the Silhouette Lounge, there aren’t many rules, which is partially why it’s endured as such a beloved Allston haunt for nearly 60 years. “I’ve definitely done that,” Seaman says, when asked if she’s ever handed off her free hot dog to a Sil tattoo-less friend. “I don't know if it's against the rules, but nobody saw or was mad about it.”
Hot dogs are available at the Silhouette Lounge until last call every night, for $3.50 ($2 after midnight) with the purchase of a beverage, without the benefits conferred by a Sil tattoo. (Popcorn is always free.) To celebrate National Hot Dog Day on July 17 each year, hot dogs are $1 all day at the bar, while supplies last.
