FRANKTUARY

Lawrenceville – 3810 Butler Street – Pittsburgh, PA 15201- 412.586.7224

A sunshiny day in Pittsburgh means getting out of the office and hitting up a good lunch spot.  A friend and I decided to head to Lawrenceville for some fries and dogs.  I wasn’t disappointed… bbbuuuuttttt…I also wasn’t overly impressed.  The place is beautiful—super clean and very well renovated.  The bar is nice and I would guess that this place is packed with happy hour and late night guests.  Great beer selection and good food, not great food, but definitely good. The service was great and the staff seemed knowledgable and happy to be there—always a good sign.

    

There are a handful of good veggie selections on the menu.  A veggie sausage and a vegan, tofu dog.  Every dog can come with your choice of toppings or style.

CHICAGO IMPOSTOR: Relish, tomato, banana peppers, chopped onion, yellow mustard, pickle spear, celery salt (At least they know its not a real Chicago dog, hence the name “imposter.”  They get a point for this one.)

PITTSBURGH: Smooshed pierogie, slaw

REYKJAVIK: remoulade, onion, ketchup, mustard, Onion Crunch

BOLLYWOOD:  curried cauliflower pickle, mint raita, cilantro

BANGKOK: Thai peanut sauce, pickled carrot, cilantro

CORN DOG: Under Dog or Veggie, one dipping sauce

(There are lots more styles, check them out here: http://franktuary.com/lawrenceville/menu-lawrenceville-2/)

I went with the Reykajavík veggie dog because I have this weird obsession with Iceland and Icelandic culture.  While this dog was good, I don’t think it conjured up the tastes of Iceland.  It looked really exciting when it came with lots of stuff on it, but it was lackluster in taste.  It was good, but didn’t knock my socks off like I thought it would.  The raw onions were good, but a bit overpowering on the dog.  The fried onions created a good texture, which was needed because the actual dog was pretty soft.  I sadly couldn’t taste the remoulade, which was the main reason I went with the Reykakavík.

The fries, of pommes frites as they call them, were quite good.   Local, hand-cut taters.  Good seasoning, but could have been a bit crisper.  I went with the spicy horseradish dipping sauce for the fries. That was really the winner of the whole meal.  The ketchup was weird.  My friend and I both agreed that it had some cinnamon or something off-putting in it.  Not a fan, but the horseradish sauce made up for it all.  They also had loads of other dipping sauces to choose from: garlic aioli, Miller’s mustard, horseradish, barbeque, brown gravy, bleu cheese, wasabi mayo, Thai peanut, remoulade, tahini lemon, marinara, sour cream, & sweet chili sour cream. But, be forewarned, each sauce will cost you an extra .75.  My friend had the pierogies and said they were good.  Nothing to write home about (especially in Pittsburgh) but still good.

       

Word on the street is the Franktuary has a killer Sunday Brunch.  That might just get me back in the door.

Overall Grade: B-

If you are looking for a good veggie dog and a great microbrew in a more laid back environment, I’d recommend D’s Six Pax in Regent Square.  But, if you are looking for something a bit more upscale in the hipsterfied neighborhood of Lawrenceville, then Franktuary might just be the place for you.

Franks be to god.