In the year 1915, World War I was in full swing, women still couldn’t vote in our fine country and Thyphoid Mary was doing her thing. Oh and Station Street opened in Pittsburgh. But considering the place is run by local celeb chef Kevin Sousa, it’s safe to assume the place has changed. In fact, it even seems to have changed recently, adding street food like tacos and bibimbap (both of which probably didn’t exist in the Pittsburgh lexicon in 1915) to its list already extensive list of hot dogs.
I decided to stick with the classics, starting with a Chili Cheese Dog. At Station Street the chili comes from Union Pig and Chicken’s brisket and the cheese is of the curd variety as opposed shreddings or sauce. There’s also onions, but I ordered without. I found the hot dog to have a great snap and the cheese curds were a fantastic addition. The only trouble was the chili itself, which had sizable chunks of tomato that go against my liking, as all my fair readers should know.
But the hot dog wasn’t enough, I I also needed some fries and chose to get those in the form of Poutine. Again, the cheese curds were in full use, in addition to gravy that comes from the same brisket used for the chili. It was a bit on the salty side, but the fries stayed nice and crispy through the whole eating process. Yet, the gravy was tasty and this was easily the closest to real Canadian poutine I’ve had so far.
In all, the Station Street experience treated me well, despite its obvious changes from 1915. It’s like a cool, hipster hot dog spot and is very welcome even in a city with a lot of great dogs.
