Pennsylvania has some crazy alcohol laws. One of these is that places that sell six packs of beer also have to sell immediately consumable food. You know, like a restaurant. Clever, enterprising humans in Pittsburgh have realized that the easiest and cheapest way to do this is through selling hot dogs, so Pittsburgh is full of crappy little hot dog spots with overpriced beer. Despite the name, D’s Six Pax & Dogz is not one of these places.
The name seems like such a relic from the nineties that I can’t understand why Dogz isn’t spelled Dawgz. Alas, the D’s has a great reputation in the city so it is way beyond changing the name. For starters, it has a Beer Cave that you can wander into to grab a drink for your meal. The options are pretty good and the prices are very reasonable.
The food is a great variety of what you’d expect to find at a sports bar, with the addition of some pretty creative hot dogs. For my dog, I ordered a Chihuahua. This came topped with creamy avocado, salsa, cheddar, jalapenos and salsa. As with all dogs here, it came with a choice of tube steak and I went with D’s Brat-Cheesy Bratwurst. It came with fries for just 50 cents more. The verdict? Awesome. Like all around. It was everything a hot dog should be and all in perfect balance. But I wasn’t finished, because a hot dog and fries are not enough for me.
I followed up the hot dog with a split order of wings. Because I was splitting, we settled on BBQ instead of the spicy wings I would typically prefer. Nonetheless, these were some stellar wings. They were cooked to a perfect crisp on the outside with plenty of juice inside. They were plenty meaty and I got the sense that they would have nailed spicy wings as well. They came with celery, but since I was splitting I couldn’t do much about it.
Finally, I had myself a side of Mac ‘N Cheese because I am nothing if not a glutton. This dish was probably the least impressive of all, but it wasn’t disappointing. It was just straight-up good mac with no frills. I’m a man who can handle no frills, especially when it only costs me $2.50.
So there it is. D’s Six Pax & Dogz might just be the perfect place to eat American food. After all, what’s more American than beer caves, hot dogs, wings and mac and cheese? It is a beautiful thing and I am already planning my return.
