While walking onto Oliver Avenue from Wood Street, the Downtown visitor will see a tan church to their left, with a hot dog shop sign near the end of the street.
After walking into the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s entrance, some may think they are headed to liturgy, but the sound of food sizzling and people chatting are close by.
Inside Franktuary, customers are lined up, eager to taste some favorites, such as the New Yorker, as the sound of Irish music and the scent of fresh soup fill the air.
“It’s different than anything you get Downtown, so that helps,” said Lori King, a 32-year-old Plum Borough native and friend of employee Megan Lindsey.
Opening its doors in 2004, Franktuary continues to serve local favorites, like the Pittsburgher, among other vegetable and all-beef hot dog varieties to Pittsburgh visitors.
The restaurant’s start came during Lindsey’s senior year of college when she collaborated with her friend, Tim Tobitsch, after realizing that they “weren’t going to get traditional jobs” after graduation. The two graduated and moved to South Side with some friends, testing various dishes out in their kitchen before finally settling on menu items and opening their eatery, with the whole process taking about a year-and-a-half. The space located in the cathedral opened, and they knew that it was meant for them, noting that it was affordable and worked well.
“The church has been gracious in letting us modify things,” Lindsey said.
They started out with the name Hot Dogma, but Lindsey and Tobitsch had to change the name after an agreement was reached with a Miami restaurant owner, which did not seem to affect anything about the business.
The staff, seeming to be a close-knit group, consists of four employees, with Tobitsch being the fifth, though he has moved back home and only comes to Pittsburgh a few times a month to take care of business while regularly corresponding with Lindsey.
“Everyone is familiar with what a hot dog is,” said Derek Zanetti, 25-year-old employee and South Side resident. “They’re easily accessible. Everybody eats hot dogs; if you don’t eat hot dogs, we have awesome vegetarian hot dogs for vegans and vegetarians.”
