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| - Located up Potomac from the hotel my girlfriend and I were staying at, and just past the train stop into downtown, Dor-Stop was an easy choice for breakfast when doing my pre-trip food research. Getting its name from the bedroom community it's located in, Dormont, it benefits from a charming mini-downtown area immediately around it, as well as lots of brick houses, although some have seenbetter days.
Dor-Stop is diner chic through and through, serving the breakfast and lunch crowds only. Nic nacs and local sports teams' placards adorn the walls, as well as a proudly displayed signed poster from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives after that show's stop here. A mix of booths, tables and a few counter seats could cram several dozen people in.
You don't have to do any research about what's popular here, just take a look at a good chunk of the menu or what the person next to you is eating: the hotcakes. With a dozen options, there's a lot of choice and they're all tempting. I settled on the apple walnut hot cakes with sausage on the side. We didn't have to wait long but it felt like a while hungrily watching all the delicious looking food come out of the open kitchen or sitting in the window.
Once in front of me, I was staring at three thick hot cakes with apples chunks and walnuts cooked into them and topped with icing sugar, along with two sausage rounds. The hot cakes were utterly fantastic, with a pleasing denseness but with just enough air in them to keep them from being chewy, The apples were cooked perfectly, soft but not mushy, and along with the walnuts added some texture. I was initially disappointed that the sausage came in round form instead of links as they tend to be drier, but these were nicely browned and still juicy, albeit a bit too greasy.
My girlfriend went for the lunch time food, getting the Chick 'O' Philly hoagie which came with sliced chicken breast, sauteed mushrooms, onions and green peppers, tomato lettuce and Swiss cheese. It was a winning combination of ingredients and the thick bun made for a even heftier sandwich, and as a good sandwich should be it was greater than the sum of its parts. The fries it came with were a solid entry - lightly browned, thick cut but still nice and crispy.
On a return trip, I went with the plain hot cakes and they were just as good as the apple walnut ones, a sign of great fundamentals when you're doing something as seemingly basic as a hot cake. Kudos.
Service was friendly and attentive, with a ton of coffee top ups. You'll be challenged to get past half empty in your cup at any point in the meal.
Dor-Stop seemed like just a convenient spot to fuel up for a day of tourism but turned out to be a damned good spot with memories of its own: the best pancakes I've ever had.
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