Station Street Hot Dogs is an upscale hot dog joint opened by Salt of the Earth chef Kevin Sousa. I'm pretty sure this is the first time something like this has existed in Pittsburgh. The menu consists of 8 different hot dogs that range in adventurousness and price from the House Dog ($4) to the Sweetbread Dog ($9). They also have fresh-cut fries that you can get fried in duck fat if you choose. Of course, I went for the craziest thing on the menu which was the Sweetbread Dog. Fried thymus/pancreas doesn't normally come to mind when I think hot dogs, but I've had delicious sweetbreads at Salt of the Earth so I was confident this would be worth trying. It was a 100% beef hot dog topped with sweetbreads, apple mostarda, pepper relish, and shallots. The sweetness of the apple mostarda contrasted perfectly with the spiciness of the pepper relish. The sweetbreads were delicious and again cooked perfectly. It would not be an exaggeration to state that this was the best hot dog that I've had in my life.
Station Street offers take-out or you can sit on bar stools at the counter that wraps around the windows of the restaurant. Bear in mind that there are no tables. I saw a family with smaller children who were struggling to sit at the counter.
At the moment there's no liquor license, but Chef Sousa has stated that this will change at some point in the future. He's also stated that the menu will rotate depending upon the freshness of available ingredients (I can't wait to try his Chicago Dog when tomatoes are back in season).
I spent 17 years of my life living in the 15206 zip code so I think it's just tremendous that Chef Sousa has now opened 3 businesses here. It's revitalizing the neighborhood, creating jobs, and giving Pittsburghers even more choices for a delicious meal.