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| - I love this place. I've been here with family and friends at so many points at life that I feel like going to the O was part of my experience of growing up in Pittsburgh. If it was my birthday and we were eating out, where did I want to go? The O. Where was the place I had to eat at one last time before I moved to Chicago? The O. And the great thing is that there are tons of other people who have the same feelings about this place.
What's so great about it? Well, at the very least, some of the best frickin fries I've ever had in my life, and I know my potatoes. Crispy and salty and large enough to feed a small army (or my teenage brother and 2 friends). The cheese sauce is packaged, and I don't know what kind of magical ingredient they sneak in there, because it's way more delicious than it should be. I've raved up and down about the fries to all my friends, and my favorite thing is to see their look of disbelief when I tell them about the portion size turn to wide-eyed amazement when the heaping mass of spuds is placed before them. I can't say I'm too adventurous with the menu- I've never had the philly steaks or pizza because to me the only natural accompaniment to the fries are the Super Dogs (their incredible bounce-back-when-you-bite-into-them hot dogs with cheese and bacon). It's really handy that UPMC Presbyterian is close by.
The other thing I love is that the O is unpretentious as hell and proud of it. Is it sketchy past 9 pm? Yeah, probably. Are the bathrooms gross? I've never had the courage to discover for myself, and a friend who did shuddered and wouldn't speak of the experience. But to me, that speaks for its authenticity, that it knows it's a neighborhood joint that people go to, in part, to experience some kind of Oakland rite of passage or to relive it.
Just don't schedule a doctor's appointment for the next day.
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