Upscale hotdogs seems like quite a paradox but I decided to give Franktuary a try due to the availability of poutine as well as my dining partners affinity for hotdogs (get your mind out of the gutter). Everyone I know who has had poutine has raved about it and, to my knowledge, this is the only place in Pittsburgh that is serving it up.
The setup of Franktuary is very open and there are quite a few tables which was great because we didn't wait to be seated. There was a hipster ambiance to the place overall but I was already expecting that due to its location in Lower Lawrenceville. The front window located near the bar doubled as a sort of garage door that had the ability to open up and would be a terrific place to post up for some sunny afternoon cocktails. Unfortunately, I came here during a drowning January rain so I was unable to partake. After looking at the cocktail/beer menu, I will have to keep this thought buried in the back of my head for a day with better weather as the cocktails looked like they would be excellent.
I ended up ordering the Poutine Quebecois and an "Under Dog" New Yorker Style (sweet onion sauce, kraut and brown mustard). The food took longer than expected to come out which was surprising for hot dogs and fries but when it arrived it was still hot so I'll give them a pass on that. The Poutine Quebecois was first up. My first experience with this dish ended up with mixed emotions. The parts of the fries with the gravy and cheese curds were amazing but I would have liked to see more of those ingredients on the rest of the portion of fries. I'm still going to say it was quite delicious. My dog was very tasty but at close to 4.50 a dog I wanted to be absolutely blown away. Maybe I should have gone a little more adventurous with my toppings.
All in all, I think the food was pretty good and I'm going to rate this place 3 stars for the time being. However, I will add that I will be returning to try the cocktails and possibly another style of dog in the future.