Dor-Stop (Pittsburgh - Dormont off W. Liberty)

We love breakfast, and (obviously, given our last few posts) we love diners. This place is just awesome. Very tasty food that it seems the people cooking actually care about what you are putting in your mouth. It's refreshing when you can tell that while dining.

If this place isn't a Pittsburgh institution, it should be, and after 20 years, it should be.

M had their hot meatloaf sandwich. L generally shies away from meatloaf. It was divine ("though, not as good as my Mom's." -M).

L had their apple walnut pancakes. So fresh, so tasty, so apple-y! Everything tasted fresh -- the potatoes, the eggs, everything.

It was packed! The waitress was nice even on a very busy day. And the layout is very tight, so this has to be stressful for the waitresses.

We met a couple their with the family and kids. They said they loved going to eat here as often as they could. With kids, it's pricey. For DC'ers, it seemed regular dining pricing ($20-25 for two with tip). We're reminded: A) How lucky we are we can eat out and try all these new places, and B) How different pricing can be. For me (L), that gets lost in writing these up. While this is for us, we shouldn't take this for granted. They were very nice people, too.

Cost
$$

Cleanliness
Notably clean, but very tightly packed

Service
Good.

Pluses
The food
Nice people

Minuses
Tightly packed seating
Street parking

Overall value
Definitely a bright spot and the positive online ratings are well deserved. We would definitely try to get back next time we're in Pgh.

Eat'n Park (Pittsburgh - Dormont/W. Liberty)

M's favorite Eat'n Park. LOVES the SuperBurger because of their "sauce supreme." While I fully doubt the sauce master cannot recreate this, "the sauce to sandwich ratio cannot be replicated. It simply is not the sum of its parts. It's near magical." (Note: any of you readers really have no idea how spot-on M is in recreating nearly any sauce. -L) Granted, M is right -- there is no place we've eaten at (and that's a LOT of places) that does the "sauce supreme" on their burger and that alone does make it special. And it's a darn tasty burger!

The other nice thing about Eat'n Park -- and I'm speaking to you who miss the "old" Shoney's -- you'll LOVE Eat'n Park. They have a breakfast bar. And it's good. There's history we won't go into. Keep in mind that this blog's for us to remember places... Ah, memories.

Cost 

$$

Cleanliness
Clean-ish. I'm sure some days are better than others.

Service
I'm sure some days are better than others.

Pluses 

The one-and-only SuperBurger.
Breakfast bar.
Nice diner feeling.

Minuses 

Service and cleanliness are spotty.
Can definitely be on the spendy side.

Overall value

Nostalgia, my friends. If it's just another eatery to you, then you likely can find other places, but there's something about this place for us.

Primanti Brothers (Pittsburgh - Strip District)

Don't quite get the fuss. Okay -- so cole slaw and fries are all IN the sandwich... *blink-blink* Curious if they've changed the cole slaw over the years to be less !!cole slaw!! and more cabbage and mayo.

 

The prices are pretty reasonable (approx. $6/sandwich) and the meats were fresh, tasty, and plentiful. So kudos to them for that. But again, what's the fuss? We've tried it, and at the original shop (though HIGHLY renovated to more than double the size and very tourist friendly), so we can now say, "Yeah, we've been there, too". But, we're not going out of our way to go back.

The murals were awesome and framed newsprints from famed sports icons took M back years.  The remodel was beautiful but removes the "old diner" flavor.

Cost 

$-$$

Cleanliness
Pretty clean. It's a diner-style place; hole-in-the-wall. Immaculate in that case. We sat at the bar so we saw first-hand the main cook area.

Service
Uncool. We should have stayed at the bar in the other area. This isn't The South, so expectations shouldn't be high. See sentence 2 in "cleanliness", though surprising for a tourist joint. 

M says back in the day, there was an old man yelling and there was a diner-esque charm to that -- "I'm eating down with the WORKERS." That charms gone -- sterilized.

Pluses 

Large portions of meat.

Fresh and hot off the grill.

Mostly open kitchen.

Quick service.

Minuses 

Cash only.
Sterile feeling despite local color and visual character. Maybe we should have sat on the other side (bar side)...

Overall value

Price-wise, it's average to good. It's an experience. For us, there's nothing calling us back.
MAY go back for the breakfast special, but Lidia's breakfast special (on the Strip near the new Wholey's) looked very intriguing.