Here's the cool thing about doing this Triple D thing...it isn't just Ben and I who are makin' the rounds. My sisters were really the ones who got us into Food Network, and we all love Guy, it was just Ben and I who decided to really crank these trips into a legit goal, but occasionally our schedule works out that we're able to get everybody to some stops. It's actually fun 'cuz my sisters have started keeping track of how many places they've been to too. So around mid-June, my family were swinging into Pittsburgh for my brother-in-law's birthday, and my oldest sister had seen "this place with amazing breakfast food" on an episode she was watching, so we decided that we'd head to the Dor-Stop while she was in town. Dormont is another one of those weird suburbs of Pittsburgh that is still technically in the Pittsburgh zip code, but is really it's own little area. It's kind of like this little town that refuses to become part of the city, and still has the small town feel from the small antique shops right down to the local diner that everyone flocks to every weekend...the Dor-Stop.The Dor-Stop has been the go-to breakfast joint for Dormont locals for 23 years, and what put them on the map were their pancakes--or hotcakes as Vicki Lawhorne calls them. The Lawhorne's decided in the mid-80's that they really wanted a diner of their own, because as Vicki says she's a diner person, she cooks like she's in a diner, talks like she's in a diner, she is 100% diner. According to Vicki what really defines her as a diner owner is that the recipe they're most famous for isn't really a recipe at all...their hotcakes are different with every order because she just eyeball
s the batter, but trust me she doesn't make mistakes, none of us had a bad pancake. Now the most popular question they get at the Dor-Stop is why that name?? They've gotten asked so many times that they've put the answer on the menu and on the tables. To make a long story short they took the beginning of the town=DOR and combined it with the fact that they are in close proximity to the Dormont Transit STOP, put the two together and you've got the Dor-Stop. Regardless of how they got the name though, the food they're cranking out is enough to put a line out the door anyday of the week. We got there around 10am on a Saturday morning and there was a line out the door! There wasn't even enough room inside to wait, because trust this place is tiny, but they pack in as many people as the fire marshall will allow. Now you can choose to sit outside, but when you've got a party of 9 to cram in an outside table isn't really possible. What's really cool about the people at the Dor-Stop though is they take care of you even before you've sat down. A waitress came out and brought everyone coffee while they waited and made sure they had a menu to keep them busy. Despite the number of people there though we only waited 20 minutes and then we were in for the best pancakes I've ever had.
s the batter, but trust me she doesn't make mistakes, none of us had a bad pancake. Now the most popular question they get at the Dor-Stop is why that name?? They've gotten asked so many times that they've put the answer on the menu and on the tables. To make a long story short they took the beginning of the town=DOR and combined it with the fact that they are in close proximity to the Dormont Transit STOP, put the two together and you've got the Dor-Stop. Regardless of how they got the name though, the food they're cranking out is enough to put a line out the door anyday of the week. We got there around 10am on a Saturday morning and there was a line out the door! There wasn't even enough room inside to wait, because trust this place is tiny, but they pack in as many people as the fire marshall will allow. Now you can choose to sit outside, but when you've got a party of 9 to cram in an outside table isn't really possible. What's really cool about the people at the Dor-Stop though is they take care of you even before you've sat down. A waitress came out and brought everyone coffee while they waited and made sure they had a menu to keep them busy. Despite the number of people there though we only waited 20 minutes and then we were in for the best pancakes I've ever had. Inside there are tons of tiny tables as close together as possible, and the walls are covered with pictures from when the town was being built and the railroads came in, plus tons of black and white pictures of old little league teams, so there's plenty to look at. The kitchen is right in the dining room and you can see the cooks going crazy on the line trying to make as many hotcakes as possible to keep everyone happy. Now most of us got hotcake
s, but that didn't mean we all ate the same thing...there are at leat 10 different options for pancakes (so many choices Guy called this place the Pancake Jungle) on the menu so we all got something a little different. My sister got the Banana Oatmeal, which had this awesome texture that you really can't describe. My brother-in-law and I both got the Pumpkin, and let me tell you these things tasted like cake, no joke. They were crisp but soft and kinda dense, but so good, trust me I think about these things on a weekly basis. Now the pancakes aren't the only famous thing here. After they were open for a few years, people started to want something a little different from pancakes, so one of the managers whipped up one of the best things on their menu, the Raspberry Stuffed French Toast. My other sister and Ben got this, and then we all split out meals. The french toast is coated with corn flakes so they're really crunchy, then covered with a raspberry cream cheese and sauce, it's practically like eating dessert for breakfast. But if a sweet breakfast isn't what you're looking for don't worry...just try the jumbot. No
w on Triple D this meal goes by a couple names, garbage plates, schultzy's mess, but at the Dor-Stop it's the jumbot. A crazy combination of eggs, potatoes, tomato, peppers, cheese, ham, and sausage, pretty much everything you can imagine, and when you put it together it's insane. We got one as an appetizer so everyone could try it, cuz that's what we try to do when we have enough people--sample a little bit of everything Guy tried, and with 9 people that's what we were able to do. This place is going to be a regular stop whenever we're in Pittsburgh, in fact I'll probably be there this weekend, now I just have to decide between the pancakes and the french toast...how does one Food Network fan make that kind of decision???
s, but that didn't mean we all ate the same thing...there are at leat 10 different options for pancakes (so many choices Guy called this place the Pancake Jungle) on the menu so we all got something a little different. My sister got the Banana Oatmeal, which had this awesome texture that you really can't describe. My brother-in-law and I both got the Pumpkin, and let me tell you these things tasted like cake, no joke. They were crisp but soft and kinda dense, but so good, trust me I think about these things on a weekly basis. Now the pancakes aren't the only famous thing here. After they were open for a few years, people started to want something a little different from pancakes, so one of the managers whipped up one of the best things on their menu, the Raspberry Stuffed French Toast. My other sister and Ben got this, and then we all split out meals. The french toast is coated with corn flakes so they're really crunchy, then covered with a raspberry cream cheese and sauce, it's practically like eating dessert for breakfast. But if a sweet breakfast isn't what you're looking for don't worry...just try the jumbot. No
w on Triple D this meal goes by a couple names, garbage plates, schultzy's mess, but at the Dor-Stop it's the jumbot. A crazy combination of eggs, potatoes, tomato, peppers, cheese, ham, and sausage, pretty much everything you can imagine, and when you put it together it's insane. We got one as an appetizer so everyone could try it, cuz that's what we try to do when we have enough people--sample a little bit of everything Guy tried, and with 9 people that's what we were able to do. This place is going to be a regular stop whenever we're in Pittsburgh, in fact I'll probably be there this weekend, now I just have to decide between the pancakes and the french toast...how does one Food Network fan make that kind of decision???Check out all the hotcake flavors and the clip of the Jumbot..
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