Kelly O's--Triple D goes to the Strip Mall???

If you want to see two people disagree about a restaurant, bring up Kelly O's in front of Ben and I. This was by far our most contested visit. Usually our impressions of a place are pretty similar--it's rare that one of us walks away having hated our meal and the other loving it--that's part of the fun of Triple D is that our taste in food is similar enough that it's rare one of us is left disappointed. This, unfortunately, was not the case when we decided to head to the North Hills of Pittsburgh to discover the hidden diner among a cluttered strip mall...welcome to Kelly O's.

We had spent a long day at Kennywood in the indecisive weather, which fluctuated all day between blistering heat and torrential down pours. We knew we were getting to the end of my summer working in Pittsburgh, and still had two more stops to make if we were going to get through Pittsburgh Triple D before I left to go back to Michigan. So we decided that we would bug out of Kennywood early and make the trek up to the North Hills in an attempt to make it to Kelly O's before they closed at 5. Now what made this a tough trip was that neither of us were particularly looking forward to it...in all honesty we were more nervous as odd as that may sound. Guy sampled a curious range of things at Kelly O's--none of which were overly appealing for us--mush (bad for Ben), polenta with veal bolognse sauce (bad for me), and Haluski (something neither of us had heard of). So we headed up with some hesitation...Ben more so than me, because here's the thing...I was intrigued by the Haluski, Ben however, hates cabbage and was wondering if he was going to be screwed out of a good dinner.

What's most impressive about Kelly O's though is that Kelly O'Connell has developed a popular diner in the middle of a strip mall, with ZERO restaurant experience. She just decided after years of waitressing that she wanted her own place, so she got a loan, and started her diner. Now she's a member of a group called the "Diner Ladies..." 3 or 4 women in Pittsburgh who all own diners and are doin' things their own way. Kelly O's is hands down the winner when it comes to the restaurant that has embraced it's Triple D affiliation the most. They have signs all over the place, it's on their shirts, they have a collage of pics from Guy's visit, a shirt he signed framed on the wall, and little mini menus on the table of just the stuff he featured. They love that Triple D has put them more on the map than they already were, and you can tell they're grateful. One word of advice I'd give to future visitors though...for a full Kelly O's experience...go early in the day, because then you won't be the only people in the place. At 4:30 on a Saturday, a half hour before closing, we were the only people there, and our waiter knew from our order that we were Triple D trekkers. The place is really cute though, with a classic diner bar with silver bar stools and black and white checkered tile. It feels homey. What was really cool was that they have a guest book for people to sign, and it was here we got to really see that we were definitely not the only people making the Triple D rounds. It makes you feel a bit connected to something outside of yourself--I know it sounds corny, but we've actually met some pretty cool people at places just from talking about Guy. Alright, so let's get down to it...what happened during this divisive dinner???

The menu for lunch/dinner is small (if I could ever convince Ben to go back-I'd go for breakfast, another piece of advice for future visitors). We ordered dominantly off of the Triple D menu, and like we've talked about before we're becoming soup people thanks to Triple D. Kelly O's speciality is Turkey Pot Pie soup, and it's exactly what it sound like. Homemade crumbled pieces of pot pie crust on top of a thick, creamy soup of peas, carrots, and chicken. We both agreed on this part of the meal that it was really, really good. For me, anything with crust on it is a-ok so it would've been tough to displease me. So here's the deal...like I said...I was intrigued by the Haluski. Ben's usually the adventurous eater out of the two of us, I like to play it safe. What I love about Triple D is that it makes me expand my culinary boundaries, and at Kelly O's I decided to do just that. It's not that Haluski is particularly crazy, but for me it's out of the normal realm of dinner choices. A Polish staple, at Kelly O's it's made with egg noodles, cabbage, onion, bacon, asiago cheese and a lot of butter. This was honestly probably the biggest serving of food I've ever gotten at a Triple D restaurant (just look at the picture!! Ignore my hair--remember blistering heat and rain earlier, it doesn't make for a great picture) I couldn't finish my dinner. It was actually really, really good, but it was one of those meals I didn't appreciate until I'd had some distance from it. I didn't realize until the next day, when I was still thinking about it that I realized I had really liked my out of the ordinary pick. Ben, however, was nothing short of unimpressed. He got a cheesesteak and fries, nothing too crazy, but then it ended up being not too great either. It wasn't bad...but when you've been spoiled with meals like we've had at other visits, it was kind of a let down. It was a visit that didn't go quite as planned, and it was a bit disappointing, but it did leave us with some great Triple D swag...they loaded us up with bumper stickers, pens, all sorts of stuff they'd gotten made after Guy's visit. So if you were to ask me if you should visit, I'd say yes. Go try the Haluski or go for breakfast and see if Kelly O's lives up to it's "Nice Eggs" motto emblazoned on their t-shirts, form your own opinion, maybe we were there on an off day. If you were to ask Ben...well, it wouldn't be a great response, but here's what we both figure...this is a long road trip we're on and not everywhere is going to be perfect, but if we were to skip them the trip wouldn't be complete...and hey I tried something new which made the trip worth it for me.

Form your own opinions folks:

http://www.kellyos.com/

Hillbilly Hot Dogs--"We've got the weenies!"

It has been far far too long...For those wondering if I'd simply jumped ship, fear not, I simply allowed myself to slack off far too much...if you were wondering if the road trips has ceased, again fear not. It is February 21, 2010--and we have just come off a Triple D day yesterday, and our next stop will be a watermark for us...for alas our next trip will bring us to restaurant #20. That's right, in less than a year we will have reached 20 spots--assuming all goes as planned, which hopefully we will. Reinspired by this upcoming milestone, our day spent in Baltimore re-invigorating our love of Triple D, and a first time viewing of Julie & Julia, I am re-committing to this joyous ride that has taken us to places we never quite expected. So...previously I had left us wandering around the streets of Huntington, WV after an extremely low-key meal at the Central City Cafe. In pure Triple D fashion, our next stop in West Virginia--the only other Triple D joint in West Virginia--took us to what is still the strangest, most unique, and quite insane place we've been thus far. This place was really the reason for the road trip in the first place. If you travel about 20 miles north of Huntington, you will see a highway exit for the small town of Lesage. I can't say for sure whether we actually say the town of Lesage, but we for sure saw one of it's claims to fame--possibly it's only claim to fame. If you weren't paying attention you would probably pass by the road side shack (that truly is the only word for this place) and possibly question what on earth was that place with all the junk in the front yard...but if you know what you're looking for you will find yourself in the gravel parking lot of Hillbilly Hot Dogs...the original hot dog stand that now has outlets in Huntington and LaValette.

If you watch Triple D, you may remember this place as the home of the HOOOOOOOOMEWREEEECKER where everyone eats inside of old school buses covered in graffiti. If you don't watch Triple D, let me try to explain. Hillbilly Hot Dogs is the brain child of Sonny and Sharie. Sonny's a West Virginia by birth, and when he moved to California he met Sharie. They decided after they got married that all they really wanted to do was head back to West Virgnia and do something where they could simply be together. The result a 12x16 shack that they affectionately labeled "The Weenie Stand." Opened on September 6, 1999--Hillbilly Hot Dogs was so named because they wanted something that epitomized hillbilly kickin back, taking it easy, and loving life. They wanted their customers to be comfortable, to relax, to not feel constrained by typical restaurant stuffiness. So the bought a couple old school buses, attached them to the shack, and they had instant seating. They put any and every kind of scrap antique and collectible they could find inside the shack and when that was full they started putting stuff outside. From the wall covered in 8 tracks to the tree outside completely covered in license plates it's hard to miss this place. They decided to let their customers leave their mark, so they started laying out permanent markers and letting people go to town. A decade later--there isn't an inch of space on any surface of the place that hasn't been enshrined with the names of happy customers. This is by far the most laid back, comfortable place we've ever visited, and they're more than happy to embrace the publicity Triple D has given them--from the place on the front door where Guy signed his name and wrote in big letters, "DINERS DRIVE-INS AND DIVES WAS HERE" to the continuous loop of their clip, Sonny and Sharie are nothing short of grateful for all the people the show has guided to their little place. We met a few other people who were there because of Triple D, including a couple celebrating their 10th anniversary with a Triple D trek. We goofed around with Sonny, who when asked if they took credit replied they took anything from spare tires to chickens. When Ben asked if they took girlfriends, Sonny gave me a wink and said sure, I could use another one with Sharie. The menu is impossible to choose from, but it's so cheap (the cheapest we've found in fact) that you can order 3 or 4 different hot dogs and not break the bank.

Now HHD is famous for the Homewrecker--featured on Travel Channel as well as Food Network. It's a 3 1/2 pound hot dog loaded with every topping they have and if you finish it in 12 minutes or less you get a free t-shirt. Now in all honesty, we debated it, but we decided we'd rather explore the menu. We went with an order of beer battered onion rings to split--which were thickly breaded, hot, and yuuuuummmmy. Honestly probably the 2nd best onion rings I've ever had (gimme a couple more posts and you'll see the best). Then we both got 2 dogs each, allowing us to sample 4 from their menu of over 20 options. Ben went with a classic and with a crazy--The Out Wayne Dog and the Taco Dog. The Out Wayne is a bit more traditional, but still a bit nuts, covered in nacho cheese, homemade chili, bacon, onion and jalapenos. The taco dog is exactly what it sounds like--jalapenos, nacho cheese (can you tell he likes nacho cheese??), crushed nacho chips, homemade chili, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese. Essentially a taco on a hot dog, and amazingly it was really good. I went with a classic and then broke out of hot dog tradition--The West Virginia Dog and Pistol Pete's Chicken Parmesan. The West Virginia dog is a classic in the world of hot dog stands--homemade chili, mustard, onions, and cole slaw. Now I usually can't eat hot dogs without ketchup, but this absolutely didn't need it. The cole slaw was cool and creamy, and gave the dog a nice crunchy texture. The only warning I would give is, if you don't like your hot dog buns mushy, eat anything with cole slaw first, because it gets mushy quick--I made that mistake. My other choice was out of the ordinary, but sounded too good to pass up. Pistol Pete's dog is a chicken tender on a hot dog bun, with a mozzarella stick, marinara sauce, and shredded cheese. It sounds crazy, but honestly this has been one of my favorite things I've ever eaten courtesy of Triple D. Hey anything with a cheese stick on it can't be bad right?? We ate in the middle of a school bus and etched our names on a window and on our table. It was crazy and fun and weird and soooooooooo good. Ben still talks about driving the 4 hours from Pittsburgh just to go there again...it was that good. So if you're in West Virginia looking for a place to kick up your heels and tap into your inner hillbilly, go visit Sonny and Sharie and write your name inside the bus!

Don't believe how crazy this place is, see for yourself...

http://www.hillbillyhotdogs.com/