“Franks be to God…”

In Pittsburgh at the moment (here’s why, and yes it went very well thank you). And when you’re in Pittsburgh as a roving reporter for the Wibsite, what do you do? You check out unusual restaurants with unusual Christian connections, that’s what you do.

[Hot Dogma poster]And you know you’ve hit the jackpot when you (or, rather, your wife) stumbles across Hot Dogma. To say it’s a hot dog restaurant in a cathedral gets you part of the way to a description, but that’s by no means the whole story. Hot Dogma was set up nearly two years ago, replacing the cathedral’s bookshop, as a means of financing the planting of house churches throughout Pittsburgh. From the off its unusual setup and fine, fine frankfurters gained the attention of the press and the support of the locals and tourists. No doubt this was helped by its highly professional marketing and superb graphic design, but I can’t honestly say I’ve tasted a better hot dog. And with choices like a vegetarian hot dog sausage covered in beef chilli sauce (called, of course, The Hypocrite), exactly what is there to dislike?

It’s a lot of fun, too. I’m no expert on these things, but I’d guess that it probably boasts the only ‘Wall of Wieners’ in any cathedral anywhere (oh relax; it’s a gallery of photos of visitors dressed in hot dog hats and the restaurant’s own hot dog costume. See? Perfectly normal). It throws in a free hot-dog shaped jelly sweet with your order. It even gives its visitors free wi-fi. Hot Dogma’s great; it’s a fantastic example of a church filling a gap, doing it thoroughly professionally, and actually enjoying serving the community. Were I actually living here, I suspect I’d be a regular. After all, exactly how many dining places do you know that have a blog as good as theirs?

5 thoughts on ““Franks be to God…”

  1. Thanks rain – I’ve corrected the link.

    Ian, I hope I’ve never used the phrase ‘native integration’ in conversation with you, but my job is basically this: I get computers to speak Welsh. Hope that’s fairly clear…

    And nessa, yes, the prices are great.

    Six four and even…

  2. I MUST GO TO HOT DOGMA!!! wow! thank you so much for that link! their website/blog/menu looks great. i ‘ve never gone to pittsburg (and i call myself a pennsylvanian, pah!) but if i do go, you know where i’ll be eating. i’d like a ‘new yorker’ hot dog please. (prices not bad either)

  3. You are one of my closest friends. But no matter how many times you explain your job, or I read about it, I still just don’t understand. I thought I almost latched onto something when you started talking about native integration – sounds more anthropological – but then realised we were still on getting clever machines to do clever things. Which I can’t understand.

  4. the link re: why you’re in pittsburgh didn’t work from my end, but i’m guessing it had something to do with a presentation/conference re: technology? if so, how exciting. i laughed out loud re: your title… it’s something one of my (pre-school) students would say 🙂 Never knew there were so many Frank choices… good to know – travel safely 🙂

  5. A TFN is a tax file number. It wasn’t anything exciting. I think I mentioned it as a Tax File Number and then everyone who commented after that called it a TFN.

    Thanks for the hot dogma blog it was awesome and such a great idea.

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