# The "O" is closing. (Pittsburgh). Wailing and gnashing of teeth. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135 "2020-04-19T18:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/21 "2020-04-20T23:23:25Z")
I spent all of my Pittsburgh years living on the airport side of the Fort Pitt tunnels, so I didn’t eat at (or more accurately, from) the O often, but it always meant a great time with friends was in progress when I did. Always late at night, sometimes a little tipsy. We ordered pizza and a ton of cheese fries to take back to my friend’s place after his bachelor party, for example. I think the Dirty O means that for everyone: good times with your friends, particularly if you and your friends were on the poor side. Fries by the literal shovelful! How did no one else here mention how the fries were served by the LITERAL shovelful!?!? 😃 Oddly, I never had a hot dog there. Truly, a Pittsburgh institution has come to an end, and the city is poorer for its passing. I knew the coronavirus was going to change a lot of things that we might never think of, and in the scheme of things this is not important, but taken on its own, it’s a sad day. Yet more of my youth passing from the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/22 "2020-04-20T23:41:00Z")
Peanut oil is the best frying medium. If it’s fresh you can cook fries forever before they burn. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/23 "2020-04-20T23:41:03Z")
I’m really hoping that Steakadelphia doesn’t close its doors for good. Best cheesesteak in town along with a food cart downtown. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/24 "2020-04-20T23:43:54Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Oops, I’d just assumed there was some regional variation. What was on a O-dog with everything? Cheese (using this awesome steamer I have never seen anywhere else), Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard, Relish. Kraut. Maybe pickles, too - I don’t remember. I don’t remember them having a chili dog, but it’s been almost 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/25 "2020-04-21T02:08:17Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > …woe betide you if you ever needed to use the restrooms. Stephen King never wrote novels as scary as the trek to the ladies’ room. (Think the Oatley Tunnel scene in The Talisman.) After [Trainspotting](http://objectsinfilm.blogspot.com/2015/07/object-33-worst-toilet-in-scotland.html), Mr. Rilch and I used to say it was “The worst [pause] in Pittsburgh”. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/26 "2020-04-21T11:17:06Z")
**Rilchiam** > [@](#): > > I’m wondering if there are any other standalone eating places, in other cities, that would get this reaction if they closed. In Omaha, Piccolo Pete’s Italian Restaurant closed. They announced it 30 days before the final day and there were lines out the door and down the street for the whole time. They were an institution and we still miss it. A great great grandson of Mr. Piccolo still owns the building and is still trying to keep the food alive with a food truck but it just isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/27 "2020-04-21T11:23:15Z")
Probably El Charro here in Tucson; it’s the oldest Mexican restaurant here in Tucson and is considered to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in the US that has only been owned by one family. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/28 "2020-04-21T21:52:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > In n Out is a huge chain. It doesn’t compare. > > For West Los Angeles where I grew up it would be either The Apple Pan for burgers and pie or Tito’s Tacos. Yeah, they recently sold The Apple Pan (though they’re supposed to keep it open…I’d shrivel up and die if I could never have another Hickory Burger). Tito’s is mostly sentimental memories of my high school years. It was said Marian Rubin’s car ran on Tito’s hot sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecccb3/32.png) [@Old\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Wench)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/29 "2020-04-22T15:55:54Z")
An article from today’s Post-Gazette, including details on how they cooked the fries: > **[An elegy to the ‘O’: A beloved hot dog shop closes after 60 years](https://www.post-gazette.com/life/dining/2020/04/22/The-O-Original-Hot-Dog-Shop-closed-60-years-oakland-pittsburgh-restaurant-landmark/stories/202004180064)** > > The Pittsburgh landmark since 1960, closed quietly and abruptly in the last week. It’s owners could not be reached for comment. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/30 "2020-04-22T16:30:15Z")
Ahhhhh, the Dirty O. I had a few meals there, usually immediately before or after seeing a movie at The King’s Court. A buddy of mine was out drinking with his wife, when they stopped in for food at The Dirty O. After eating, he cleared their table while she went to the ladies. When she returned to the table she was shocked to see it cleared, because she had left the car keys on her tray. My buddy told someone and together they identified the four garbage bags that the keys could possibly be in. My friend opened one bag at a time and went through disgusting trash, but _no keys were found_. Told this, his wife patted her pockets and found the keys. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/31 "2020-04-22T19:43:36Z")
Do any Dopers in Pittsburgh know if these [hot dogs](https://silverstarmeats.com/collections/hot-dogs/products/natural-casing-stadium-franks-2-lb-pack) are the ones sold by the ‘O’? ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/32 "2020-04-22T21:59:45Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I’m wondering if there are any other standalone eating places, in other cities, that would get this reaction if they closed. I know Californians would be devastated if In 'n Out ceased to be, likewise Southerners if Waffle House shut down all stores. (And what would the NOAA do, in the latter case?) But those are franchises, and if they’re not coming back, a lot of things aren’t coming back. > > This is really my “Stand” moment. Up till now, I’ve kept telling myself, “Open-air markets will come back. Film and TV production, and the four major leagues, will come back. Everything I miss will be back in some capacity.” But now something that means a great deal to me, for which there is no true substitute, is not coming back. This hits home: it’s our Crash of '29. > **[Haven Brothers Diner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haven_Brothers_Diner)** > > Haven Brothers Diner in Providence, Rhode Island is one of the oldest restaurants on wheels in America and was founded in 1893 (although their truck says 1888) as a horse-drawn lunch wagon. > In 1888, > Widowed immigrant Anne Philomena Haven (1842—1912) founded the diner business with the proceeds from her husband Patrick's life insurance policy. The "lunch cart" (as the family called it) was purchased in Worcester, Massachusetts, originally a horse-drawn wagon. Her daughter Catherine Gannon and Ca... Had many a late night meal there after the bars closed, back in 2009 ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/33 "2020-04-23T07:20:37Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > All right! > > We will be baking sliced new potatoes tossed in olive oil and spices in the oven today to go with a… 10lb ham I bought a few weeks ago. The ham was supposed to be a back up because of the COVID stuff. My Wife wanted it out of the freezer. So, we are gonna have a lot of ham to eat for probably a month. I suspect half of it will go back in the freezer. With some ham and bean soup that we already have in there. The _Joy of Cooking_ defines eternity as ‘two people and a ham.’ ---
**Author:** ![Happytree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happytree/32/3555_2.png) [@Happytree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happytree)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/34 "2020-04-24T02:48:56Z")
I’ve eaten there a couple times. They call it the “Dirty O”, but the oil was really clean. This is important in making great fries. It was also impressive that the fries were packed so tightly in the fry basket that they were served as a solid brick. This wouldn’t have worked out in any of the fast food places i’ve worked for, the fries in the center would have been raw. Shame on them for not warning their customers that the side of “cheese” is really cheez wiz. We’re not in Philly. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/35 "2020-04-24T03:14:05Z")
Ah, man. I lived in Pittsburgh from 89-94 when I was in grad school at CMU. Didn’t go there often, but it was a fixture. Bummer ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/36 "2020-04-24T03:32:53Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Ah, man. I lived in Pittsburgh from 89-94 when I was in grad school at CMU. Didn’t go there often, but it was a fixture. > > Bummer I wonder if we ever crossed paths? Did you ever go to the Beehive? Or the Decade? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/37 "2020-04-24T03:50:08Z")
Shit, I haven’t been there in years. Now I won’t even get a chance to do so one last time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/38 "2020-04-24T04:01:38Z")
here’s the place that will have the town here in mourning if it ever closes even though we have 2 now [http://www.crazyottosdiners.com/menu.html](http://www.crazyottosdiners.com/menu.html) the ave I is the original … ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/39 "2020-04-24T11:23:58Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I wonder if we ever crossed paths? Did you ever go to the Beehive? Or the Decade? Graffiti and The Decade were my hangouts at one point. _The IronCity HouseRockers_ was a band I’d go see anytime they played The Decade (which was often). I still run into Joe Gruschecki, Norman Nardini, And Norm’s brother on occasion. Dom (owner of The Decade) was really something (and still is). I was at The Decade the night the IRS padlocked the door (tax issues). Dom had already paid a band to play that night, so he made a “USE BACK DOOR” sign and had a huge crowd that night. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135/40 "2020-04-24T11:54:53Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I wonder if we ever crossed paths? Did you ever go to the Beehive? Or the Decade? Honestly, I was in the lab about 24/7 in those days. But we did spend an unfortunate amount of time at the Panther Hollow Inn… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-o-is-closing-pittsburgh-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth/852135.md?page=3)