Pittsburgh has its fair share of eateries with original food concepts. Take fries on your sandwich, for instance, or elevating pierogies from poverty fare to haute cuisine. But how about this for originality: a hot dog shop in a church with a penchant for promoting local, organic food.

Co-owners Tim Tobitsch and Megan Lindsey opened their little hot dog shop five years ago in the basement of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. At the time, it was a New York-inspired food enterprise that didn't require a ton of experience in the food business or fancy kitchen equipment. Today, it's one of downtown Pittsburgh's hippest and most diverse lunch spots, serving hot dogs, soups, pierogies and more to everyone from homeless people to condo owners, bike messengers to office workers.

But what really got me interested in Franktuary was an ever-so-clever letter to President Obama following the G-20 Summit. Franktuary made the brave (and lauded) decision to stay open for business during the G-20. It was a move that they lost money on, and they had the guts to humorously suggest a way that they could be made whole: if 20 foreign dignitaries bought Franktuary hoodies, all would be right in the world. While the President did not respond, their willingness to take a dive into politics certainly caught my attention.

After all, it's easy enough for food businesses to focus on the bottom line and stay out of the fray. Taking a stand could mean scaring off customers. Franktuary's taking a different route, however, by coming out for local, organic fast food. Franktuary proudly features "The Locavore," an organic all-beef frank made from grass-fed beef from Ron Gargasz. They also use organic, local salad greens and serve up sodas free from high fructose corn syrup (which they will soon eliminate entirely from their offerings.


And while the Locavore is not yet their most popular wiener, it's growing - they presently sell about 200 Locavores a month. I'll direct you to Mike for a detailed description of the entire hot dog experience, but suffice to say, you can dress up the Locavore (or the regular all-beef, natural-casing frank, or even the veggie dog) with any of their toppings and walk out the door with a lunch for under $8. Or you can stay in the shop and eat surrounded by some pretty awesome frankfurter art.

You can also eat secure in the knowledge that you're supporting a business that sees itself as a part of the local community and is committed to healthy, sustainable eating and business practices. Franktuary is out and about, offering food at events like Podcamp Pittsburgh 4 and Handmade Arcade (put them together for some serious hipster cred). They've recently welcomed two Coro Fellows who will assist in building more green practices into the restaurant's regular routine. And while Tim keeps up Franktuary's awesome blog, Megan plays in an awesome band.

Franks be to God.