PO Lunch

I've seen Lawrence County, Pa referred to as the Hot Dog Capital of the World.  That's quite a claim.  Over the years there have been numerous discussions on foodie sites such as Chowhound debating the virtues of various hot dog shops in the New Castle, Lawrence county area.  Usually the talk centers not so much on the dogs themselves, but the chili sauce that they top them all with.

I was in New Castle last week and happened upon P.O. Lunch.  The P.O. stands for Post Office...Why, I don't know.  Anyway, P.O. Lunch is one of the names that I remembered being a favorite of the locals so I had to stop in for lunch.

The place is diner like, very bright and very clean.  The menu offers typical diner fare, and while I was temped to try a burger, I had to go with what made them famous, the hot dogs.  I order two dogs with everything.  In New Castle lingo that means mustard, onions and chili.  The following explanation of New Castle hot dog lingo (from the Lawrence County website) is described as:

New Castle Hot Dog Terms
     
Everything = Mustard, Onions,and Chili
Ketchup Everything = Ketchup, Onions, and Chili
Ketchup with Everything = Ketchup, Mustard, Onions, and Chili

I was told that they would put ketchup on my dogs, but that is frowned upon.  I was obedient.  The dogs were great and the chili really made them.  On top of that a couple of loaded dogs, and order of fries and a soft drink came out to less than six bucks.  Can't go wrong with that!

P.O. Lunch is located at 2402 Wilmington Road, New Castle, Pa.