Dining at Dolli's Diner
Between moving houses, work, and revising my own personal writing projects, it's been a busy week. Despite how busy my life has been recently, though, it has done little to erode the warm and flavorful memory of Duy's and my time at the featured establishment of today's critique.
This week we ate at Dolli's Diner, a smaller establishment set in downtown Nacogdoches. Having eaten there before, Duy and I already had a good idea of what to expect, but we wanted to eat there this time with new, fresh eyes, and an open--and perhaps overly critical--mind, to see how well the diner held up to a stricter standard.
The unique experience that Dolli's Diner provides begins the minute you step through the doors. It's summer now, and the students in this sleepy college town have mostly gone home. Even so, the diner was packed full of hungry families, big and small. The noise level was loud but not unbearable and the wait time for us was quite good for the place being so full. On a normal day during the school year, the wait time to eat here can reach all the way up to an hour, so five minutes of standing around was nothing.
As Duy got to chatting with the owners of the diner, Steve and Mrs. Dolli, I took a few moment to take stock of my surroundings. I definitely felt like I was in the center of a small East Texas town, looking around at the brick walls and the layout of the many paintings hanging off of them. One side of the diner featured several pieces by artist JD Cole, and the other pieces with Betty Boop in them. Betty Boop is an older cartoon character and even I wouldn't really know who she is if I didn't look her up. Basically, she is to diners what Popeye is to spinach... And if you don't know who Popeye is, well... I'm sorry.
Anyway, we were led to our table by our waitress, Taylor. After ordering a coffee for both of us and water, we looked over the menu to see what we would try. I wanted to try their lunch, having mostly eaten breakfast the past few times I've eaten here. Duy wanted breakfast. So we decided to get both. A diner has to do well at both breakfast and lunch if it's to be considered any good.
"Have an idea of what you want?" Taylor asked brightly after leaving us to think about what we were going to order for a few minutes.
"I think so--" I said.
"But first," Duy interrupted before I could get on with my order. "We want to hear what your suggestion is of what we should have."
"Oh, um--"
Duy pressed on, "working at this place, I'm sure you know what dishes stand out here."
Taylor thought for a moment, then grinned. "In that case I suggest the Chef's Favorite and the Teriyaki Club"
Duy and I glanced at each other. The Chef's Favorite included two french toast, three eggs, meat, and home fries and the Teriyaki Club was only described as a chicken sandwich with bacon, swiss cheese, and teriyaki sauce. They were full meals in themselves and we already knew what we wanted to order for ourselves.
"Both?"
I nodded, "Both."
We ordered both suggested dishes as well as a Meatloaf for Duy and a Tex-Mex burger for me--something that was way out of my comfort zone when it comes to burgers. Duy also ordered a bowl of chili as an appetizer.
While we waited for our food, Duy called over Mrs. Dolli so we could ask her a few questions. Steve floated over a little later and joined in on the conversation. Both of them were very sociable, very likable. Before we called them over I noticed they ran around as much as the waitresses, working just as hard as anyone keeping the diners happy and making sure they had good service.
We wanted to know their backstory and they gladly obliged. Dolli's Diner was opened only three years ago when Mrs. Dolli and Steve saw a need for Nacogdoches to have a real diner in town.
"I traveled everywhere in the south growing up," said Mrs. Dolli, a hand on her hip, her eyes distant as she reminisced, "and we always went to diners in these small towns we were in to eat and it's just an experience I always enjoyed."
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. There was always a different feeling when eating at diners compared to eating at normal restaurants. It was more homey, felt so inexplicably American.
"When we got to Nacogdoches," she continued. "There was no diner here! So we started one up to fill what we saw as a need for this place."
And a need it certainly filled. having lived here for the past four years, only the past three of which I really started exploring this town, I couldn't imagine this place without this diner.
The subject changed. Duy asked about their style of cooking. Mrs. Dolli told us she and Steve had been in the restaurant business pretty much all their lives, it was all they knew. Their son even worked in their kitchen. What they aimed to do with their food is bring a little bit of "grandma's cooking" back into people's minds.
As we were chatting with the owners, Taylor darted around our table, refilling our mugs of coffee and glasses of water without saying a word, subtly working with the other tables with fine skill as she brought out our chili. Only after the owners left us to enjoy our food did she quickly come by to ask if we were alright.
"That's good service," Duy noted. "Never overbearing but always staying on top of our drinks and never interrupting the conversation. She just knows what we need and never has to ask."
I nodded, eager to dig in to our bowl of chili which looked immaculate. "Let's see how this tastes."
We each took a spoonful. I closed my eyes as I brought the food to my mouth. The first thing that hit me was the acidity. Duy tasted it too. I saw his eyebrows pop up as the chili touched his tongue. It was made with no beans, consisted of ground beef, onions, some chunks of tomato, jalopeño, and a nice helping of cheese. Once the initial acidity passed though, the flavors popped out. And when I say they popped out, I mean they exploded in your mouth like a constant barrage of meaty goodness with just enough heat to bring about that addictive desire to take another bite. It is an excellent start to a meal when an appetizer is so flavorful that you can't wait to see how the entrée will taste.
A few more minutes passed before the remainder of our food came out. We took a bite of everything to be sure the flavors were there. The teriyaki club looked smothered in the sauce but upon taking our first bite, the chicken and lettuce and bacon melded so perfectly with the sauce that it left only a mild sweetness on the tongue. Looks can indeed be deceiving. As to the meatloaf, it came with fresh vegetables, perfectly cooked, and with instant mashed potatoes. We asked Mrs. Dolli why she used instant.
"I never understood why, but that's just how my grandma always made her mashed potatoes even when everything else was fresh."
A fair enough reason if you're going for "grandma's cooking." The meatloaf itself crumbled in your mouth, leaving behind a deliciously seasoned afterimage of what had once been a whole and intact meatloaf.
"Now comes the real test," Duy said eyeing the eggs on the Chef's Favorite plate which he had ordered over-medium. He stared at the eggs as he brought his fork closer to the light-golden yellow center. It's a basic standard that every chef has to know how to at least cook an egg. If you can't cook an egg, good luck being a chef. And yet, despite this simple standard, so many restaurants and diners across this country cannot make over-medium eggs properly.
Duy sliced through the surface of the golden center with a sudden jerk and the egg yolk, while I was disappointed to not see it flow out like lava, was clearly thick and velvety inside. Dolli's Diner's over-medium eggs are ACTUALLY over-medium! That in itself should say something about this establishment.
Moving on to the Tex-Mex burger, a normal burger with green chili and avocado on top: the flavors of the green chili and the texture of the avocado transformed the burger into something that wasn't your everyday burger. The flavors certainly contained hints of tex-mex, though I did secretly wish there had been some sort of spicy component added to it. While the texture was good and the flavor was interesting, I do believe a little kick of spiciness would have added that extra oomph! that the burger needed. All in all, though, for not being a traditional burger and for being something I certainly found unique, it was not bad.
Having tried all the dishes to test their quality we finally dug in to our food. Duy and I can eat a lot, but the amount on each plate is what I would call "Texas-sized," which is a good thing, because it requires you to order to-go boxes so you can enjoy the flavors of grandma's cooking later on in the day!
Out of all the dishes we tried, Duy and I decided we had to and choose a winner. However, it came to a tie between the meatloaf and the teriyaki club. Both were fantastic and so savory that I want to return to Dolli's Diner just writing this so I can eat it again. Grandma's cooking is certainly worth coming back for.
***
Ratings
Atmosphere -------- 4
Service ------------- 5
Food ---------------- 4.5
Presentation ------- 3.5
Pricing: Moderate
Would return? Yes
Would recommend? Definitely
***
 |
| Dolli's Diner, on 116 S Pecan St, Nacogdoches, Tx |
The unique experience that Dolli's Diner provides begins the minute you step through the doors. It's summer now, and the students in this sleepy college town have mostly gone home. Even so, the diner was packed full of hungry families, big and small. The noise level was loud but not unbearable and the wait time for us was quite good for the place being so full. On a normal day during the school year, the wait time to eat here can reach all the way up to an hour, so five minutes of standing around was nothing.
As Duy got to chatting with the owners of the diner, Steve and Mrs. Dolli, I took a few moment to take stock of my surroundings. I definitely felt like I was in the center of a small East Texas town, looking around at the brick walls and the layout of the many paintings hanging off of them. One side of the diner featured several pieces by artist JD Cole, and the other pieces with Betty Boop in them. Betty Boop is an older cartoon character and even I wouldn't really know who she is if I didn't look her up. Basically, she is to diners what Popeye is to spinach... And if you don't know who Popeye is, well... I'm sorry.
 |
| A portrait of Mrs. Dolli, one of the owners of Dolli's Diner, by JD Cole |
Anyway, we were led to our table by our waitress, Taylor. After ordering a coffee for both of us and water, we looked over the menu to see what we would try. I wanted to try their lunch, having mostly eaten breakfast the past few times I've eaten here. Duy wanted breakfast. So we decided to get both. A diner has to do well at both breakfast and lunch if it's to be considered any good.
"Have an idea of what you want?" Taylor asked brightly after leaving us to think about what we were going to order for a few minutes.
"I think so--" I said.
"But first," Duy interrupted before I could get on with my order. "We want to hear what your suggestion is of what we should have."
"Oh, um--"
Duy pressed on, "working at this place, I'm sure you know what dishes stand out here."
Taylor thought for a moment, then grinned. "In that case I suggest the Chef's Favorite and the Teriyaki Club"
Duy and I glanced at each other. The Chef's Favorite included two french toast, three eggs, meat, and home fries and the Teriyaki Club was only described as a chicken sandwich with bacon, swiss cheese, and teriyaki sauce. They were full meals in themselves and we already knew what we wanted to order for ourselves.
 |
| The Chicken Teriyaki Club |
"Both?"
I nodded, "Both."
We ordered both suggested dishes as well as a Meatloaf for Duy and a Tex-Mex burger for me--something that was way out of my comfort zone when it comes to burgers. Duy also ordered a bowl of chili as an appetizer.
While we waited for our food, Duy called over Mrs. Dolli so we could ask her a few questions. Steve floated over a little later and joined in on the conversation. Both of them were very sociable, very likable. Before we called them over I noticed they ran around as much as the waitresses, working just as hard as anyone keeping the diners happy and making sure they had good service.
We wanted to know their backstory and they gladly obliged. Dolli's Diner was opened only three years ago when Mrs. Dolli and Steve saw a need for Nacogdoches to have a real diner in town.
"I traveled everywhere in the south growing up," said Mrs. Dolli, a hand on her hip, her eyes distant as she reminisced, "and we always went to diners in these small towns we were in to eat and it's just an experience I always enjoyed."
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. There was always a different feeling when eating at diners compared to eating at normal restaurants. It was more homey, felt so inexplicably American.
"When we got to Nacogdoches," she continued. "There was no diner here! So we started one up to fill what we saw as a need for this place."
And a need it certainly filled. having lived here for the past four years, only the past three of which I really started exploring this town, I couldn't imagine this place without this diner.
The subject changed. Duy asked about their style of cooking. Mrs. Dolli told us she and Steve had been in the restaurant business pretty much all their lives, it was all they knew. Their son even worked in their kitchen. What they aimed to do with their food is bring a little bit of "grandma's cooking" back into people's minds.
As we were chatting with the owners, Taylor darted around our table, refilling our mugs of coffee and glasses of water without saying a word, subtly working with the other tables with fine skill as she brought out our chili. Only after the owners left us to enjoy our food did she quickly come by to ask if we were alright.
 |
| A beautiful bowl of chili |
"That's good service," Duy noted. "Never overbearing but always staying on top of our drinks and never interrupting the conversation. She just knows what we need and never has to ask."
I nodded, eager to dig in to our bowl of chili which looked immaculate. "Let's see how this tastes."
We each took a spoonful. I closed my eyes as I brought the food to my mouth. The first thing that hit me was the acidity. Duy tasted it too. I saw his eyebrows pop up as the chili touched his tongue. It was made with no beans, consisted of ground beef, onions, some chunks of tomato, jalopeño, and a nice helping of cheese. Once the initial acidity passed though, the flavors popped out. And when I say they popped out, I mean they exploded in your mouth like a constant barrage of meaty goodness with just enough heat to bring about that addictive desire to take another bite. It is an excellent start to a meal when an appetizer is so flavorful that you can't wait to see how the entrée will taste.
A few more minutes passed before the remainder of our food came out. We took a bite of everything to be sure the flavors were there. The teriyaki club looked smothered in the sauce but upon taking our first bite, the chicken and lettuce and bacon melded so perfectly with the sauce that it left only a mild sweetness on the tongue. Looks can indeed be deceiving. As to the meatloaf, it came with fresh vegetables, perfectly cooked, and with instant mashed potatoes. We asked Mrs. Dolli why she used instant.
 |
| Menu at Dolli's Diner |
"I never understood why, but that's just how my grandma always made her mashed potatoes even when everything else was fresh."
A fair enough reason if you're going for "grandma's cooking." The meatloaf itself crumbled in your mouth, leaving behind a deliciously seasoned afterimage of what had once been a whole and intact meatloaf.
"Now comes the real test," Duy said eyeing the eggs on the Chef's Favorite plate which he had ordered over-medium. He stared at the eggs as he brought his fork closer to the light-golden yellow center. It's a basic standard that every chef has to know how to at least cook an egg. If you can't cook an egg, good luck being a chef. And yet, despite this simple standard, so many restaurants and diners across this country cannot make over-medium eggs properly.
Duy sliced through the surface of the golden center with a sudden jerk and the egg yolk, while I was disappointed to not see it flow out like lava, was clearly thick and velvety inside. Dolli's Diner's over-medium eggs are ACTUALLY over-medium! That in itself should say something about this establishment.
Moving on to the Tex-Mex burger, a normal burger with green chili and avocado on top: the flavors of the green chili and the texture of the avocado transformed the burger into something that wasn't your everyday burger. The flavors certainly contained hints of tex-mex, though I did secretly wish there had been some sort of spicy component added to it. While the texture was good and the flavor was interesting, I do believe a little kick of spiciness would have added that extra oomph! that the burger needed. All in all, though, for not being a traditional burger and for being something I certainly found unique, it was not bad.
 |
| Overhead view of our table |
 |
| Field view of our table |
Having tried all the dishes to test their quality we finally dug in to our food. Duy and I can eat a lot, but the amount on each plate is what I would call "Texas-sized," which is a good thing, because it requires you to order to-go boxes so you can enjoy the flavors of grandma's cooking later on in the day!
Out of all the dishes we tried, Duy and I decided we had to and choose a winner. However, it came to a tie between the meatloaf and the teriyaki club. Both were fantastic and so savory that I want to return to Dolli's Diner just writing this so I can eat it again. Grandma's cooking is certainly worth coming back for.
***
Ratings
Atmosphere -------- 4
Service ------------- 5
Food ---------------- 4.5
Presentation ------- 3.5
Pricing: Moderate
Would return? Yes
Would recommend? Definitely
***
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