Sunday, January 10, 2010

Donkey Dawgs

If you live in VA Beach any where near the oceanfront you need to check out this local dog & burger spot. Donkey Dawgs (1933 Virginia Beach Blvd. VA Beach, VA. 757-425-3885) may seem like a strange name for a hot dog spot but when you get there and realize that it also serves as the office for Air Station Storage (ASS) then it makes sense. I learned of Donkey Dawgs when I moved to the Oceana/First Colonial area and drove by it daily, noticing that they were open for breakfast as well as lunch. So after driving by several times I decided it was time to give it a try and I was hooked at first bite. This is one of those no frills hot dog spots that serves up good food fast and on paper plates and in solo plastic cups. Now don't be startled when you first walk in and you are greeted by a beaver and fox wearing Donkey Dawg shirts and at the very least 1 of the super friendly employees welcoming you. You will also notice that there are plenty of tables to sit at or several bar seats to choose from. Make sure you look towards the back wall for the daily specials and desserts, more on the desserts in a few.
With a menu that not only includes hot dogs such as the "Donkey Dawg" by Hormel, the "Corny Dawg" yes it's a corn dog, and the "NYC Dawg", a hot sausage with spicy mustard & onions. The burgers & sandwiches have even better names like "Runt" a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, & mayo, "Fat Boy" cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, & mayo, the "Pig Boy" that's right it has bacon on it. My favorite named sammy on the menu the "Barnyard Pimp" deep fried chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, & mayo. They also have Taylor pork roll, ham, turkey, chicken and egg salads. Philly cheesesteaks, hand cut fries, soups, and salads. Oh yeah they do breakfast too, with several hearty breakfast plates including bacon, sausage, eggs, waffles, pancakes, grits, and bagels. Like I said make sure you check the boards for the daily lunch specials too.
On my most recent visit with my lovely wife who decided to start with a cup of the soup of the day which was mexican chicken chili. Must say it was quite delicious with it's bounty of tender chicken, corn, black beans, tomato, and pepper. Had an excellent flavor and packed a nice little punch of heat too. I decided to start with a Carolina style Donkey Dawg, which comes fully equipped with mustard, onions, chili, and cole slaw. Now I must drop some knowledge on ya about this slaw, you ready, here it comes, it's yellow. That's right and no not yellow mustard yellow but a light yellow color and it's not from adding mustard to the slaw mix, but it is excellent and the best slaw I have ever eaten on a hot dog. But I digress, the chili on the hot dog isn't a thick pasty chili and it's not a thin flavorless chili water, it's the proper texture and has good flavor. My wife and I both feasted upon a "Pig Boy" and some hand cut fries, and let me tell you the fries are very tasty for hand cut. A lot of places you go that have hand cut fries, they sometimes aren't the most crispy fries or they are very greasy. The "Pig Boy" is a burger cooked on there well seasoned flat top and donned with crispy bacon and the cheese is put on the burger right when it's flipped and allowed to melt while the burger cooks. Robin (the owner/my personal favorite cook there) will place the top of the top bun on the grill and let it get nice and toasty while the cheese is melting. I also get grilled onions on my burger and they aren't the overcooked burnt onion slices they are tender tasty diced onions she piles up so nicely on the burger then serves it up with a smile. Both myself and the wifey have no complaints when it comes to the burgers here, and we showed the true sign of goodness in food when we fell silent to eat the tasty nuggets of goodness. The wifey is a fan of Taylor pork roll and says that they also have a very tasty Taylor pork roll sammich. I decided that I hadn't shoved enough in my face and going on a recommendation from the wife I opted for a homemade dessert in the form of a Keylime cake with icing. Now I am not a big fan of Keylime but occasionally I can get down and this was one of those occasions. It was very flavorful but not over powering in the keylime flavor, not to mention it had a crunchy outer crust while the center was super moist. Come to find out when they make a key lime dessert there they get keylimes delivered, now if that doesn't say tasty then I don't know what does.
Whenever your on the boulevard near First Colonial around lunch time or even breakfast time I recommend you swing thru Donkey Dawgs and give them a try, you won't be disappointed.

I pass the word about this place like a collection plate at a Sunday service and I'll be back like Terminator.

Kid friendly

non smoking

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