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Dot's Place
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- None
16 reviews for Dot's Place
I waged a full on attack of my waistline today at Dot's...and I don't care!
I showed up at 11:45 for lunch. The key is to come early to beat the crowds.
I had the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. The sauce that meatloaf is amazing, its almost sweet. I could see the butter in the potatoes and the bacon and salt nicely flavored my green beans. My coworker loved his chicken fried steak, greens and mac and cheese.
If you need me this weekend...I will be at the gym, working off this lunch!
As most of us know Dot's once was in North Austin just off Howard Lane in a old house which burned down. I ate at that location dozens of times and liked it every time. I stood in the long lines and sit at long tables in bedrooms make over into eating rooms which got hot in the summer heat because there was no central air. I normally got a meat of the day and 2 sides, roll, drink. If I got a piece of pie my bill was around $12 dollars.
I was sad to see it had burned but was excited when it reopened in Pflugerville. I grabbed the wife and we went on a Friday night soon after it reopened, as before the line was out the door we stood in line and bull talked with others in line. When we finally went through the cafeteria style line and sit down to eat our food with anticipation of more great southern style food and ate. When we finished we both felt disappointment. Something was not the same. Thinking it may have been re-open jitters we waited two weeks and tried it again. The line was not there but the eating area was still full. I got the meat loaf and mashed potatoes and green beans and a roll with tea, the wife had liver, I think. Why I don't know. Again we were somewhat disappointed.
Although we kinda like the food it was not as good as we remembered and the staff did not seem to be as good either. The inside did not see to be as clean as we would like it to be.
I went back about a month ago at lunch. I had the chicken and dumplings and it was different than any I ever had before. I got a piece of steamed chicken and a soup like dumpling sauce poured over it. I didn't care much for it. So I had no change in my thoughts about the restaurant.
Well if you went before the big burn and you haven't been to the new place yet try it and see what you think.
Would I go back? I am guessing sometime in the future I will end up here with friends maybe in the far futurer.
I'm from Austin, and I've always heard of Dot's as being a great place to eat. I finally got the chance to go, and I was very disappointed.
I'm okay with cafeteria style, but I'm not okay with dirty. My first reaction to Dot's is that it needed a good cleaning and organization. If you are going to have an open kitchen you have to have it clean so that people are impressed by the quality of your kitchen. There were pots on the floor, cooked chicken sitting on the prep table next to boxes of raw food. The filth on the stoves could be seen from the serving line 20 feet away. I almost suggested to my wife that we leave, but I decided that I really wanted to try it because I had heard so many good things.
Chicken fried steak and two sides for me, chicken and dumplings and two sides for my wife. Two beverages - $24.00. That's pretty pricy for lunch, and if the quality had been there I wouldn't have minded. My chicken fried steak looked - and tasted - like something that had come prepared and frozen out of a box, not breaded and fried on location. The green beans were good, and the corn tasted like they opened a can and heated it up. I felt like I was eating at my daughter's school cafeteria. My wife said the chicken was good, but she didn't care for her sides either. What amazed me the most was that she didn't eat the dumplings. My wife is a fan of all things starchy and she normally loves dumplings. The ones she was served were large and didn't look fully cooked. One dumpling was bigger than a golf ball.
Dot's may have been good, and we may have been there on a really bad day, but we won't be going back. It was dirty, expensive, and not good.
Cafeteria-style soul food. One of my true loves. Dot's does well with the food, but loses a star for the "No to go cups sign" and another for the $8.50 main and two sides with no iced tea included. This is lunch we're talking about. In this economy, $6 max. I think the higher prices and stingy no-to-go-cups attitude are part of what's keeping those once long lines at bay.
I've been hearing about Dot's for a long time from my BIL who lives in Austin. He kept telling me about how great the food was and how as soon as the new location opened, he would take me to experience some great Southern cooking.
So as soon as I was in town, and I found out that Dot's had officially moved from Austin to Pflugerville (where I graduated high school! Go Pflugerville Panthers!!), I literally dragged my BIL to go eat.
I'm not a big fan of Southern cooking. In all honesty I just don't find anything that appealing about food that is battered, fried and salted to an inch of its life. However, as far as the quality, I must say that Dot hit the spot with her homestyle menu. Also, you have to make sure you visit Dot's when you're in town.....she's famous!
I had the potroast with mashed potatoes, cornbread and lemon meringue pie. My BIL had the friend catfish, cornbread and mashed potatoes. The food was great, albeit a bit on the heavy side but hey, when in Texas, do as the Texans do!
I really enjoyed the cafeteria atmosphere of Dot's. It was extremely casual and tons of fun to just enjoy a simple, well-cooked meal in a city where I spent a fair amount of time in.
*Note: The food here is extremely heavy. Not for health junkies.....but y'all are boring anyways! :)
I admit, I have only been to Dot's once. But I found it to be good, home-style food.
They serve cafeteria style and they have options like chicken fried steak, beef tips and gravy, meatloaf, etc.
I had the beef tips and macaroni on the side. The macaroni was cold, but tasted pretty good. I thought the beef tips were great, a little fatty but I liked the flavor.
There is very little that looks like it would be any good for a vegetarian or anyone on a diet.
All in all, decent little lunch place. Big downside, apparently it's not as cheap as it used to be in the old location. So said my dining companions anyway.
As others have said, Dot's serves good home cooked comfort food. I remember the old place how it had been expand many times and having to wait outside in line to be served. The food is very well worth the wait and the price. I've been a fan of Dot's since the early 90's and I a still am.
The fried chicken is moist and tasty. The chicken fried steak and catfish are also delicious. The vegetables taste fresh and not over cooked like at some places.
This food reminds me of the stuff my Grandmother used to make. If you were lucky enough to have known her and her awesome cooking, you would be standing in line when Dot's Place was next opening up. The sign on the door says "Good Home Cookin'" and the sign is not lying.
I have been here many times and went again tonight when I remembered that it had been a while since my last visit. I chose the chicken fried steak, but could have just as easily chosen the catfish or chicken and dumplings or meatloaf. The side dishes are enough for a meal unto themselves and tonight I had the corn and potatoes. The last piece of chocolate cake also needed to be removed from the cafeteria style serving line, so I ate it for dessert. A great meal as usual!
This place is not fancy and the price is just right for the amount of food you get. If you are lucky, you may even find Dot in the kitchen with a smile on her face. She obviously pours a lot of love into her restaurant and I for one am very thankful.
Dot's has amazing food. Before eating there I never had a real idea about how good 'home style cooking' can be in America. In Europe, it's fairly normal to find many places that have authentic local food that tastes great but in the U.S. this seems to be a rare find. Everything I've tried there is fantastic, one of my favorite is the roast beef with mashed potatoes or the chicken with dumplings. The food the serve is heavy, of course, but it is also what I would call wholesome, noting artifical, no fufu stuff, just good food.
When I showed up at Dot's Place at its new Pflugerville location I checked the sign on the door to make sure I was at the right place. Twice. The line went out the building and down the side walk and people weren't even bothered. No whining and complaining about having to wait at all. (Which is rare for Austinites.) Instead I heard people moaning over the green beans, salivating over the chicken fried steak.
Dot's Place is a true Austin original. It used to be located around the corner from my high school, and was the place where we would all skip classes and go to veg out. With its serious soul food and homey atmosphere Dot's kept the people coming and kept right on feeding them. When it burned down in 2004 without insurance, the community was devastated. I remember looking at footage of people rolling out to help out, and it was with the assistance of the community and a faithful following of people (they apparently followed to two separate temp locations while waiting for the finances to buy another building) two years later the unthinkable happened. Dots Place has reopened.
The food is really the best southern cooking you have ever had. I got the chicken friend steak and a bazillion orders of great beans. They also have lots of pies and cakes. Reasonably priced, always busy. Have a craving for some down home cooking and don't have time to fight the line, you can place a to go order over the phone. And come hungry. You will want to scrape your plate clean. Guarantee it.
Dots serves a large assortment of "comfort food" - meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, beef tips and rice, fried catfish (my favorite), chicken fried steak, liver and onions, and a bunch of other stuff. You get a couple of side dishes with each entree. All of their food is very tasty and filling. Great pie there too if you somehow can save room for it. This is a classic Austin comfort food restaurant that has developed a cult following over the years. Dots is one of those places that if you don't go on a diet before you go then you'll definitely be going on one once you've eaten there. If you don't time it right when you arrive, there will be line out the door with people waiting to get their food from the cafeteria line.
Hours - lunch Monday -Friday although they are open Thursday/Friday evenings.
History - Dots used to be located up on North Burnett. It consisted of 3 or 4 houses that were ready to fall down that they stuck together and called it a restaurant. Dot forgot to get any insurance on the trap & it burnt to the ground. After a few years of serving out of a trailer, Dots converted an old pizza parlour into the current Dots. One of my friends pointed out to me that the current location has more fire sprinkers than any place that he's ever seen in his life; maybe they still don't have insurance?
I think the prices have gone up a tad and the portions are now smaller than the good old days on Burnett but it is still well worth the trip. I'd give Hoover's the Austin crown for southern/comfort food but Dot's is worth the drive up to Pflugerville to check out.
freakin awesome soulfood/comfort food...cant help to think of my grandma when I eat there.
collards are good.
best okra i've had...its not the fried version.
not a wide variety of choices but, they do throw a wild card meal in here and there.
Haven't been since Dot's moved to Pflugerville, but back when it was up in Wells Branch, the catfish was awesome. I always got the yams and the chocolate pie. Definitely comfort food and one of my oldtime favorites.
Dot's Place is a lot like eating over at your friend's house when you were a kid. Your friend's mom puts a nice dinner on the table, but some of it might not be quite the way your mom does it.
Dot's Place serves good, home-style comfort food, cheap, and quick. Chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, chicken fried steak. Mashed potatoes, greens, potato salad, coleslaw or beans to go with. Some pie and a drink, and you're set.
Service is cafeteria style. A plate with your choice of meat and two sides is under $10. Decor is nonexistent. The walls have paint on them, the floors have carpet. There are chairs and tables. That's it.
The meatloaf was pretty nice, moist and flavorful. The chicken and dumplings was heavily peppered, but the gravy was bland and the dumplings were small and mushy. The mashed potatoes were lumpy, with lots of butter. Other side dishes were uneven. The salads were simple and featured a lot of mayonnaise.
Like your friend's mom, Dot's Place will put a solid, tasty meal in you for a good price. If you like her cooking, you might want to eat there a lot. Me, I think I'm gonna go see what Billy's having tonight first.
I love this place. Always so many various dishes to choose from. They used to be located in Austin behind my house. I frequented them when they had to serve out of a trailer due to a fire.
Fav's are lasagna, meat loaf, liver and onions, chicken fried steak. I'm a big fan of the collard greens, okra and tomatoes, and yams. The price has gone up from being $7 for an entree and 2 sides. It's more in the $9 range. Everyone behind the counter is really nice. Feels like home.
It used to be really busy, but the last time I went it I didn't have to wait in line.
Great food in good portions that will give you a good food coma. Gotta love it.
Southern homestyle cooking, very well done. The portions are generous, a meat and two sides runs about $9. When they first opened up this location, the lines were out the door. It's calmed down quite a bit so you don't have to get there at 11 am. Beef tips on rice is my favorite. It's served cafeteria style and it's very, very casual.
