I'd hoped to make it to Dirty Dough, a national cookie chain just entering the Central Indiana market, a couple of weeks ago for its grand opening. Unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes and it was just last evening that I finally got the chance to check it out.
The basics:
Dirty Dough started in Arizona. It currently has 20+ locations nationwide and is expanding fairly rapidly. In Indiana, this location at Glendale Town Center recently opened. Zionsville, Fishers, and Fort Wayne are soon to be.
How does Dirty Dough differ from Crumbl (which also hasn't been in the market that long)? Dirty Dough makes their cookies from the inside out - they all have filling. The cookies are smaller than Crumbl (Thankfully. If size matters, I obviously prefer smaller!).
They have a handful of "classic" flavors that are always available along with a couple weekly options. They also carry some bottled drinks, though the selection was pretty minimal.
As noted, this location is in Glendale Town Center. It's in the strip center facing Keystone right next to GNC. It's a recently redesigned strip center and it's honestly a pretty good location. I could easily see myself coming here for dinner (options include Culver's, Taco Bell, Chicken Salad Chick, and Jimmy John's within Town Center and several others close by), followed by cookies and a visit to Target. Heck, the Landmark Glendale movie theater is also nearby. The library branch is soon to move out of Glendale Town Center into a free-standing building on East 62nd Street (replacing the old school).
First off, Dirty Dough needs to watch the sidewalk signage. I understand the signage is needed, however, keep the sidewalk accessible. Last night, the sidewalk clearly blocked access. I was fortunately able to move it.
Secondly, focus on the customers. You were well staffed (four with one leaving) and the initial employee who greeted me was friendly. More of her. However, there were three other employees who seemed to be talking about the cash register. It was bizarre, loud, and honestly kind of rude. It was fine as I entered (no one else was there), but once I got inside FOCUS on the customer. Stop private conversations, stop talking about the cash register, and focus on the customer. The employee helping me actually had to ask the co-worker to ring me up (all three employees chatting were blocking the cash register). An older woman (employee) kept standing in front of the cash register despite the fact that's clearly where I'm supposed to order and pay. It took me a minute to realize she was an employee (she had the shirt on - she was an employee).
If you're keeping score - that's one employee trying hard (I wish I'd gotten her name. She deserves kudos). Three employees more concerned with talking and whatever deal it was with the cash register. Was the older woman a manager (didn't act like it)?
The helpful employee explained the cookies. The pricing is up front with a single cookie being a little over $4 and four-packs a bit over $14 or so. The cookies are decently sized and solid in terms of filling.
To be honest, I contemplated a four-pack but found the side conversations so agitating I ended up with one. I tried the stuffed chocolate chip. It was a good cookie, though definitely sweeter than expected. I enjoyed it and would eat it again.
I arrived probably around 5-5:30ish. There's no dine-in option here (there's a bench or two along the strip).
Accessible parking is plentiful in this strip center - one word of caution, cars seem to regularly park on the blue-striped spots adjacent to accessible spots (this is illegal if you don't know and blocks wheelchairs). It happens regularly in this town center and Kite Realty does nothing about it.
I parked over at Target where it never happens. Curb cuts can be a little steep here, though they do meet ADA. As I noted, signage was an issue and initially blocked the sidewalk.
Culver's had a similar rough adjustment here. This is just a different area in terms of employees, though it's possible to get more service-oriented folks. Target generally does well. Chicken Salad Chick is solid. It's called having effective leadership.
So, cookies solid and easy to distinguish from the other national option here. This is a good neighborhood for this, though Broad Ripple's Insomnia isn't that far away. Customer service has to improve, though there's promise here with one genuinely impressive employee. Hopefully, I can revisit and possibly move this up a notch in the future. For now, this was a middling experience but it sure is nice to have another cookie option in the area. read more