My experience at Dolli's Diner is limited to one visit for breakfast service, so I can offer no commentary on the hand-pattied beef burgers, thick shakes, and homemade cakes and pies referenced by myriad other Yelpers. I prefer to visit a restaurant a minimum of three times before writing a review, but who knows if or when I will ever return to this charming little diner. Housed in the historic Annie Hoya building (erected in 1900) in downtown Nacogdoches, Dolli's Diner served up a hearty, no-frills breakfast on my recent trip through East Texas.
Our bespectacled, sylphlike waitress (Dolli herself, perhaps?) was attentive and ingratiating, a feat considering the number of tables she was handling. She appeared to be on a first-name basis with several local yokels, a sign that this joint is worthy of repeat patronage. I'm always leery of waitstaff who commit orders to memory (for memory is not to be trusted), but she remembered everything, including my gluttonous request for extra cheddar, jalapeños, and chorizo in my Mexican omelette.
The omelette in question was a thing of beauty: fluffy, cheesy (shredded cheddar inside, a slice of processed Monterrey Jack outside), and stuffed generously with cumin-accented Mexican chorizo and bits of fresh, crisp vein-in jalapeños. So many breakfast joints screw up the humble omelette (see my review of the Trading Post Restaurant in Kit Carson, CO), so I applaud a cook armed with a whisk and a copy of Julia Child's canonical French omelette recipe. Dame Julia's trick involves adding small knobs of cold butter to a beaten egg prior to cooking the mixture. The melting butter acts as a buffer between the protein in the egg, resulting in an omelette with a light, pillowy texture. The late Dr. Magnus Pyke would cry "Science!", but I attribute the deliciousness to culinary alchemy.
All breakfast plates include home fries and a choice of toast (white, wheat, or sourdough). The home fries were crisp and golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. I would have preferred them with lots of caramelized onions, but I nitpick. Less forgivable were three slices of store-bought wheat toast saturated in a greasy substance tasting of Country Crock. I wouldn't expect a kitchen so small to bake its own bread, but surely Dolli could source her hearth from a local bakery. At a minimum, enter the 21st century and offer real butter.
Is Dolli's Diner a destination joint, the quirky kind of place that Guy Fieri might showcase and then curse forever on "Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives"? No. Is Dolli's Diner worth a stop for breakfast while visiting Nacodoches, Texas? Absolutely! I debated if this place was special enough to warrant a Ryan M. review, but then I noticed that one of my photos (my dad's pedestrian breakfast of flapjacks, bacon, and eggs) was the featured picture here on Yelp. A photograph of such quality -- a textbook example of how to frame and light a plate of food -- deserved an accompanying review of equal merit. Modesty be damned! read more