I had the most delicious fried oysters yesterday. It was an appetizer but I was full after eating them. Hope to have them again soon. Great portion size. My daughter got a salad and before she had the first bite she asked for a to go box because it was enormous. Enough for 3 meals. Loved the food and the atmosphere! read more

I remembered seeing an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives that mentioned some place in Richmond. Since I had the day off while in Richmond, I decided that I'd find this place. I got there a little before 11 a.m., and I think I was the only non-local. The only waitress, dressed in black tee and denim shorts, was keeping busy and keeping everything running well. I ordered the Smithfield Chicken, which was chicken and ham over rice with a creamy alfredo sauce, with onions and mushrooms. The serving size was massive! The meal was wonderful. Really liked the sauce, and the ham was a great touch. Interesting place, with WWII era items, such as Franklin D Roosevelt photos and Rosie the Riveter posters. If you are looking for an alternative to chain restaurants, and want to try a local's favorite, this would be the place I'd recommend. read more

Dots Back Inn - exterior - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Dots Back Inn, in Richmond, Va. was another stop on my annual TV Foodie Road Trip from NY-FL. This was featured on DDD, for the Black Bean Corn cakes topped with black beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, & provolone cheese. Which of course we ordered along with -The Mediterranean Pie w/ pesto, feta, tomatoes on pita -Chargrilled knockwurst, pastrami and cheese sandwich -Ginger Chicken Soup Loved it all except the soup but the Mediterranean pie and sandwich were great. Very cute decor, super crowded and busy. I'd certainly come back. read more

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Food is good here. I highly recommend the pancakes and French toast. Burgers are also great.

This brunch was too dank!!! The food was exceptional and delivered swiftly. Our server was an angel who attended to us as if we were her family. Finally, the price was very affordable. read more

Dots Back Inn - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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First let me say Dot's Back has always been a go to for us - we love the breakfasts and have had many a meal from there. But. . .the other night we ordered Italian subs with extra meat - $3.00 extra per sandwich. I have to let them know it was the worst Italian sub ever and someone needs to figure out how to make a real one. They grilled the salami and thick cut "ham" till they were dry and burnt on the edges. I honestly have never had grilled meat on an I-sub but if this is the norm, it needs to at least be cooked correctly. Threw on a bits of tomato, lettuce and chopped pepperoncini and that was it. If there was extra meat, it was one dry slice. Will definitely go there again as we usually love their food, but not for an Italian sub which ended up costing $11.75 each and was un-edible. Sorry but I just had to vent. read more

Dots Back Inn - grilled, dry meat (this is 1/2 sub). - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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For what this place is trying to be, they nailed it! A very short drive from 95 in a small quite neighborhood, this cute classic diner offers HUGE flavor and value! Our order was ready in ten minutes and cooked perfectly l. The burgers were phenomenal and big! Tuna cold plate was huge and remarkable with a great spicy potato salad! Add this Dot to your pit stop on your drive up and down 95 around the Richmond area...TRUST ME! read more

Food was delicious. Great ambience. Bloody Mary had too much black pepper but if you like that then it was awesome. Had the eggs Benedict. Flavor was on point but the eggs were over cooked. Still I'd go back. It was yummy. read more

With a slight throwback to the old diner feel, the comfort food is both inexpensive and satisfying. I enjoyed the Smithfield Benedict which is an Eggs Benedict with Smithfield ham, eggs over easy, and hollandaise sauce. I chose grits for my side which is served with a healthy serving of butter. There is the option to sit inside or in the enclosed patio. The server was friendly and attentive. I recommend if you're looking for parking, you may want to try to find a spot a block away as no spots were the front of the restaurant. read more

Dots Back Inn - Smithfield Benedict - eggs Benedict with butter grits - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

The Joes Inn of the North(side). Always a a steady flow of guests from all walks of life. That signifies a good spot. I like to call the seasoned blonde lady who directs traffic and seats tables the "gate keeper". She's very stern and direct which doesn't suit a lot of folks, but I like it and find it endearing to the joint. Keep on doing what your doing ma'am. The space is cozy and has a "lived in" feel and I wouldn't change anything about it. Sit at the bar, grab a table in or out. Waitstaff is knowledgeable, prompt and polite. There are always a board full of specials and the menu is full of great burgers and sandwiches. You really can't go wrong with much. Great happy hour. Get in there. read more

Dots Back Inn - Fried artichoke hearts...crack. - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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Came here a few weeks ago because it was on "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" and I was incredibly satisfied. The service was great, the food was amazing, the decor and music made the vibes immaculate, the whiskey was poured stiff and the beer was cheap. Would absolutely suggest this to anybody who's hungry and in the area, worth a detour! read more

I would recommend this place to anyone who likes traditional diner with good food, good service, and a fun atmosphere. My friend got an egg sandwich that looked amazing, and I got an omelet/home fries/biscuit combo that I can thoroughly recommend. Their food is fresh and solidly made. Only one thing: if it's at all doable, I'd love it if they could open earlier on Sundays! They've been around for a good long time, though, so I'm guessing there's a good reason for that. (Also, I stole one of their excellent pens. I tipped extra, but feel very bad about that, because I should have asked. Sorry, guys. Your motto is just too good.) read more

Perfect example of why Diner's Drive In's and Dives can make or break a place. This is an example of both. My father in law, for whatever reason, decides that he likes to go to these places that Guy Fieri has visited. We just happened to be in Richmond and stopped by. There are signs everywhere basically stating that you will follow and abide by the restaurant's rules and schedules because they're just 'over the top busy' with their new found fame. The waitress acted as if we were an inconvenience. We all ordered our lunch. Came out quickly. I ordered the nachos, and they were massive, but you can't put massive nachos on a tiny plate. I asked for chicken (of course, an additional $2) and there were maybe three or four very small and very dry pieces on my giant nacho mountain. All in all, I wouldn't revisit. If I'm going to go somewhere I'd like to be appreciated and served with good food, as most patrons would. read more

Yum! Stopped here in the way to South Carolina from Baltimore because it's a triple D restaurant. Totally worthy of the recognition. The food was excellent. I had the fried green tomato caprese and chicken MacArthur. My husband had the fried oysters and black and blue burger. Who would expect such a lovely presentation of the caprese in a diner? It tasted as good as it looked. My husband raved about the fried oysters. The chicken MacArthur was everything Guy said it would be. Money! The b&b burger was juicy and delicious! The meal was even more inspired due to Lindsay, our waitress. It's such a pleasure to have a person on the wait staff who truly enjoys her job. She moved cheerfully and welcoming around the dining area personably making every guest feel like she was glad they came. read more

Dots Back Inn - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Great spot in the middle of a neighborhood. Not a ton of parking and a seat yourself kinda spot. HUGE menu available and everything was amazing. They have a happy hour and daily specials (enough to be an entire menu in itself). Great, unique spot. Has a covered patio available in the front of the restaurant. I'll definitely be back once in back in the area. read more

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The restaurant I planned on going to last Sunday was still closed due to Covid 19. I was fortunate to find this gem nearby... and happy because it was open! This was my first time going. I wanted to sit and eat on the patio, but it was fully occupied. No worries, there were tables inside that were available. All employees had on masks and guests sat at every other table for social distancing. They had the fans on Winter inside, but my body adjusted to it... especially after drinking my hot coffee. I ordered the Richmond Platter and a pancake. The food portion was perfect! I left completely satisfied and plan to go again soon to try other items on the menu. read more

Dots Back Inn - The Richmond Platter - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Pretty good food normally, service can be hit or miss. A friend and I met for lunch and both ordered burgers well done with fries, both burgers were not well done, almost, but not quite. Service was fast and efficient this time around. And usually one of the best burgers in town. read more

This has become my solo dining go=to during recent months. I love outdoor dining, great specials, and the friendly staff. Solid menu with something for everyone and a great neighborhood vibe. read more

Servers were quite rude. Food less than average. Ambiance fine, kind of dirty. Not a great experience

Epic date place!!! Had a WONDERFUL dinner tonight before heading to Lewis Ginter- it's about ten minutes away so make a plan to eat here first before heading out. Always check the specials here- I love catching secret non-menu things and since the owner is trying his hand at Greek/Italian food ( heard about that online ) I was excited to see Chicken Picatta, and it's exactly what I ordered. Lemon wine sauce with butter and capers, the chicken was pounded and lightly floured and just tender perfection. He had chicken parm- It wasn't even a question. He loved the sauce and asked the waitress if the gravy was homemade- (he remembered what I called it.) would love to see some better local brew selections- kinda surprised that there aren't Richmond craft beers available!! The place is decorated so beautifully, it was perfect for selfies, especially if you're into that, or each other. Great date!! Thanks Dots!!! read more

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The sandwiches were good- nothing spectacular. I know they're going for a retro theme but not cleaning and updating the bathrooms is just gross. The sink looked original-stains and all. The bathrooms smelled like old urine. My advice is to use the bathroom before you get there! read more

So worth stopping by for a delicious meal and good service!!! I had the cornbeef hash it awesome!!!

Yum! Have had this on my list to try for a while and it exceeded my expectations. We tried the Reuben, oyster po boy, fries and potato salad it was all delicious! Thanks for having non alcoholic beer options, that's always great to see! read more

Breakfast club was delicious but unfortunately the home fries were cold. My wife had the chicken nachos and they were extremely big and had a lot of flavor. read more

Dots Back Inn - Breakfast club - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Good food and nice people. Off the beaten path but worth coming to North side. Family friendly.

I went for breakfast and it was not good. The grits were cold and lumpy. The onions and peppers in my omelet were not cooked. read more

I've lived in Northside for 4 years, and only recently ate at Dots Back Inn. I came for Sunday lunch with my girlfriend and daughter. My burger was delicious, and so was my Cole slaw. The kid's pancake was awesome, and really good size for preschoolers. My girlfriend has the special Texas French Toast, which was loaded with fruit. We were given nice friendly and attentive service, my coffee cup did not stay empty long. The space itself is decorated with old pin ups, and world war 2 pictures. The place definitely has a nostalgic feel. The actual space is pretty small and tables are arranged pretty tightly, and the bathroom fairly small. The outside sitting area would be a better bet for an elderly person using a walker or cane, but it would still be difficult for that person to use the bathroom. Bathrooms are not wheel chair accessible. read more

Saw this on Triple D and hit it on a cross country road trip. Great food. Packed with regulars and even though we took it to go, it hit the spot. read more

We picked this place because we saw it was on Dinners, Drive-ins and Dines. Service was fast and waitress was nice. Was a cute little atmosphere. Food just seemed a bit pricey for lunchtime meals. read more

Dots Back Inn - Menu - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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Mmmm comfort food at its best. Many people talk about the burgers and how amazing they are, but for me it's all about the tuna melt. An open-faced tuna Sammie covered in cheese. How can you resist? Dots is your classic divey diner - but when I say divey I mean it in the best way. It's fantastic. It is totally no frills, so don't expect anything fancy. But you can expect a greasy spoon with deliciously tasty bites. Dine in and you'll understand why this place was on DDD. The servers are friendly and make you feel like you're in their home rather than a restaurant. Oh Dots, so good yet so bad for me. But totally worth it. read more

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Great place for any meal, and the atmosphere is wonderful. Great place to eat or socialize and the waitstaff is highly experienced and efficient! read more

We were passing through Richmond and decided to stop here after reading some reviews. The atmosphere is like a little dive bar kind of tucked back in a neighborhood setting, but was kid friendly. We parked on the street right in front of the building for free. We were quickly greeted once inside by the friendly staff. We were told we could sit anywhere and choose the inside option over the covered patio. Inside seats were limited and they were full of people. The menu consisted of several different burgers, so a burgers it was. I got the ragin cajun burger which was advertised as spicy with bacon and cheese. The cost was a very reasonable $8.50. The burger itself was fine, not spicy, but fine. It was not a "blow me out of the water" type of burger, but for the price it was better than most. The burger came with side options, my family went with the fresh cut fries while I went with the spicy potato salad. The fresh cut fries were cut into slices potato wedges and were tasty. The spicy potato salad had a kick to it and was equally as tasty. For dessert I got the blueberry muffin ice cream sandwich. The muffin was warm and very good. The ice cream was just store bought tub ice cream, but it still tasted good with the muffin. Overall I would eat here again. Rating of 4 is based on the totality of the food being good for the price and good service. read more

Dots Back Inn - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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This place is a North Side institution. The atmosphere is 40's Diner which is fun and always puts a smile on my face. I live close so am a regular diner as it is convenient and I always try to support local businesses. This said, I can say that the wait staff is very friendly and efficient. The food is inventive for what is consider by most as a "diner" but anyone looking at the menu might be surprised by some of the more adventurous items. Most recently Dots hit the national radar by being featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins. The recent smoking ban has also gone a LONG way to make this a more frequent stop for many who avoided it due to the heavy smoke and colorful bar patrons. I enjoy the burgers and the fresh cut "chip" style fries are a little off beat and usually tasty (when fresh). I was disappointed to recently order blueberry pancakes and find the berries to be canned instead of fresh :(. The food quality overall is definitely a few steps above "diner grade" but it isn't going to ever be anything more then a local hang out at its current level. It has become our defacto hung over brunch spot....I think that says it all...... read more

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This is a hard one to review for me so I'm certainly not going to slam the place. I just had a horrible Dining experience. I had the fried chicken and there was something wrong with it. I couldn't eat it. The waitress apologized and asked if I wanted anything else of menu but I couldn't stomach anything after that. But everyone else seems fond of the place so don't take my review as a complete picture of the what to expect. I have only been twice. The chicken time and the next time I didn't eat (I don't think I can here again). But things happen and I've never had anyone else complain about the food. I would just maybe hesitate in ever recommending for a meal... But for a neighborhood type bar / hang out spot ...it has that Great vibe going. Don't shy away worried about the food from my review...but I wouldn't plan an important meal here. read more

We stopped by Dots on our way back to DC. Wanted to hit this place coz it was featured on Food Network's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. This place is a hidden gem - literally - in the middle of suburban Richmond, we had to drive around the block to find this place. But it was packed on a Sunday evening - which is always a good sign. Looked like the entire neighborhood was there - most folks knew each other - typical southern friendly atmosphere (unlike what we see here in DC). Food is good - yes it is! We ordered wings for appetizers - well done and with a kick to it. The wife, a Connoisseur of everything spicy, absolutely loved it - was licking her fingers at the end! For main course I ordered the Rajun Cajun burger which was very good - a decent man sized portion to boot. Meat was cooked well to my liking (medium rare). My wife had the pork chops (special) and it was good too - big dish for her with enough leftovers for me to enjoy the next day. Service is a bit rustic but very warm and friendly. A definite spot to try when in the area . read more

Super delicious, friendly, busy, prices are fair but not cheap...it's worth it though! The blueberry muffin ice cream sandwich is like a dream... It's one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life, but if you don't like too much web cream ask them not to cover it with that...and they only server it after 5 PM.. Never go before that if you are eating the muffin ice cream sandwich The tuna-melt sandwich is so good! Burgers are all crazy in general read more

Dots Back Inn - Tuna melt - Diners Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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My family went to Dot's on Saturday morning and arrived right at 9. We were surprised that it wasn't open yet but we waited. We stuck our head in at 5 after and they asked for 5 more minutes. Fair enough. So we were seated around 9:10. Now just to be clear, I'm not "whining" because evidently you aren't allowed to "whine" at, near, or about Dot's. That is made very clear. I had a tough time deciding between the omni-present breakfast struggle: Sweet or Savory. Ultimately I combined the two and got the Pigs in a Blanket. This featured two grilled Andouille Sausages wrapped in pancakes. The Sausage had a really great kick to it and it was fun to combine the flavors of the pancake and sausage with some syrup. The other breakfast items that my family got looked pretty good too including the egg quesadilla and the omelets. As far as the service goes. . . well. . . it was fine. As I mentioned I couldn't decide what to go so I asked our server what was good. Her reply "everything is good." Thanks, big help there. So I pushed further "ok, what do you like to get?" Server: "The Omelets and Pancakes are popular." That frustrated me. The interior is decorated in true "Dive" fashion with all of the little quips about rude customers being charged more on signs around the restaurant. . .ha .. . ha. . . yawn. But, what else would you expect. I would probably go back to Dot's but there are other places for breakfast in Richmond that I would probably go first. I would be interested in trying Dot's for lunch because their sandwiches did look pretty good. read more

Three of us made a long weekend trip to Richmond on cheap airline tickets. We selected Dot's for a late lunch after arrival, partly because of DDD and mostly because of reviews. We had a very good first lunch. Ms T and Aunt Annie selected that day's Fried Chicken lunch special. They declared it to be very good. The chicken was very moist with a good crust, but was plenty salty. It was not pieces of chicken, but was a cutlet of some kind. The mashed potatoes were good, lumpy home-style with a good broth based gravy. This was good home style food. I had a Chili Cheese Burger. This was excellent. The patty was loose, tender, melt in your mouth and perfect medium rare. The chili was interesting with cinnamon. It did not look good, but was very good on the burger, a nice surprise. A side order of collards were very flavorful, tender, coarsely chopped, again with homemade goodness. Tomato soup was definitely homemade, with some onion flavor and was fresh tasting and tangy. We enjoyed a slice of fudgy chocolate pie. The lemon pie missed the mark, it just lacked lemon flavor. We found this to be a great neighborhood cafe. It is the real deal. We had a super-nice server. It is not trying to be trendy, just well made home cooking in a friendly setting. As a post script, we stopped in again before we flew back to St Louis. This tells you how much we enjoyed the first one. This was not as good. Ms T's chicken and gravy was not the same as or as good as the previous special. The gravy was pretty pasty cream gravy with sausage and was over loaded with sage. Aunt Annie's meatloaf looked better than it was. It too was victim of the sage sledge hammer. My Jerk burger was fine, but not as juicy as previous. So the message is perhaps a little inconsistent. I think that with regular visits, locals learn what are the good, consistent things. Also our server this time was a little testy. I dropped my rating to a strong three stars as a result. read more

I found this place when exploring the neighborhood after my dad moved close by. It looked like a funky neighborhood diner and worth a try for Sunday brunch. My dad, a WWII veteran, liked the 1940s kitsch as much as he did the menu. I would usually get the black bean corn cakes. Dad would order one of the brunch basics or a nice burger. Overall, it is a fun place with a creative menu and real neighborhood feel. read more

Parking was horrible and we had to wait in a very tiny, busy walk through area. They recently turned an outdoor patio into an indoor seating area, so the flow is a bit awkward. We were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant. The atmosphere was dark and cave like. I could barely see what I was eating. I tried the corned beef hash, but I wasn't ready for what I received. The best way I can describe it is it was a corned beef hash 'patty' made with some vegetables or peppers and fried on both sides. It didn't mention the extra ingredients on the menu. I was expecting corned beef and potato chunks over toast. Also, my eggs were undercooked. I can not eat runny whites. I didn't like or eat much of anything on my plate, but I was never asked if everything was okay or if I'd like to order something different. The service on this day was also poor - slow and unfriendly. I went with a friend who frequents Dots and she said we did not receive their usual stellar service. I've heard too many great things about the place to let one visit ruin their reputation, so I will give it another try and keep my fingers crossed. IMHO, stop by and check it out and POST A REVIEW so we all stay in the know! read more