Dolly's — Restaurant in Blue Ash

My reviews are usually short. This one, however, since there was a lot of drama in how a local legend of a family restaurant that I remember from back as a young child in the 60's suddenly began disappearing over the holiday seasons in the fall/winter of 2024, later to be replaced by a competitor from out of state, I'm going to go into greater detail.

Dolly's is a MI-based restaurant that came in to scoop up locations that once belonged to Cincinnati icon Frisch's Big Boy. Being based on the characters of advertising that early Big Boy restaurants used, we personally believed they would have similar foods. We were wrong.

The first odd thing we noticed on arrival was that the aged awnings still had the Frisch's "F" logo. We thought that was in poor taste, considering the drama of the takeover (and maybe a copyright or trademark violation?).

Willing to give the restaurant a try, for the sake of the employees earning a living as well as a desire to find a place to still enjoy a Big Boy platter, we were surprised that, while the menu contained many Frisch's Big Boy items, there was a double decker, but it had a sesame seed-topped bun and was called "the Signature," which we ordered with French fries and a slice of strawberry pie, their version of the Strawberry Pie Baby.

Food came out in a decent amount of time, and our server was friendly and cheerful, but that was where the similarities ended. The sandwich was just mediocre. The bun being a bit crumbly, the meat, while it appeared to be slightly larger than the Big Boy, just did not taste the same as Frisch's hamburgers. The lettuce and cheese were fine, but the tartar sauce did not taste anything like Frisch's tartar sauce.

I even tried dipping a French fry in the cup of tartar sauce that was with my meal (thinking that maybe the meat was the problem, affecting the whole sandwich), but it was definitely a different flavor, in a negative slant. The French fries also did not taste that well, but that I'll assume was from possibly the oil needing replaced in their deep fryer.

I ate the sandwich out of hunger (we had missed breakfast due to an early appointment) rather than enjoyment. Mind you, it was not awful, it just wasn't the sandwich I hoped for. As for the fries, I only ate maybe 5 or 6, leaving most. They just were not good.

We were hoping that the strawberry pie would make up for the less than great experience of the meal. I'm normally not a fan of the "goop" in this style of strawberry pie, but I really like Frisch's pie babies, likely from the mixing in of the whipped cream. With Dolly's pies, we both really liked the plump, ripe strawberries, but the goop had a strong chemical-like aftertaste. We both scraped off as much goop as we could from the fruit, then ate the crust and whipped cream with the strawberries. My wife normally loves that type of pie. To see her copy what I was doing to at least enjoy the fruit says a lot for how off the taste was

Maybe the fish or other products will taste better. Certainly, we wanted a good experience for the sake of the employees, as some were probably former Frisch's employees affected by the closing of their restaurant during the holidays.

As for us, we found a Frisch's Big Boy still serving their iconic menu items on Hamilton Ave just south of I-275. We will go...

Went through the drive thru. The girl kept talking over me while I was placing my order. When I asked a question she had to tell me to hold separate times to get the answers. She didn't know much about the menu. Finally made it to the window after sitting in line for almost 10 minutes. The gave us the wrong drink for a meal. Then had us pull up after already waiting over 10 minutes from the time we places our order. Finally got the food and checked it before pulling away since we live an hour away. My sons chicken nuggets were burned and when I picked one up it was so greasy. I walked in and talk to an older blonde. I assume a manager but no one wears a name tag so you'd never know...I told I just wanted a kids cheeseburger and fry as replacement. She check it and had the kitchen make. A boy came out asked what I was waiting on then went to the kitchen. I few minutes later another young boy that I saw in the drive walked out and asked for my receipt and I said no because I had already talked to someone and he was so rude and immediately went to back in my sight making jokes where him and 2 boys looked and laughed at me. This place is unorganized,unprofessional and I'd be surprised if it lasts a year. The food was below average and served in hefty containers and clear cups for drinks. You should just close back down. You're not ready for customers and you need employees that aren't 10. Put of 2 adult meal and 2 kids meals only one was ok and actually what we ordered. The fries were wrong on kids and I was supposed to get onion rings. We will not be back. You also need to work on your drive through. It's loud in your kitchen you hear everything except the person...

They were well staffed, cheerful and the place was clean. The breakfast bar and salad bar were very much like Frisch's had it but it was well supplied and clean. Now let's get to the food.

The patties on their "Signature Sandwich" (Big Boy) were about what the Frisch's Super Big Boy was. So no need to order their Super Signature burger like I did. I thought the burgers would just be thicker but no, they added birgers. It had 4 patties which is way too much. Overkill. See accompanied pictures. It took a long time to get our order although the waitress did take our order promptly. When it came it was not very warm and the bread was not fresh. The burger sandwich lacked flavor. I kept wanting to dip it in ketchup just to give it flavor. The onion rings were nothing like Frisch's. These were quite ordinary, thickly breaded and lacked flavor. They serve Pepsi, not Coke.

My issue is with the food, which ultimately is what this is all about. The food was blah and lacked flavor. I will try Dolly's one more time, likely for dinner on a slower weeknight, but Cincinnati is going to be underwhelmed with this and they'll want their Frisch's back, only this time with better, competent management. I predict the Frisch's that do manage to open or stay open, will do very well. They have a good product and people will come, if...