D.P. Dough — Restaurant in Normal

Severely disappointed

I've been wanting to try D.P. Dough for forever and was super excited to finally try it out today. I ordered online, setting it up as a future pick up to save on wait time since I had a movie to catch after. In the fifteen minutes before I arrived, the place filled up - I had a friend who got there at least 20mins before I did saw it happen. I wasn't worried and glad that I had ordered ahead. My online order was placed around 4:45pm, set for 6:15pm, and I got to the counter just past 6:20pm. I let the cashier (young women with neck tatts) know that I was here for pick up and gave her my name. She printed out a ticket, checked the keep-warm racks behind her, and when she found nothing she gave me the ticket and told me my number would be called. She was definitely in a mood, but I get it - being minimally staffed because it's a Wednesday evening and then getting slammed out of nowhere is stressful. I took a seat next to my friend - his order, which he placed around 6pm, was #63. Inoticed the server name that printed out was "Teach em a lesson". Wow. In all my industry years, I had never heard such a sinister username. We watched as the cashier juggled kitchen duties and front house needs. I felt for her, but honestly she really needed to stop treating us like the bad guys. Her attitude was apparent to everybody in the tiny restaurant. I even overheard a couple behind me give up and leave because when they tried checking on their order, the cashier told the woman she did not place her order 20 minutes ago (when she definitely had). If the cashier could've ordered some sort of apology, explanation, or constructive answer, I'm sure she would've stuck around. Hopefully that couple gets a refund.... Finally, food starts coming out. We watched the people that ordered right before my friend had get their food. (yea!) I think my friend got his capstone with tots about 6:30pm - both came out not even warm. I listened to the numbers count up, as I held my #36 online pre-order. People that ordered their food after my 6:20pm check-in received their order at 6:55. Mind you, not only was mine a pre-order, but I had a 7pm movie to catch down the street.... I watched as every single walk-in and online order got called, then finally came "order 36" - which she tossed into the counter and walked into the back without a look. I'm guessing her register name wasn't chosen lightly, nor is her attitude unusual for her. What I did to deserve this sad excuse of "service" however.... My food, while correct, was also not even warm. Honestly, I want to give their product another shot, but if I walk in and see her there, I'm just turning around....

Review Visit: November 10th, 2012

The dough here is worth the dough.

Back in the early days of traveling, DP Dough was recommended to my from one of my friends. Being an interesting sounding pizza place and my voracious love of pizza, it was an obvious choice to go ASAP. I grabbed my friend Matt and my girlfriend-at-the-time and headed towards Bloomington-Normal.

We parked along the side of the street and wandered around until we found it. At this time, I was still new to traveling and not familiar with the layout of new towns. I have learned a lot since then. Upon walking in, I have to admit that I was not impressed. The place seemed a bit run down and was in the middle of a renovation or something. The 3 of us gave each other uneasy looks as we discussed if we wanted to try it out despite the restaurant having seen better days. Obviously we ended up sticking it out and trying the goods.

We came here blind. We didn’t know the menu or what they offered. It seems that D.P. specializes in calzones. If you don’t know what that is, let me fill you in. It’s this taco shaped chunk of dough that is stuffed with pizza toppings and goodies. It’s baked like a pie and eaten however you desire. See the image below to get a good idea. I haven’t had many calzones in my life so this was not just a new place but also a new tasting experience as well.

With our orders placed, we took a seat in the only area that wasn’t blocked off due to renovations. It was a small dining area behind the wall menu we are standing in front of in the top photo. I don’t remember what Matt or Erin ordered but I got something along the lines of a meat lovers or a pepperoni-loaded one. Looking at the menu, it was either the Italian Zone or the Roni Zoni as those two would’ve been my pick of choice. The food didn’t take long to cook as we had our food out within 10-15 minutes.

Expectations were mixed as my friend Mark was adamant about his suggestion of this place. Not trying to judge the food by the look of the restaurant, I took that first hungry bite without a terrible amount of hesitation. Both Erin and Matt waited to see my reaction before digging in. That moment between the first bite and my taste buds talking to my brain left them hanging. Then a smile emerged on my face as I went in for more. They took that as a sign that the food was good to go.

My gosh, was that calzone delicious. We savored every bite as the pizza taco pie was oozing in flavor and taste. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so uneasy about a place and then have it turn out to be killer good. Between Flingers and D.P. Dough, the twin cities might just be the place to go to get...

The driver didn't bring the sodas we paid for. When I called the store to ask for the charge to be removed they claimed the could not adjust it after the fact. I've been in food service for 15 years and have never encountered a point of sale system that couldn't adjust a charge during the same sales day. The exhausted sounding employee on the phone offered a credit to "my account" for the next time we ordered. I explained that I had registered no information with the business, but the employee assured me the credit would be recognized if I spoke to a manager on the phone. I have 0 faith that this is true.

So to be clear, I notified the business that they did not deliver what I paid for, and they refused to refund me for the cost of the goods I never got. Will not be ordering again, and I will actively discourage anyone I know from giving them business. It's pretty easy to deliver sub par food for medium to high prices in the night, but D.P. Dough has somehow failed to do even that. I wish I could discourage the Normal town council from assisting this business from expanding, but alas, the college student debt-dollars are all that matters in this town.

2/5 because the calzones were passable, but...