DOX Grillhouse — Restaurant in Saint Clair Shores

I'm posting this review to give feedback on my experience at DOX on 12/10/2024.

To start, I tried calling them both Monday and Tuesday around 7-8pm with no answer. Not sure if they aren't taking phone calls, but I'd suggest having some sort of automated message to let customers know.

Upon walking into the restaurant, I found it odd that the host desk was placed with their backs to customers entering, but when I walked up to them I was greeted and promptly seated. I took a look around as I was taken to my table, and was impressed at how the restaurant looked. Decor was very nice, and unseated tables were clean. The restaurant also only had a handful of empty tables (this is about 9:35PM).

Their menu is HUGE. Had I not taken a look online prior to coming in, it would have been overwhelming. I was greeted after roughly 10 minutes - not a crazy amount of time to wait seeing how packed they were. I ordered a drink, the Big Poppa, and steak bites to start. The drink looked great, and tasted great as well! Upon receiving my drink, I ordered my main course, the baked mac and cheese with added brisket.

My mac and cheese ended up coming out first. The food runner explained that the plate was very hot, and it was! Before taking a bite, I told him that I had ordered steak bites to start and he went off to let my server know. She came back to let me know they had to cut them and that they would be out shortly. They ended up coming out about 15 minutes later.

Despite the plate being on fire, the mac and cheese was lukewarm, which is disappointing as it was actually pretty good. It was very rich and creamy. The brisket, unfortunately, was pretty dry, but had a good flavor. I was not asked for a temperature on my steak bites, nor did I ask for a specific temp on them. The portion is very generous on them! They were cooked medium well (I prefer medium rare). Sadly, I was not impressed by these. They were dry and had no flavor. The zip sauce wasn't very good either.

To finish my night, I ordered the cheesecake to-go. I was unfortunately told that it was frozen and would not be able to be served, so that was a bummer.

I would like to add that I want this place to do well. I see plenty of reviews with great experiences, so I hope that mine just happened to be a fluke. As of right now, I would only come here for cocktails and the atmosphere, but I'll give the food another chance in...

Updating my review to 4 stars. I’ve been back many times since my initial review, and I think this place just needed some time to work out the kinks. Food is okay, cocktails are good. My rec is to sit at the bar.

Original review: My husband and I have been here twice since they opened. We have eagerly been awaiting it because we literally live across the street. First time was a Tuesday afternoon around 2:00. We got a red eye burger and a buffalo chicken pizza. The burger was overall good—great flavor, the main downside was that the burger had no structural integrity (FWIW, the people at the table next to us said the same about their burger). The pizza was very dry, like it had no sauce on it. It was more like cheesy bread. Oh, and it took a literal hour for our plates to come out when the restaurant was relatively empty. (We work from home and did not budget time for our order to take an hour to come out.)

Returned on a Saturday night for dinner around 9:00. We were told there was an hour wait but were pleasantly surprised to get a text after 30 minutes. The restaurant was so loud we had to shout to hear one another, but sure, the place was full, comes with the territory I guess. We ordered the steak eggrolls to start, and they were room temperature with the cheese already congealed. The flavor was good, but they’d clearly been sitting out a while, so I wish I could’ve microwaved them.

We also got buffalo wings, and the wings were moist, flavor was good. A little more complex than your run-of-the-mill buffalo wings.

Cocktails have been hit or miss but overall okay.

Server said she had been there since 10am and her shift ended after the kitchen closes at 11pm, so I honestly felt bad for her. She forgot my seltzer water, but no biggie, we weren’t charged. Service both times has been exemplary and the best part of the experience.

Hoping this place does well and figures out their kitchen to...

If I had to base my opinion solely on food it would be a 1 star. The food looks amazing, in turn it's ridiculously bland. No flavor, not quite sure how this happens. I deconstructed my Reuben sandwich. Quality corned beef and surprisingly enough real baby Swiss barely melted though. Coleslaw no flavor, shredded cabbage with what looks like seasoning but nothing. Asked for a side of Russian/1,000 Island ='s pink miracle whip. Bread buttered, poor attempt of grilled. Salmon Entree, Salmon was good, mashed potatoes hard and not fresh/real tasting, green beans were good. Side of street corn is served as a cold side not bad though if you have them microwave it. If you're looking for the same menu as every other restaurant in the area and strategically overpriced then this is your spot. Nothing on the menu stood out as original or geared to a "DOX" only specialty that would make them stand out above the rest. Yes you could go fried as many people reported all the fried food was good, but it should be any fried food is usually good. If I want fried I could go to any other bar and get the same for different pricing. Our service was awesome especially our waitress!! The building is easily passable due to the fact it's the new standard of depressing storm cloud gray as all the structures have seemingly went to. Decor is same thing you see everywhere, straight out of the "At Home" store. In the end, I would give a second chance as I always do just to make a final decision but I'd rather go to Pegasus or even Fishbones. Someone with a pallet needs to rethink their recipes and menu. I have no problem with paying higher prices but in return I expect flavor. Portions are overrated. Who needs bigger portions for barely...