The Dough Company — Restaurant in Wilkes-Barre Township

The Dough Company has been Wilkes-Barre Township staple for nearly 40 years. Located on Kidder Street, the business has withstood the test of time while other nearby restaurants and establishments grew and withered. The venue has a casual, "family restaurant" vibe and a patron can be warmly greeted and pleasantly served.

We arrived on a Tuesday evening and were seated immediately. There were plenty of tables open and remained that way throughout our visit.

The items on the menu were mainly Italian dishes. Pasta and tomato sauce, pizza, strombolis, etc. Surprisingly, the more tasty dishes we ordered were not Italian, but more of a local, home-cooked flair.

The homemade Piggy Soup was very flavorful, with ground beef and cabbage in a tomato based broth. Although cabbage is a main ingredient in "Piggies," it seemed to be lacking in the soup itself. Nevertheless, the dish was enjoyable.

The Chicken Pot Pie was also delicious, with the pie crust overflowing from the rim of the bowl. The meal included chicken, peas, and carrots, immersed in a thick, creamy chicken gravy.

The pizza itself was average. The cheese pizza was a thin, no-frills pie that satisfied the hunger, but nothing that stood out (which is hard to do in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with a very large volume of pizza parlors that have their own unique taste). Although the pie was not terrible, there are many other venues that serve more pleasing offerings.

The double-crusted 4-piece white pizza was a little better, with melted cheese and Italian seasonings oozing from the sides. The dough was fresh, soft, and definitely filling.

The penne vodka was the most disappointing, however. The sauce was not creamy as one would expect, and was flat, lacking any flavor. The side salad was also uneventful, with two cucumbers, a tomato, a strip of green pepper, iceberg lettuce buried underneath a bed of shredded carrots. The dressing came in a small container.

The longevity of The Dough Company suggests that it has a loyal following, and it's good to see a local business thrive over the years. With the exception of the penne vodka meal, I wasn't thoroughly disappointed with the meals, nor was I extremely pleased. Although I don't regret visiting the eatery, I probably won't be clamoring for a return visit...

First time visit and the Greek salad has a really exceptional dressing, made in-house, and I wish they sold it by the bottle it's so good. Pasta was very good too but the salad was the standout and our server, Alyssa, was the real star of the visit. Made us feel super welcome and elevated the experience. We'll be back soon to try the soups and the pot pie.

Update from 2nd visit: Still haven't tried the soup, but today we got chicken pot pies, and they're really good. The chicken stew is hearty and chunky; the gravy is mild and creamy, and the crust is pastry-style, draped over the edge of the crockery bowl they bake it in, so you get lots of nice edge-pieces of crust. Delicious. Service was once again excellent, too, and we had a bit of the spumoni, which is a great example of the type (it's hard to find spumoni at most local Italian places lately, and it's a tradition I'm old enough to miss, I suppose). The Dough Company's spumoni has particularly nice cherry notes, and the chocolate part has a nice rich cocoa flavor. We only ordered a half-serving and split it, because we're diabetic and should not be messing with spumoni after having a pot pie (!), but: even just a small bit was very rewarding. And of course, we had the Greek Salad again and I can't imagine coming here and not...

Used to go here alot before Covid, but since then prices really went up. Spaghetti sauce doesn't even taste the same. They no longer let you order only center cuts of white pizza and price is very high. No one want an end with nothing in it. A few times I was there I was allowed to get the 2 fo dine in special but take the other meal home for my husband. My last visit the waitress said no problem but came back out and said manager said no because of take out containers. Just charge an xtra $1 for the containers. I had taken my other half out so you had to give me a container any way. Back in the day that restaurant was filled but I have yet to see that anymore. One day my Son stopped thought he'd pick up some of that white pizza and surprise me for watching his dog. He came in with it and said do you know what they charged for 6 slices? Im like what? I told him not to do that again especially when the ends are all dough and no cheese. Sorry Dough Company but we aren't frequenting your restaurant to...