where jess ate

My friends and I were taking a stroll down King Street deciding what to have for dinner. We were debating between Big Smoke Burger (formerly known as Craft Burger) and Lou Dawg’s. When we saw a sign outside Lou Dawg’s saying “$5 wings after 5pm”, we were sold. It must have been a Monday evening special to bring in customers since the place was completely dead.

My two friends went with the Pulled Pork Sandwich ($6.95). For an extra dollar, you can add coleslaw to your sandwich, which they call the “Po’ Boy Option”. You can also make your sandwich a combo for $2.99 which includes a small side and a pop.

Since I really like variety, I decided to go with the 3 Meat Slider Sampler ($9.95) which consisted of a brisket, pulled pork and chicken slider with a side of potato salad and coleslaw. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the brisket or the chicken. The chicken was incredibly dry and bland. Maybe if it was a bit more saucy, I would’ve eaten more than a bite out of this. Similar to the chicken, I also found the brisket on the dry side. It wasn’t as tender and fatty as I would’ve liked. The brisket here definitely can’t compare to the brisket sandwich at Black Camel. Thankfully, the pulled pork fared better. It had a nice smoky flavour and had the perfect amount of sauce.

I really enjoyed the two sides the sampler came with. The potato salad contained large chunks of potatoes and had a honey mustard dressing. It was light and a nice change from the creamy potato salad I normally eat. I generally don’t like coleslaw, but this one was quite tasty. I particularly enjoyed it when I topped the pulled pork slider with it.

Since we opted for Lou Dawg’s because of the $5 wings, we had to order some wings of course. I inquired with the server about this special since you typically have to buy a drink in order to get the special. Surprisingly, there was no catch! So, we purchased an order of the Slow Smoked Wings – slow smoked and coated with a dry rub seasoning, which normally costs $8.95.

These wings came with the whole wing – with the drumstick and the whole shebang attached. I don’t think the dry seasoning was mixed very well as some bites were more flavourful (and better tasting) than others. So, I’m a little undecided on their wings. But for $5 and no catch, this was great value!

Something that caught my eye on the menu was the Deep Fried Pickles ($5.95). I love pickles in any way, shape or form, so I had to order this. The pickles were cut length-wise into quarters and there were six pieces…equivalent to 1 ½ pickles (correct me if I’m wrong… my mathematical skills aren’t very solid!).  Sure, these tasted delicious, but at 6 bucks, this was a little steep compared to the rest of the dishes served here. For this kind of money, I could buy two whole jars of pickles!

It’s never a good idea to order when you’re starving…so this would explain my order of a large Loutine – house-made gravy, local cheese curds, hand cut fries and pulled pork ($8.95). The portion was enormous and after it arrived, I knew ordering it was a bad idea. I was surprised by how generous they were with the cheese and pulled pork. The cheese was very gooey and it was so melted that I couldn’t even tell they were cheese curds. The gravy wasn’t anything special and I wasn’t a huge fan of the thick cut fries, since I prefer my fries thin and crispy.

When I started eating my poutine with ketchup, my friends were a little puzzled. Am I the only person who eats their poutine with ketchup? I really like the salty and sweet combination. Don’t judge… because my friends always do!

On the whole, I found the food to be decent but nothing special. Our server was okay but sometimes he wasn’t around when we needed him. The atmosphere here is pretty casual and I definitely wouldn’t recommend Lou Dawg’s for a first, second… or third date since everything here is so messy.

At a glance:

• Decent food but nothing special
• Located on King between Spadina and Bathurst
• Popular for take-out

Ratings (out of 5)

• Food: 3.5 stars
• Service: 3 stars
• Atmosphere: 3 stars