Review: Dingo’s
When I walked into Dingo’s on Coursey with my family for lunch late Thursday afternoon, I expected two things: decent, maybe good, food and quick meal. What I didn’t expect was for owner and native Australian Patrick Muller to stop by—and entertain us for a good half-hour.
But as I reflect on our experience at Dingo’s more and more, it becomes clear that this classifies the establishment. It’s as exciting, eclectic, interesting and captivating as Muller was. He told us wonderful tales of his days as a youth traveling the world as an Aussie football player and the unlikely string of events that first brought him to Louisiana—and the love that kept him here. I won’t even begin to recant his evocative tale, mostly because I couldn’t begin to bring it justice, but also because this is a review about the food. (But seriously, when you go—and you certainly should—look for the bald guy running around and ask him to tell you the story behind Dingo’s. It’s well worth the time.)
Menu and Food
The first thing that struck me once I sat in my booth (which, oddly, still had an Italian design from it’s former tenant, Semolina’s) was that Dingo’s menu is only one page. And at that, there are only a few food types to choose from: burgers, paninis, a few entrees and that’s about it. However slim, there’s plenty to chose from and all should be able to eat well. I tried the Dingo’s Bacon Burger, which is a savory patty served with thick, smoked applewood bacon, cheddar and all the trimmings. It was delicious, but not unlike any good burger. However, the Dingo burgers are served on ciabatta bread, which really adds an interesting flavor to it. The same goes with the chicken sandwich: the wheat bun added a sweet flavor to the patty. Both are recommended. Another in my party tried the salmon burger, which they reported was also good (I’m not one for seafood, so I stayed clear). Oddly, it’s topped with coleslaw, which Muller told us was because his mother used to slap a heap of coleslaw onto everything. For dessert, we tried the chocolate toffee cake, which was absolutely incredible—I highly recommend this.
Menu Selection Rating—
Quality of Food Rating—
Atmosphere
Inside and out, Dingo’s does it best to give it the feel of an Australian restaurant. I give them accolades for turning the former Italian restaurant around, because besides the tables, you can’t really tell. And even down to the serving they do a great job: they don’t take up your plates until after everyone is eating. Our waiter had to assure us he wasn’t just being lazy. Muller told us it’s part tradition, part subliminal messaging to your dinner partners to hurry up! And as I said, we had a wonderful time talking with Muller—he is filled with great stories and trivia!
Atmosphere Rating—
Overall Review
Overall, we recommend Dingo’s. It’s a good restaurant with a lot of great atmosphere. We had a great time dining there and Muller was such a great host. We’re excited to see another restaurant move into the vacated building and wish the best of luck to Muller and crew. We hope this bodes well for the blossoming restaurant scene around that area.
So Melissa & myself went to Dingo’s tonight. It was amazing. Seemed like they had too many waiters, but i imagine they were either training or unsure of what to anticipate on a Saturday night. it was about 7pm when we got there and there was no wait. The menu did look sparse, but I immediately found one or two items that looked worth trying. I was intrigued by the fish & chips, especially since they had a “oohwee” sauce with it. Our waiter Aaron was pretty friendly. Nice to see that Muller must not to be too big on dress code or having a certain look on his employees. Some had tattoos, our waiter had a nose ring. Disappointed that the fish tacos were on a flour shell since Mel can’t have wheat or anything made with gluten. She ended up getting the turkey burger with no bun. It took a short time to get our food. I’ll say that i was slightly confused by the musical choice. Mostly older music from the 80’s. didn’t really seem to fit with the atmosphere. My fish and chips were pretty darn good. Not traditional at all, but a very different take. the skin on the fish wasn’t as crispy & crunchy as you might expect, but it held together alright and the meat inside was so juicy and tasty. the fries were a decent wedge cut. no need for salt, unless you’re like me and want to put just a little on there. the “oohwee” sauce added a very unique tangy taste to the fish. always appreciate a good dip. coleslaw was coleslaw; not much to say about that. Mel’s burger tasted wonderful. i had a bite of it and it was nice and crisp but still juicy on the inside. the presentation was wonderful. i was tempted to get dessert, but didnt want to spend the money and also didn’t have the room for it. c’est la vie. it’ll be interesting to see how Dingo’s transforms in the upcoming months. i wonder if they’ll add televisions or try to come up with some for of entertainment. they’re in a tough location for new restaurants. most people might consider it in the middle of town and you can pretty much go anywhere from there. I wish them the best of luck and plan on returning again soon.
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Wow, Sounds like exciting new offerings for a unique establishment. The next time I am near the Red Stick, I’ll make a point to give it a try!
[...] overall experience at Di Giulio’s was good. It wasn’t fantastic like my experience at Dingo’s was, but then again not every restaurant has a Patrick Muller. Regardless, we recommend Di [...]
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