I finally experienced Dot's Place cuisine for the first time tonight, and I left happy. We were looking for a place nearby to take our three children and my mother-in-law, Jackie, who is in a wheelchair now. It turns out that Jackie had been there a good number of times before, so she was excited about the prospect of returning. 
The original Dot's in north Austin burned down, and they moved to the new location on Heatherwilde Drive this past year. I had heard good word-of-mouth about the food, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was even BETTER than I expected.
The location is pretty plain, to be frank. The decor is very basic inside. They inhabit the former Mr. Gatti's location facing Pecan Street near the Sonic, and it appeared as though they kept all of the old furniture.
When we entered, we were facing a food line that looked much like a small cafeteria. Despite the good stuff that I had heard, I was a little concerned, since our kids are pretty picky eaters, especially my son. They had a very rudimentary menu posted on the wall with pricing for everything. The adult plate was $8.50 for an entree and two sides, and the kids' plate was $5.50 for the same thing with smaller portions.
They had a good variety of entrees to choose from, including fried catfish, chicken and dumplings, beef tips and rice, roast beef, chicken fried steak, chicken with broccoli-cheese rice, and a couple of others. The vegetables and sides were pretty standard fare (green beans, mac and cheese, corn, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.).
All three adults in our group must have been in the mood for fish, as we all had the fried catfish tonight. The older kids both had chicken fried steak, and our toddler daughter had chicken and dumplings. My wife made the remark of the evening,
"These chicken and dumplings will make you get religion!"
In fact, she liked them so much that she decided to bring an order home for later.
ALL OF THE FOOD WAS EXCELLENT. It reminded me a lot of my grandparent's cooking, and it actually made me miss them even more, as they have been gone for years. The mashed potatoes could have actually been made by my grandmother. Yes, they were that good.
I couldn't help myself - I had to have some of the cheesecake, which is part of my wonderful and comprehensive weight loss plan. :) I would have had another one if we were not in public.
I highly recommend Dot's Place if you crave country homestyle Southern cooking. My sole complaint is that they are not open as often as I would like. They do most of their business during the Monday through Friday lunch time (open 10:30 - 2:30) and they are only open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays from 5:30 - 8:30, and closed on weekends.
I have found a new place for lunch with clients or my family, and I look forward to returning. Our bill for a family of six (three adults, three kids) was just $53. I will be back.
Thanks, Dot!
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You seem to eat out a LOT!! But this place sounds great. I love family owned places. We have quite a few near here too.
Okay Jason! I am getting it! Do you find that by going to new places for localism you are networking with new people as well?
Simon - We probably don't eat out as much as you might think. Almost every time we eat out now, it becomes a post, which is fun, because we get to try new places pretty often. I love the family-owned places, too!
George - Yes, I am! Thanks for your comments!
Jason, this sounds fantastic! There's nothing like good old fashioned home cooking...the kind I use to do. It sounds wonderful and unpretentious. I enjoyed meeting your family the other day and I still have photos that I need to send to you.
Aren't we all just so blessed? I feel I am and I KNOW you are. You take care my friend...and have that other piece of cheescake. We only live once here in this time. Enjoy, Later in the rain~Deb
OK Jason. I'm starting to think that outside of work, all you do is eat. =P This does sound like another great restaurant though. And I guess someone has to eat-out. All I do is nibble all day. Enjoy your good eatin'! =D
We really like trying to support local business first before the chains. It sounds like this is our type of place. We are still on the hunt up in our area for the good biscuits and gravy.
Jason
Sounds like my kind of joint! I am now ready to go.:)