Dottie’s Diner

My wife and I were looking for a new place to have breakfast and she stumbled on this place. I am. glad that we stopped in. Food was priced really well and was great.
They make their own strawberry jelly and it is off the hook. We will definitely be coming back.

Solid home cooking and good service! Having said that … Some of the items, like Banana Pudding, that they have pictures of on Unilocal are not part of the menu any longer. They DO NOT take AMEX !!!

I stopped in for lunch since it was very close to the place I was working. Man, I am glad I did.
This is a little diner hidden away. The waitress was as nice as could be and got my drink order and told me the specials within a minute of getting there. There was a lot of people there but she handled it like I’m the only one in the place.
I got the chicken pie special with beets and turnip greens. I liked the variety of sides that you can only get in a southern eatery.
Food came out amazingly fast. It was perfect. The best part about it, the meal cost $ 5. I would much rather get a nice sit down home cooked meal than spend the same going to get fast food.

I can’t believe anyone had a negative review of Dottie’s. It is a DINER. Please remember that you are not rating an upscale restaurant. And expecting specialty beverages at a diner is just unreasonable.
We have been regulars at Dottie’s for breakfast for the 7 years we’ve lived in Graham. The breakfast is excellent, and they will do anything you ask. The veggie omelet is off the hook! The only downside is that the biscuits are not homemade, but if you can deal with that, the rest is great. We don’t get many opportunities for lunch at Dottie’s, but the specials look great and you absolutely cannot beat the price. It is traditional Southern country food.
We have NEVER had bad service, but there are some customers who are hard to get along with.
All-​in-​all, Dave (the owner) runs a sweet little diner with good food.

The food is *delicious* but the service is utter crap. I waited an hour for my food and was offered no apology or any sort of discount. I will probably never go here again which is a shame, because the food really was fantastic.

Absolute worst service ever. Don’t sit in the young blonde girls section. Not unless you want to wait for over 30 minutes for 2 scrambled eggs. And this wasn’t the first time this has happened to me, but it will be the last. Too bad since I live so close and go out for breakfast at least 3 times a week.

How Does One Say «Y’all» in Korean?
My experience at the local Waffle House was so bad this morning, that I went to Unilocal in search of an alternative. Dottie’s popped up as the best choice. I had thirty minutes before I had to arrive at work, so I went to where the Unilocal map said Dottie’s was located. The damned Unilocal map was/​is wrong, again. It says Dottie’s is located where the local DMV is situated, in an industrial park — t’aint so Unilocal.Dejected, I gave up finding Dottie’s any time soon.
Fast forward to lunchtime. I told the two Korean gentlemen that I work with that I wasn’t hungry, but they insisted that I join them for lunch anyway. You don’t tell a VP and the company’s GM «NO,» so I went along for the ride.
I heard a bunch of Korean, but I did catch the phrase «diner.» I know what a diner is. They proceeded to pull into a strip mall on the west side of highway 87, and lo and behold, the diner was Dottie’s. Ain’t life strange?
Our plant manager and VP, is a Korean American, and he quickly ordered the special, which was basically homemade chicken ‘n dumplings. His sides were pickled beets, green beans, and hush puppies. Unsweetened tea w/​lemon.
Our GM, is a South Korean born, recently moved to Chapel Hill, by way of El Salvador — citizen. He didn’t know what to make of Southern cuisine. He deliberated over the other special of the day, the salmon cakes, which he chose to not order. (I’m pretty sure he made the right decision.)
He took a good minute and a half perusing the menu, while our waitress patiently answered questions with ball point pen poised for action. He said that his wife feeds him chicken every single night, so he passed on the «cluck de jour.» I can’t say that I blame him. He eventually decided on the cheese steak sandwich. I mentally grimaced, when the waitress asked, «do you want that with lettuce and tomato?» Yikes, that is so wrong on so many levels — don’t get me started about the originality of a proper Philly cheesesteak — I’m a purist.
I was amused when he continued to order pinto beans with onion to accompany his cheesesteak, and… white coleslaw. He asked for Coke Zero. Waitress said, «we don’t have that.» He asked for Diet Coke. Waitress said, «we don’t have that.» He asked for sparkling water. Waitress didn’t know what that was. LOL. Our VP suggested that Club Soda would be similar. Guess what? Waitress said, «we don’t have that.» Ultimately, he ordered unsweetened tea with lemon.
I ordered sweet tea with lemon, and I thought that the waitress was going to hug me or give me a high five. She did give me a big ‘olé smile for ordering what they carry. ;o)
Verdict? Their tea was good.
The two Korean gentlemen devoured their food with gusto. Gentleman #2 asked for another order of hush puppies, so evidently, the hush puppies are GOOD. He asked me what hush puppies are usually served with in the South. I said either barbecue or fried seafood. He seemed pleased by the prospects.
The service was good. The food at lunch looked average at best. I’m giving them three stars to give them the benefit of the doubt, and that seems about right, based on the food that I saw on the two plates in front of me. I will have breakfast here next week, and I will adjust my ratings accordingly as time goes on — we’ll see.
One thing is for certain, this is NOT a fancy place. Secondly, it is «deputy sheriff approved.» LOL.
Their specials for the day may be found at:

Been here twice so far. Mediocre food at best. Both visits were unfortunately ruined by poor, un attentive service. At 7:05am I was the only customer. It took 20 minutes to get my omelet. I had to ask the server to check on my food. When she brought it out it was barely warm and had obviously been sitting. Biscuits were frozen and food looked thrown together. No love on the plate here.

Some servers ruin for the whole group.
Confused, unfriendly, and shotty server made experience less than desirable.
The pancakes had the oil taste as did the eggs. I guess the griddle needed cleaning.
Coffee tastes like water. Grits were water…
Just not your home cooking sweet Carolina dining experience you crave.

5 stars, because Dottie’s does everything a diner should do: give you a breakfast (my only experience thus far) that’s fast, tasty, and inexpensive, served by people who smile a lot and refill your coffee cup consistently. Dottie’s is just a few miles from my new house and I’m glad to have a new go-​to place for breakfast, especially before hitting the road for a trip to somewhere or other. (Dottie’s is quite convenient to the interstate, although it is tucked back in a corner somewhat.)

Before we had fast food restaurants in this country, we had diners. Unfortunately, diners are a vanishing breed. There are very few really good ones left. Dottie’s is one of the good ones. I have had breakfast and lunch at Dottie’s. Breakfast is very good. Lunch is what some people would call «a meat and two vegetable» restaurant. Well, what’s wrong with that? Especially when the food tastes great. I have eaten most of the daily specials, and have found them all to have been prepared to my liking.
Service is superior. The wait staff goes out of their way to make each and every customer feel welcomed and «waited-​on.» If Mama was still alive, she would say, «they were very nice.»
Pricing is very reasonable. You’ll feel good leaving a little extra in your tip.
So, if you want one of those vanishing quality diner experiences, be nice to yourself and visit Dottie’s.