Doumar's Cones and Barbecue

How many places can claim that they made the very first ice cream cone? Well...I guess a lot of places can claim it. BUT, one place really did make the first thin, flat waffle upon which ice cream was placed: Doumar's.

Doumar's is in Norfolk, Virginia, and it's a drive-in. And by drive-in, I mean a classic drive-in. Since the place has been there since 1934, I'd say it's pretty authentic.

Now, if my previous post about Sonic didn't clue you in, as a New York guy, I've no clue how to operate the whole drive-in scene. People come up to the window and you order and then they put a tray near your window? Do you tip them? Do they come back to get the tray when I'm done? All these questions just had Katie and I park the car and go in to get our food rather than once again tempt fate.

Well, I was wrong again about not tempting fate, because I wasn't sure whether or not I could just sit down in the booths like I could at, say, A Burger King, or if I had to be waited on. We finally decided to get our food and eat it in the car. So, in a way, we were our own waitress on this adventure.

Since we were hungry, we got some lunch in addition to the cones that we'd obviously be getting. Katie and I both got cheeseburgers with onions, we split a side of fries, I got a hot dog with cheese and a limeade. Then Katie got a chocolate cone and I got a vanilla one.

Food first: tasty! It's exactly what I'd imagine getting a burger from a drive-in would taste like if I were transported back to 1956. It's the kind of flavor that reminds you of an era even if you never lived in it. This is probably because they haven't changed much of anything since the place opened. It's also probably because after McDonald's opened its 45,457,520,382,392nd location, it stopped tasting original. Doumar's is keeping it real, and keeping the flavor alive.

The hot dog was interesting!

Check that out. They serve it on a hamburger bun, but split it down the middle and you eat it like a sandwich. The dog was also a good time. It tasted grilled, which pleased my pallet, I must say.

It's a shame I'm the one reviewing fries, because to me fries are just fries. In general, I'd rather the crinkle-cut variety over the thin kind that most fast-fooderies have going on.

I'll keep my drink review of the limeade short and sweet: refreshing! It was like a homemade lime slushie. When summer hits, I'll be trying to make some of these out on LI.

Now, onto the ice cream: mmmmmmmmmmmm. It was creamy as can be. If someone told me it wasn't homemade, I'd tell them they were crazy. And the waffle cones were thin, crisp, and everything a waffle cone should be. Most chain ice-cream places have thick overly-sweet cones that aren't to my liking. This one literally tasted better than most waffles I've had.

So, despite Doumar's being a bit confusing in ordering procedure, and despite the staff being a bit more friendly on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives than they were in person (way more frowns on location), overall I vote that if you're in the Norfolk area, go grab some grub!

With loving tastebuds,

- Mike