Nothin' cures cold, windy weather days better than a steaming hot bowl of Tomato Soup and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. At Doughboys Cafe & Bakery on W. 3rd Street adjacent to West Hollywood, they like to call this far-from-humble dish the "After School Special." More like after football practice, these two dishes are so big, they might as well be pumped up on steroids. Adding insult to gut injury, tackle the Beefy Mac 'n Cheese Special too, and you got yourself a full line up of leftovers for at least 3 days.
The Grubdown:
- thick 'n string cheesy, coulda used a lot more grill, After School Special with Grilled Cheese Sandwich & super sweet Creamy Tomato Soup $9.95
- more like Hamburger Helper, could've used more salt even with the thick layer of cheese, Beefy Mac 'n Cheese $9.95
If you've always wanted to go to Doughboys, but found the brunch line to be too long on the weekends, try going on a Monday night instead. They offer the same full menu without the wait.
The hand model and I tried the After School Special in search of a comforting, hearty meal on a cold week night. Instead we found ridiculously huge portions without the greasy, guilty flavors we were looking for. Possibly because I asked for the Wheat instead of regular French Pan de Mie Bread, our Grilled Cheese was served crustless with barely any butter or notion of toast – a.k.a. it tasted like it just came out of the bread package.
The Sandwich's only saving grace was the thick Swiss, White Cheddar, and Fontina Cheese that gave a bitter contrast to the overly sweet, but addictively creamy piping hot Tomato Soup. (Did I mention the bowl was the size of my hand model's head?)
The Beefy Mac 'n Cheese offered a nostalgic flavor profile with crunchy Diced Onions, Tomato Cream filling, and Elbow Macaroni all covered up by a thick warm Cheese Blanket. We found ourselves fighting over the cheesy beef bits. And the big loaf of Bread it's served with seemed more like a carbo-holics joke as neither of us could bring ourselves to indulge after such a rich meal.
Both dishes were way too big for us to barely put a dent in. But that didn't stop us from drooling over the display case's Red Velvet Cakes that Doughboys is known for.
(Next time I'll be returning for the Pineapple, Coconut, Macadamia Nut or Blueberry Flax Seed Pancakes for dinner.)
8136 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323-852-1020.
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