Diner Delights 

• Alex Springer

There's something hopeful about watching a former fast-food joint be reborn as a local restaurant. In this case, I'm talking about Dolly Donuts (3245 S. State Street, 385-355-9904, dollydonut.com). This highly anticipated South Salt Lake restaurant recently opened next to the Century 16 movie theater on 3300 South in a spot that used to be a Wendy's (if my memory serves). When I saw the retro signage that touted everything from doughnuts to fried chicken to the fabled Juicy Lucy cheeseburger—along with beer and cocktails to boot—I had to check this place out sooner rather than later.

The whole concept of Dolly Donuts is a bit of an oddity to me, which is what attracts me to a restaurant in the first place. Here we have a renovated fast-food spot that is serving up a menu of American diner classics, a wide range of homemade doughnuts and plenty of locally-sourced beer. On the inside, flat-screen TVs play music videos from the '60s and '70s, and carhop diners of days gone by live on in the framed photographs that adorn the walls. Aesthetically, it's a love letter to all those burger joints that paved the way for the fast-food mega corporations that span the globe today.

As interesting as it is to chew through all the gastro-socio-cultural layers that make up the foundation of Dolly Donuts, the experience of chewing through their menu was my main order of business. The Juicy Lucy cheeseburger ($11.99) was at the top of my list, since it's kind of a legend in the annals of burger history. For those of you who are unaware of the Juicy Lucy's impact on culinary history, it's a fat burger patty that is stuffed with cheese before it hits the grill, creating a particularly gooey and cheesy burger experience. The concept comes from Minneapolis, Minn., where a bitter feud continues to rage among rival burger joints who claim to have created the Juicy Lucy first. Nothing enhances a burger's favorite like a bit of historic drama.

The Juicy Lucy at Dolly Donuts is a gorgeous burger to be sure. The thick, cheesy patty sits on a bed of lettuce, tomato and red onion, all contained within a golden toasted bun. I sliced the burger in half to get the full effect of the Juicy Lucy's molten core, and I was not disappointed as I watched the whole savory show unfold on my plate. The cheese appears to merge with the patty's juices on a molecular level, and it's a truly beautiful sight. Those who enjoy cheeseburgers that lean into their innate gooeyness will be in burger paradise with the Juicy Lucy. On top of that, it's a burger that has been perfectly seasoned during the grilling process—yes, the liquid golden center is divine, but it's not the only thing that brings flavor to the table with this burger.

I was also curious about the chicken sandwich ($11.99), since I am still keeping a personal tally of the best fried chicken sandwiches around town. It's a decently sized fried chicken breast on a toasted bun—or a doughnut, if it pleases you—with some purple cabbage slaw and a drizzle of special sauce that smacked of buffalo wings. Overall, this is a perfectly serviceable chicken sandwich—the breading evokes the same simple pleasure of the chicken tenders you can get at the county fair. It's good, but I'd place it in the middle to low ranking of my own personal chicken sandwich spectrum.

Breakfast at Dolly Donuts includes classics like French toast ($8.99) and biscuits & gravy ($8.99), but we all know that the breakfast sandwich ($8.99) is where diners really shine in the morning. They offer plenty of customization options including type of bun—English muffins, croissants or doughnuts—and breakfast protein. I went with ham, egg and cheddar on an English muffin, and the result was good but not great. I was overall happy with the breakfast sandwich, but, like the chicken sandwich, it's not too hard to find something a bit better for a bit cheaper around town.

On my way out, I picked up a half dozen doughnuts that I shared with my family later that evening. Some standouts of my batch were the blueberry lemon poppyseed cake doughnuts ($1.75) and the cream-filled Bismark doughnuts ($2.75), which were delightfully overstuffed with vanilla pastry cream. The place is called Dolly Donuts for a reason, and I think their doughnut recipes easily launch the place into the upper echelons of Utah's doughnut empire. Plus, there's a drive-through, so South Salt Lake doughnut runs just got easier.

I had a few gripes about Dolly Doughnuts when it came to a few entrees, but the place has only been open for around two months—there are still plenty of things that it's figuring out, and I respect that. That said, a place with excellent burgers, doughnuts to go and a charming nod to the diner culture of a bygone era is welcome in my neighborhood any time.