Greetings once more, my fellow culinauts. The Hungry Student returns with another review. My apologies for the delay of this one. There is a bit of a story behind it, which shall be explained in time.
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For some years, Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery has held a unique place in the TSU community, offering its tasty pastry treats to hungry students with a mind to descend from Campus Hill. I myself have favored this small shop with many a happy visit. But will this popular off-campus attraction hold up to the Hungry Student's scrutiny? Let's dig in & find out.
As far as distance from campus goes, it doesn't get much better than this. Located across Sessoms Drive, behind the Music Building, it is only a roughly 3-minute walk from Flowers Hall, down a fairly gentle slope. The only part of this trip that could even be called "difficult" is getting through the crowds of students waiting for the Bobcat Stadium or Campus Loop buses and waiting for the crosswalk signal at Sessoms. With such supreme ease of egress, I give Dos Gatos a Convenience score of A.
But what of the service? Well, to fully explain this factor, I must tell a little story, which will also explain why this review has been so delayed.
As you know, I originally scheduled these reviews to be made on Wednesdays & Fridays, with Fridays focusing on off-campus eateries. To this end, I tried to take steps to ensure that this review would go off without a hitch, namely placing my order in advance, the day before. However, when I arrived on Friday, I was informed by a very bemused crew that they had not been told about my advance order and that they were sold out of the item I had ordered. Defeated but determined, I resolved to try again today.
I am pleased to say that this story does have a happy ending. Upon hearing of this incident, the manager was extremely apologetic and accommodating, even going so far as to fill my order completely gratis. This is service that cannot be beaten. There are not many restaurants in this day & age that, when confronted with such a situation, would handle it so well. And lo & behold, when I arrived at noon today, my kolaches were indeed waiting for me, along with a kind, smiling staff. Thus, for this impressive attention to customer satisfaction, I award Dos Gatos a Service score of A.
As far as value goes, considering the unique circumstance, I only had to pay a little over $2 for the bottle of tea that I got to go with my kolaches. However, I did ask the cashier what my order would have cost normally. For 4 bacon & cheese kolaches, it would normally cost $8.18. While this is slightly above my baseline, I think the overall value, when quality of food, filling-ness, and overall satisfaction are taken into account, all easily compensate for the added expense. Thus, I have no hesitation in giving Dos Gatos a Value score of B.
And for the food. Oh, mein gott, the food. I have eaten many things in my time, but few put me in a state of absolute taste nirvana, inducing what has sometimes been called a "food-gasm". The bacon & cheese kolaches from Dos Gatos are among this elite culinary club. Chief among this symphony of flavor is the bacon, an excellent brand which has been diced up into tiny bits, its salty, slightly greasy-in-a-good-way taste filling the tongue with endorphins of pleasure. This is further complimented by the cheese, a mild cheddar or American which adds a subtle, understated creaminess to the flavor orchestra. And of course, containing these ingredients is the pastry itself, adding its own delicious flavors & textures to the mix, from the light, fluffy texture of the bread, to the slightly buttery taste, right down to the domed chamber that it forms which seems to usher the smells right to the eater's nose even as he or she devours this miniature flavor amphitheater.
It's really good, is what I'm saying.
The tea I cannot comment on too much as it was a corporate product, namely Sweet Leaf brand original sweet tea. While it certainly lived up to the basics of its label, I found it to be unpleasantly bitter, as if the tea back at the bottling plant was being brewed too hot.
Thus, taking all factors into account, I have no hesitation in giving Dos Gatos a Food score of A+.
And now for the wrap-up.
Convenience: A. It's hard for any off-campus eatery to have a better location than Dos Gatos, with the gentle slope making descent from campus a breeze & the climb back up similarly non-arduous.
Service: A. In spite of Friday's minor snafu, the service here was excellent. The way the management handled my situation is truly commendable. It should also be noted that this was, so far as I know, an isolated incident. I have done this dance many times, bacon & cheese being a favorite flavor of mine, and apparently everyone else on campus, thus necessitating me to order in advance on many occasions. This is the first time that this system has gone wrong, and I do not expect it to fail again.
Value: B. A very respectable score under my system. While there are a very few places that may be able to beat this value, Dos Gatos makes up the difference in quality of product. And remember, I was being slightly glutinous by getting four kolaches. Had I only gotten two or three, this value would have been unbeatable.
Food: A+. There are few things better than a Dos Gatos kolache. If you're looking for the perfect meal to start your day, or even a post-class treat, this is most certainly the place to go. And although I focused on the bacon & cheese, I have also sampled some of their other flavors in the past, all of which are similarly excellent.
This, with all of these scores totted up, Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery has earned a final grade of: A.
This was truly the epitome of a satisfying dining experience. The only slight disappointment came in the form of the wretched tea, a factor that Dos Gatos could do nothing about, and thus cannot be blamed for. For a more favorable beverage, I would recommend hopping next door to Mochas & Javas for a nice Cafe Au Lait with lots of raw sugar. This combo, especially in colder weather, simply cannot be beaten.
So what, if anything, might I change to make Dos Gatos even better? Absolutely nothing. They have a fine establishment, staffed by good, courteous, helpful people, and serve an excellent product. How can you improve on such perfection?
Now if only they could keep a double stock of bacon & cheese, their best seller, during the semester...
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