8/18/2011 We stopped here after about five minutes of research. We read the reviews online that mentioned Guy Fieri's Diner's Drive in and Dives. We were also attracted by the quick review that mentioned Dots Back Inn makes everything themselves. Never one to turn down information like this, we headed down the road to see what we could find.

The first thing we noticed is that the menu is extensive. I don't mean every kind of food in the world, I mean a lot of interesting and creative dishes. The menu in this place is huge, and we don't just go to a restaurant and then tell you what is on the menu. You can find information like that online. Just search the web for the Dots Back Inn, and you will find the restaurant and menu all online. Instead, we are here to testify to the excellent food that is prepared and served here.

We started out with the vegetarian platter, pictured below. It comes with Red bean hummus, falafel, olives, baba ghanoush, feta, tzatziki and pita. The falafel and pita were served on another plate, and the picture is just not very interesting. However, the food was great. The tzatziki was some of the best I have ever had. The olives were the kind that still have the pits. I think that is the right way to serve them because the olives dry out if they are pitted before being served and the taste gets ruined. The red bean hummus was so good I did not want to leave any on the plate, but alas our main meals then arrived.

Vegetarian Platter (click to enlarge)

Mrs. Alphageek had the corn cakes. They were served smothered in onions, peppers and tomatoes. This combination was an outstanding corn cake, with just the right amount of give in the cake for the food experience. They absorbed the flavors of the black beans, without surrendering to the beans. I would post a picture, but you really can't see the corn cakes in the picture, and a food experience such as this deserves photos to match, and a plate of onions and peppers just does not measure up.

I ordered the Cuban Roast Pork, which is pictured below. It was covered with a great mango sauce. The sauce was so good, it was almost mysterious. I enjoyed the lack of sweetness in the sauce, so the sauce did not overpower the perfectly slow roasted pork. The black beans and rice that came along with the dish were simply a great complement to a great main dish. The fresh cilantro and fresh jalapenos were a great touch to the dish too.

Cuban Roast Pork

This site does not usually love a restaurant, but we can tell what brought a national tv show to Richmond for this restaurant. Dots Back Inn is the kind of place that we hope to get back to sometime. It appears one could be a regular, and rarely repeat the menu. Throw in the specials, and you have an amazing spectrum of food to try that we highly recommend.

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