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photo by Shawn Davis
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photo by Shawn Davis
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photo by Shawn Davis
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photo by Shawn Davis
Man’s best friend gets a spot at the table at the newer Doodle Drive-in, a restaurant where everything is designed to be enjoyed with your pup. Find drive-in stations, ample patio seating and a spacious dining room, plus a fenced-in “pawtio” dog park with green space for romping around. There’s a specialized pup menu too, so it’s a great way to treat yourself and your four-legged friend to a meal you can share.
“There wasn’t an area that you could just bring your dog, hang out and do things,” says Sue Hand, who is a co-owner and head chef of the restaurant that opened in May 2022 in the former Retro Dog spot. “We get a lot of people that hike the trails and then afterward, they come and basically carb-load with their dog.”
Spoil your doggy by ordering from the Puppy Bites menu of canine-geared dishes including the Doodle cup ($5), which mixes house-made dog treats with soft serve and bananas or the Borzoi Bowl, which combines carrots, celery, romaine and tomato over hard-boiled eggs ($5).
For you, there’s plenty of classic drive-in fare including a sweet and savory Western burger ($7.75-$10.25) with hand-battered onion rings, cheddar and sweet barbecue sauce or an LGBT sandwich ($9.75) with lettuce, guacamole, beef bacon and tomatoes on toasted sourdough. Plus, family recipes of familiar dishes provide the comfort of home in a drive-in setting, like prep cook and supervisor Stephanie Ehmann’s grandmother’s falafel served on its own as an appetizer or stuffed in a warm pita wrap with pickled shallots, radishes, arugula and tahini or Hand’s hometown Detroit coney dogs with a beef hot dog layered with a house-made coney sauce topped with onions and mustard. “I’m really about homey food,” Hand says, “Matzah ball soup — just pure comfort food.”
From floats with any fountain drink to Cuyahoga Falls’ Missing Mountain Brewing Co. beers like the Prince Juice with raspberry vanilla puree on tap, there is a variety of drink options, but in the summer heat, you won’t want to skip the milkshakes. The Buckeye ($4.75-$5.50) is where it’s at — a chocolate milkshake interlaced with peanut butter and hot fudge.
You can also make memories with your pooch by snapping glamour shots at the dog-height angel wings Bipolar Butterfly Project mural, enjoying live music from local artists Fridays or Saturdays on the patio or in the dining area decorated with dog-themed art or cruising summer car shows May through October.
“Every time we see a puppy or a dog, they’re always smiling. We have some dogs that know instantly when they pull into the parking lot that they’re here at Doodle,” Hand says. “It’s looking at the pup’s face — seeing how ecstatic they are to be able to eat with their owner. It’s a good feeling.”
350 E. Steels Corners Road, doodledrivein.com
