Restaurant review: Dub's Place in Red Bank is a real treat

The creamsicle milkshake is a crowd favorite at Dub's Place on Dayton Boulevard.
The creamsicle milkshake is a crowd favorite at Dub's Place on Dayton Boulevard.
photo Homemade tuna salad served on a hot dog bun is served with freshly cut french fries at Dub's Place on Dayton Boulevard.

If you go

› What: Dub’s Place, 4408 Dayton Blvd., Red Bank.› Phone: 423-875-3151.› Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, noon-9 p.m. Saturday, noon-8 p.m. Sunday.› Price range: $2-$9.

I spent 14 years in Red Bank until I moved eight years ago. But for reasons unknown, I never ate at Dub's Place, a 1950s-era restaurant that has been a neighborhood favorite for decades.

It's on the northern end of Dayton Boulevard, where I rarely traveled, and even when I did, it seemed Dub's was always closed. Turns out, it was a seasonal restaurant.

Nowadays, though, it's under new ownership and open year-round. To regular customers' delight, the new owner maintained the old menu but added some of his own favorite recipes into the mix.

I'm a baby boomer, and walking into the small restaurant was like stepping back into my own childhood in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., where the favorite restaurant was The Mello-Kreme. It was a walk-up restaurant where the best hamburgers, the best fries, the best milkshakes were sold. The Mello-Kreme also sold soft-serve orange-sherbet ice cream that will forever be my favorite flavor.

But The Mello-Kreme closed, and my favorite ice cream became a memory.

Until now.

When I saw the menu at Dub's Place, the first things that jumped out at me was the orange Creamsicle ice cream or shake. I almost screamed my order to the nice girl behind the window because I was beyond excited. And though it's not soft-serve orange sherbet, it's as close as it gets. I would have embarrassed myself and downed it in one gulp if there hadn't been other people in the small restaurant.

THE FOOD

Dub's is known for hamburgers and barbecue, but the menu is pretty vast for such a small establishment.

Barbecue is sold by the sandwich ($6.50), by the plate, with two choices among fries, onion rings, slaw and baked beans ($9), a family meal that serves four ($23) and by the pound ($14.75, with sides at $4 each).

The lady who took my order said that Dub's Place is also known for the Original Dub's Crumble Burger. She described it as "crumbled-up hamburger meat" that is served on a bun with mustard, pickle, onion and optional cheese (25 cents extra) that costs $2.25.

If you're a hamburger lover, you may choose the hand-packed patty burger ($7). It can be loaded with toppings that include the usual pickles, onion, mayo, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato and cheese, but you can also add things like hot sauce or sauerkraut.

There are all-beef hot dogs ($3 and $6), fish sandwich with homemade tartar sauce ($7.50), chicken sandwich ($6.50), grilled cheese ($3), pimento cheese ($5), BLT cheese sandwich ($5) and corn dogs ($3).

The kids menu ranges from a crumble burger, fries and drink for $5 to chicken fingers, fries and drink for $6.

It would be hard for anyone to walk out of Dub's Place without a milkshake or dessert. Ice-cream cones range from $2 to $4.75. The flavors and toppings include just about any taste you can imagine. Yes, there's chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, but there's also mango, black cherry, pineapple, cotton candy and blue raspberry, to name a few. Toppings include hot fudge, peach crush, butterscotch, caramel and crushed cookies. Also on the menu is the Hot Fudge Coca-Cola Cake ($5.25).

Drinks include root beer, soft drinks, sweet tea and fresh lemonade ($1.75 to $3).

THE ORDER

Among other patrons, the hamburger and barbecue seemed to be meals of choice. I opted for a fairly new item on the menu, a tuna salad sandwich. I don't recall ever in my life ordering a tuna salad sandwich because it's one of the few things I can make at home that actually tastes good. But when the girl taking my order said it was one of her favorite items on the menu, I decided to try it.

Good move on my part. It was delicious.

Instead of bread, the sandwich was served on a huge hot dog bun and also included lettuce and tomato. The sandwich was big enough to feed two and was a little hard to manage because there was so much tuna salad on it. That's a good thing, by the way. I ate it with a fork.

I also ordered the fries after I learned they were cut from fresh potatoes that very morning. I am amazed at how many restaurants serve fries that have been frozen over freshly cut ones.

THE SPACE

It's tiny - not a place you'd go to have a leisurely sit-down dinner, though a few people were dining in during the lunch hour.

There's just one counter that seats about six inside the small restaurant, and there are a few tables outside behind the restaurant.

Several people placed takeout orders while I was waiting on my order. There's plenty to look at while you wait - license plates from across the state, framed photographs, newspaper articles.

THE SERVICE

You order your food at a walk-up counter. The menu and prices are clearly posted. The staff member was very helpful and gave me all the time I wanted to figure out what I was going to order. After I made my to-go order, I was handed my food within 10 minutes.

THE VERDICT

I can see why it is a local favorite. If you live in the area, it's certainly the perfect place to call in a to-go order and swing by to pick it up on the way home. For me, though, it's worth the trip to get the orange Creamsicle milkshake. I'll definitely go back.

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at findit@chattanooganow.com.

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