Years ago when I first started writing for the Tyler TX Directory I posted a piece on the best and the worst buffets in Tyler. I took particular joy in lampooning the likes of Ci-Ci’s Pizza and Ryan’s “steak” house. The top of my best Buffets was only a part time buffet and definitely one of my favorite pizza joints in town. Unfortunately, after having a meal there about a week ago, that still wakes me up at night; I’ve been forced to rethink my position on Double Dave’s Pizzeria.
My understanding is that Double Dave’s in Tyler, is either under new management, or has been sold to new owners. I really hate to see good eateries with seemingly good business models change hands. The newcomers to the restaurant rarely maintain the same quality, or the atmosphere as those who possessed the original enthusiasm for the business. Incorporating new ways to pinch penny’s while enjoying the already established customer base, they milk the cash cow as long as possible until the public notices the slide and eventually the doors close and the new investors write off the loss.
I don’t know for sure if that’s what’s up at Double Dave’s but my last visit was so disappointing I won’t be returning anytime soon. About a week ago was my wife and my first anniversary. Do to some family issues we were unable to arrange a private lunch together so we elected to meet some of the family at “Dave’s.” It was a mistake. When we walked through the doors it seemed warm. Turned out, the air conditioner had broken… during the summer… in Tyler Texas. According to the testimony of the cashier, it had been out for days. The place was about half full and only a couple of the tables had been bussed. We had to clear and clean our own table, much to the embarrassment of the cashier who was also serving as bus boy.
The food was another issue. And it wasn’t that it was bad, but was so slow in coming. The restaurant’s signature item, the pepperoni rolls, only came out at the rate of about six at a time, every twenty minutes or so. And as good as the food was the heat in the building made it nearly unbearable. After cutting our dinner short my wife and I arranged other plans for the afternoon and evening but the disappointment with a bistro we had once enjoyed remains.