There's plenty to celebrate this week if you're Peter Brown, the owner of Six Shooter Coffee. After all, on Monday, he welcomed his first child, a son, into the world. But not before he put on the finishing touches and celebrated the soft opening of his first restaurant endeavor: Doinks Burger Joint.
When it opens this Friday (July 28) in the Gold Building on the corner of Waterloo Road and East 156th Street, Doinks will bring another much-needed evening dining option to the Waterloo Arts District. Right now, the area is pretty limited to Citizen's Pie, Juicy Vegan, the Boardwalk and Beachland Ballroom for food – unless, that is, you count Brown's nearby Six Shooter, which serves breakfast burritos, sandwiches and snacks.
Adding to this area, as Brown told us earlier this year, and “keeping people on the street” is part of why he wanted to bring a second business to the area.
“People are not selfish about wanting to make Collinwood better,” he says. “You feel this brotherhood and sisterhood here, a sense of community. I think a lot of people today are missing that atmosphere where you regularly see people that uplift you and actually know your name. It feels really nice to be a part of that.”
Here's everything you need to know about Waterloo's newest burger spot.
The Food
Doinks started as a pandemic pop-up between Brown and chef Bonn Rassavong. Under a rented tent, they would sling burgers via Instagram DM.
“We were drinking beers and having a good time, but we were selling out every weekend,” says co-owner Peter Brown. “So we were like, we have to do something.”
Once it was safer to go out, the pair tested the concept at places like The Wine Spot and The Cleveland Brewery. It didn't take long for the OG Burger, two 2.5-ounce beef patties with a Big Mac-like special sauce, to gain a following.
"It's like 100% indulgence," says Rassavong. "You bite it, and it's just endorphins. It's saucy. It's rich."
"But to me, the salt cuts through the fat," interjects Brown. "It's not too rich. It's got the right balance of salt, fat and acidity."
While Brown brings the business experience, the main man behind the grill is Rassavong, who previously made stops at Lola Bistro on East Fourth Street and Waterloo's Citizen Pie.
Many of Doinks dishes, such as the Bahn Mi Burger, feature domestic classics fused with Southeast-Asian influence. The delicious mash-up nods to Rassavong's upbringing in a Laos-Thai and American upbringing.
Rassavong's maternal grandfather met his grandmother as an American soldier stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Years later, Rassavong's grandfather brought his mother back to the United States. Meanwhile, Rassavong's father's family came to the United States from Laos as refugees. Rassavong says he grew up just as much on "fish sauce-covered anything" as he did on meatloaf, his favorite food.
"It's weird," he says. "I grew up on traditional South Asian food. And, like, hardcore, '50s and '60s, Boomer American (food). I'd just walk around eating rolled-up pieces of bologna."
Other selections include specialty burgers, a Po'Boy sandwich, a banh mi, a wedge salad, macaroni salad, fries, onion rings, kimchi and more. Burgers and a side cost $16 ($17 for veggie), while a la carte sides cost $8.
The Space
The 25-seat restaurant, which features booths and barstools in a 2,000-square-foot space, brims with nostalgia and personality, from vintage Betty Boop signs from Rassavong's basement to a samurai sword. A real-life vintage Taco Bell trash can points to the pair's love of the low brow.
“We’re basically doing a semi-throwback to the color scheme of those old-school Pizza Huts that we all know and love,” says Brown. "Bonn and I are always preoccupied — and kind of obsessed — with like, very recognizable things that are done extremely well. Things that are associated with being not high quality but elevating it to a really awesome level.”
Yet, between all the kitsch are great touches of sentimentality. Visitors are greeted by a Doinks mural from artist Grace Galvin and a "Wall of Doinkers," which thanks those who supported the restaurant's Kickstarter Campaign. Out back, Doinks hopes to set up a beer garden, where it can host live music. Already, it welcomed Follow the Sun for its soft opening event.
But perhaps the most striking image, hanging next to a personalized Doinks neon sign, is a black-and-white, point-of-view photograph from one of the duo's first pop-ups out of Rassavong's garage. The pair are working a makeshift row of grills under a rented tent in the rain.
"That's a photo of what we thought was going to be the last of Doinks forever," says Brown. "This is just two dudes who started something, and we hope you can feel that."
The Drinks
Editor's Note: The glassware wasn't in yet for the soft opening, so don't judge a book by its red solo cup.
While the beverage menu doesn’t feature any Six Shooter Coffee collabs — “It's a nice transition from maybe late afternoon coffee to some early evening beverages,” says Brown — the restaurant's beverage list centers around a rare and impressive lineup of house-made hard seltzer.
In addition to Masthead Brewing Co. beers and a full-service bar, Doinks offers four flavors of fizz on tap: Transfusion (raspberry, ginger and vodka), Margarita (lime, simple syrup and tequila) and a Penicillin (lemon, ginger and honey with whiskey), and the Thai-inspired Coconut Pandan with vodka.
“Basically, we do all of our syrups in-house and we combine that with vodka,” says Browns. “Then, we throw it in a keg and carbonate it with beer gas. I don’t know of too many other people doing seltzer on tap.”
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