Dooger’s does it good in Warrenton

Published 3:59 am Thursday, November 29, 2012

The cover of the menu at Doogers Seafood & Grill in Warrenton proudly asserts that it serves the finest seafood around, which is a bold and rather vague assessment (Around? Around where?). On a recent visit, I set out to discover if this tall claim could hold water.

Doug (Dooger) and Mary Wiese opened the flagship restaurant in Seaside in 1983, and in the almost 30 years that have elapsed, three more locations sprouted in Warrenton, Cannon Beach and Long Beach, Wash. Unfortunately, a poor economy forced the Cannon Beach location to close its doors earlier this year. The Warrenton location, managed by Brad Campbell, opened in 2004 in the Youngs Bay Plaza in a spot formerly filled by a Dennys.

The atmosphere is immediately comforting: A pleasing combination of smells greets you at the door, and the restaurants interior somehow wordlessly communicates that its patrons will be well taken care of.

I began with an appetizer of steamer clams with wine and garlic. It arrived quickly and was the largest portion of steamer clams Ive ever seen as an appetizer, well over a pound. The clams were rubbery and overdone, though, and I couldnt taste the wine at all. The dish also included tomatoes and celery seemingly tossed over the top as an afterthought, rather than being cooked with the clams. I hoped for bread to accompany the clams to sop up the wine and juices, but it instead came with a single slice of Texas toast-style garlic bread.

Though I was not impressed with the steamer clams, the chowder that arrived next was quite simply one of the finest I have ever sampled. The chowder broth itself was on the thinner side, which is what I prefer, while the cup nearly overflowed with clams. Again, I have never seen so many clams, almost more clams than broth, and they were cooked to perfection. The chowder is simple and perfect, allowing the natural flavor of the clams to shine.

All dinner entrées at Doogers arrive with a choice of chowder or salad, as well as a starch. The starter salad was not noteworthy, a traditional mix of iceberg lettuce with a few veggies, and the shrimp on top didnt add anything.

The first entrée of fried Dungeness crab legs was quite good, though crab legs are delicious in nearly any preparation. The French fries were crunchy and crisp on the outside but soft on the inside just the way I like them.

A second entrée of a seven-ounce rib-eye steak was unfortunately not as appetizing. I requested medium doneness, which means it should be seared on the outside and 25-percent pink on the inside. The steak I received was underdone and flavorless. A dry rub of some kind would have elevated it, as would a simple topping such as blue cheese, mushrooms or onions. In order to be palatable, it had to be dowsed in steak sauce. A quality steak, with skillful preparation, should require no additional sauces or flavors apart from its own.

As the portion sizes are so large, I was simply too full to order dessert, but the dessert options are many.

The service we received on this evening was spectacular, very friendly, fast and knowledgeable. These servers are well used to serving a high volume of customers with a fairly rapid turnover, and their speed and courtesy are exceptional.

In the end, its a bit of a culinary conundrum. Put simply, a restaurant mini-chain that has been around for 30 years and has been popular and profitable enough to spawn several locations must clearly be doing something right, even if the dishes and preparations are a little plain and dated. I would group Doogers with a few other long-time, local mainstays that offer reliably above-average fare at reasonable prices. Is the food pretty good? Yes. Is the service pretty good? Absolutely. But is the cuisine bursting with flavor, originality and nuance? No, it isnt. Sometimes, though, maybe it doesnt have to be.

So did it prove to be the finest seafood around? Doogers didnt hit the mark for me on this visit, but I sincerely hope it will continue to strive for it.