I'm a huge fan of the original Dottie's in San Francisco. I always suggest it as a top place to dine when I hear from others traveling to SF. When I first saw a sign for Dottie's in Scottsdale a couple months ago, I was sure it was just an imitation. Much to my delight, I found out the real-deal Dottie's opened a 2nd location right in old town.
This location is large and well-laid out, and the patio is a very pleasant place to have breakfast. It seemed so strange to be seated right away instead of waiting outside in the cold for an hour amongst the "charms" of the Tenderloin in SF. What was identical to the SF location was the kind, attentive service and the delicious coffee.
My husband had a hard time choosing from all the meaty dishes on the menu but finally settled on the pulled pork scramble. He liked the way it was spiced with green chiles and didn't drown it in salsa like I would have. I got the black beans cakes, and they were incredible! Being a vegetarian, I've eaten my fair share of black bean burgers. Usually the patties are dense and heavy, but Dottie's black bean cakes manage to be light as air while maintaining a crisp outer crust. The accompanying corn bread was good, but I didn't like as much as their awesome buttermilk dill bread. The breakfast potatoes need a little flavor boost.
The one thing that is really missing from the AZ location is their specials board. The dishes on their always sound so good, and it usually gives us vegetarians a few more savory breakfast options.