Pinky's Westside Grill - Ding Dong Style!

On Sunday, following a big day of boating and night of drinking, Nick, Reed and I were a little worse for wear.  After some coffee and lounging by the pool, food was (very) necessary.  The day before, Reed was telling tales of a restaurant that served a sandwich ding dong style.  That name had us convinced, and we knew we had to go.  Pinky's Westside Grill is housed in what used to be an automotive repair store, which has maintained the auto body shop feel while making it eclectic and funky.  We sat in the indoor/outdoor area in what used to be the car bay area, garage doors intact!

Upon sitting and looking over the menu we could tell straight away that this food was going to be fun and adventurous.  When I eyed the Crab Puppies on the menu, I knew they would have to be ordered - hush puppies are a must when in the south.  The crab took them to a whole other level.  The outside was a perfect golden crispy brown that had just the right amount of bite to them.  Even from the picture, you can tell these were also overflowing with crabmeat - there was some in each mouthful.  Served with a cool, creamy tartar sauce, these were an amazing start to our meal.

Crab Puppies with sweet crabmeat folded into golden fried hush puppies 

For the main show Reed and Nick went ding dong style, the former choosing to do so with a 5 oz. burger and the latter with a grilled chicken sandwich.  Ding dong style entails slathering the meat with crunchy peanut butter, spicy sriracha and a cool honey-cilantro slaw.  It sort of sounds outrageous at first, but when you realize that the flavors aren't that far off from pad thai and it makes more sense.  You still may wonder if the people a Pinky's are crazy.  The answer - they are crazy smart because these sandwiches were delicious!  Somehow the peanut butter was not overpowering, the crisp flavorful slaw was highlighted and the sriracha added a burst of spice to each bite.  When I had a bite of Nick's I was sad I was not brave enough to order ding dong style.

Ding Dong Burger - burger with crunchy peanut butter, sriracha and honey-cilantro slaw 

Ding Dong Chicken - Thai inspired grilled marinated chicken breast served with crunchy peanut butter , sriracha and honey-cilantro slaw

I went with a simple burger with provolone cheese and artichokes (YUM!).  While I wish the artichokes were warmed a bit, they were still a great topper to the burger.  I thought the patties would be small, because there is an option to add 1 or 2 more 5 oz. patties to the simple burger!  I cannot even begin to think how I would attempt to finish three patties!  For just over $5, this burger is a great deal and delicious to boot.

Burger!

For sides we got some waffle fries and onion rings.  Both were good, but I wish the fries had a bit more spice to them like the onion rings had.

Waffle Fries

Onion Rings

Overall, Pinky's was a delicious and fun place to eat.  In and Around Town will definitely be attempting a ding dong style sandwich at home - it was THAT good!  While Pinky's is off the beaten path outside the center of Charlotte, it is more than worth the trip for the creative delicious food offerings.