DoughBoy’s Grill (Ocean Beach)

It’s funny how things sometimes work out. With the really warm weather, I was thinking of getting some poke. Of course HFS at Centerpark came to mind. But, I thought I should revisit It’s Raw in OB….of course I figured parking might be an issue, but I decided to take a shot and lucky me….I found a spot right on Santa Monica Avenue! My lucky day right? Well, not so fast my friend….

As I walked down Bacon Street….yikes; look at the line in front of It’s Raw!

I felt “raw” all right. So now what? Well, I decided to find someplace to grab a bite and this place was right across the street….

Doughboy’s Grill! I’d had heard of the place….someone; I don’t remember who had told me the Cheesesteaks there were pretty good. So, ok…..that’s plan B. I crossed the street and walked on in.

The really friendly gentleman greeted me and asked what I was interested in. There’s everything from Smashburgers to wings to pizza and even gyros! And this being OB…well, beer of course. There’s even four types of cheesesteaks. I went with the Rib Eye Cheesesteak ($14.99), with “the works” (+ $1.29).

There’s quite a bit of seating available. I decided on the counter facing Bacon Street.

Soon enough, my name was called out and my cheesesteak was ready.

Did not look like an Amoroso Roll, but the bread was soft and yeasty, kept form during the meal and went well with the cheesesteak.

The gentleman was nice enough to give me some of the Garlic-Truffle Aioli to sample. It was pretty good, mild in terms of truffle, but the savory-sweet-tangy richness went pretty well with the cheesesteak.

As for the sandwich itself; I really enjoyed the sweet-pungent caramelized onions and the tender, savory-almost slightly sweet mushrooms. The mixture of both provolone and mozzarella worked so nicely, as there were hints of the milkiness that mozzarella brings, along with a “cheesiness” of provolone.

As for the beef, well, it contributed a bit, but there wasn’t enough of it in the sandwich for my taste. What the sandwich contained was very tender though. I was told that they slice their own rib eye for this.

Still, while definitely not a classic cheesesteak to me; I did enjoy the sandwich. While I wouldn’t go out of the way to revisit, if I’m ever here again, I just might get the veggie version of the sandwich since I really enjoyed those components. A big plus was how friendly the service was.

Doughboy’s Grill
4994 Newport Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 8pm