Garlic-laced salad dressing ‘inspired by Dominic’s’ stirs memories

This photo was taken in 2007, during the restaurant’s 50th anniversary celebration. It closed the same year. File photo by Jan Underwood

This photo was taken in 2007, during the restaurant’s 50th anniversary celebration. It closed the same year. File photo by Jan Underwood
By Mark Fisher
Nov 17, 2016
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Could it be the triumphant return of the dearly departed but still-beloved garlic-laced Dominic’s salad dressing — or, more precisely, a close facsimile of it?

It’s been nine years since the REAL Dominic’s house salad dressing permeated lettuce leaves and human bodies with its copious, yet somehow addicting, dose of garlic.

Dominic’s was an iconic restaurant on South Main Street across from the Montgomery County Fairgrounds for five full decades until it shut down in 2007, and although it served a broad array of Italian fare, it was best known for its house dressing.

Consuming a full house salad guaranteed that the host human organism would exude garlic from his or her pores for at least 24 hours, and the resulting garlic breath would last two days minimum.

In other words, it was fantastic.

So now the Dayton area's newest full-service Italian restaurant comes along — Caramella's Italian Kitchen will host its grand opening at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Friday Nov. 18 in the Sugarcreek Plaza in Sugarcreek Twp. — with a vow to resurrect the spirit — and the punch — of that Dominic's dressing.

Caramella's owners wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page that their house dressing is a "very, very, heavy garlic dressing inspired by Dominic's. … If you want to breathe garlic for a couple days, give it a try!"

Three words: Sign me up!

And let's not even mention the whole Duke's-Dominic's debacle, shall we?

SNEAK PEEK: the Dayton area’s newest Italian restaurant opens tomorrow

About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.