Zombie Dogz Grand Opening

David and Lee VanArtsdalen took Dayton by storm when they opened the Zombie Dogz food truck in 2012. Dayton quickly grew to love the gourmet creations with names like “Steak Thru The Heart” and toppings like “Red Wine Braised Beef, Crispy Fried Onions, and Sautéed Button Mushrooms finished with House-Made Garlic Blue Cheese Dressing”. Eager patrons followed Zombie Dogz truck, waited in long lines, and earned them several awards, including the 2015 Hot Dog Food Vendor of the Year by Mobile Cuisine, and more recently Ohio Magazine's 2016 Best of Ohio.

Photos above: Germanator (left) & Juan of the Dead (right).

Earlier this year the couple made the decision to open a brick and mortar location where they could offer their loyal team permanent positions and fans a place to regularly get our “ZD fix”. David, Lee, and crew have been hard at work preparing for their Grand Opening near the University of Dayton the past 6 months. Zombie Dogz restaurant on Brown Street will open this Sunday.

They’ve had a few soft openings, to give team members the opportunity to fine tune processes and get hands on experience with traffic flow, appliances, cash registers, etc. Though it looks like tight quarters in the kitchen, I’m sure there’s a lot more elbow room than they had on the truck.

ZD will offer 12 core and 3 seasonal Dogz, chicken sausages (in addition to beef & veggie options), a gluten-free bun, and new sides. Zombie Dogz are huge, so I recommend taking at least one other person so you can split Dogz and try more than one. We did just that, opting to share the Germanator and Juan of the Dead, both are delicious. Two new sides, Dr. Pepper Baked Beans had great spice and White Truffle Mac-N-Cheese topped with Parmesan Garlic Cracker Crumbs was tasty.

The GRAND OPENING is Sunday November 13th from 10am to 9pm.

I didn’t catch all the menu items, but I did catch these:

• Germanator: Garlic Crusted Beef, Topped with House-Made Beer Cheese and Crispy Fried Onions
• Juan of the Dead: Slow-Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork, Yellow Mustard, Diced Pickles and Swiss Cheese
• Killer Gauge: Slow-Cooked Buffalo Chicken Dip, Diced Celery, and Blue Cheese Crumbles Drizzled with Ranch
• Dead Dixie: Diced Green Apples, Bacon, Blue Cheese Crumbles and BBQ Sauce
• Calling in Dead: White Truffle Mac-N-Cheese Topped with Parmesan Garlic Cracker Crumbs
• Brains Limbs and Toes: House-Made Tomato Jam, Bacon, Arugula, Roasted Garlic Aioli, Finished Off with a Balsamic Glaze
• The Nibbler: House-Made Chili, Shredded Muenster Cheese, Diced Red Onion, Bacon and Yellow Mustard