I was there last weekend- and their food is amazing! They even have $3 well drinks from like 9pm till closing! Fun place!

d.o.a. is a great place to meet up with friends to shoot some pool, take 3 dolla shots, and eat the "flat bread of the day", I like the mellow atmosphere unlike their neighbors obnoxious loud drunks. great place to chill an relax

I always avoided this place when it was Sax. Just never got a decent vibe whenever I went in. I don't know what changed (I was in late nite the first time, wasn't payin much attention), bit they certainly got it right.

My waitress/bartender was really nice, made a good bloody mary, if a little weak), but she was good to talk to and knew the menu well.

The menu looked pretty damn good, lots of different, great sounding things here (I was in for breakfast, don't know if it's different for evenings). There was elk a couple of different ways (try it, elk is awesome, and here at least, is not gamey in any way, just tender and tasty), chicken fried steak (a must for any good breakfast joint) and a chi-fry over english muffins, kind of a play on eggs benedict, cap'n crunch French toast, breakfast tacos...they had my interest.

I ended up having the elk hash. It had elk (duh), nice tender chunks of braised shoulder, with actually crisp-without-being-deep-fried potatoes, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, a bit of sausage gravy over all that and finished with a perfectly cooked, not greasy over medium egg.

Then there was the toast. Myself, I have a peeve/fascination with toast, at least its place on a breakfast plate. In most restaurants, it's an afterthought, usually served half hazardly, with a slap some butter on it and send it attitude. It's never warm, or properly buttered, and burnt or undercooked. Cold, usually. But this toast was something special. When my dish arrived, there was 2 slices of gorgeous toast that had been cut perfectly and set beautifully on the dish. When I picked it up, it was still hot. Not warm, but hot. It wasn't regular toast, the kind that comes out of a toaster. In fact, some might not call it toast, but it is. The bread itself wasn't anything amazing, but it was a good quality slice of french type loaf, nothing fancy, but good. But it had been buttered and cooked on a flat top, griddle type surface. Kinda like how you cook a grilled cheese, but no cheese, and cooked on both sides, perfectly, I must say.

So I dig in, avoiding breaking the egg at first, so I could taste each thing underneath individually. The elk was tender, flavorful, moist, awesome. Everything on the dish was great on its own, but got better as it came together in a spoonful on it's way to my gaping maw. The toast was perfect for using to push things onto my spoon, a bite with this, a bite with that, but then I realized I had no jelly for the toast. I asked, and was presented only a moment later with a ramekin of raspberry coulis (purée, basically). The waitron explained that they made their own, and this was the closest thing they had to jelly at this point. I actually preferred this to any jelly. It was perfect because it wasn't too sweet, and it went with the rest of the meal perfectly. Finally, I broke the egg, and things started to enmesh a bit. I made my into the meal, which was a very nice sized portion. Plenty of elk, not too much onions, it just kept getting better and better with each bite.

I finally had enough, as in I was full. There was easily half of the elk hash left, but I did finish the toast (used the last of it to clean out the dish my raspberry coulis). I was sated. Full, happy from just having one of the best meals I have had since I moved to Tacoma two years ago. Only thing I didn't finish was my bloody mary, I had stuff to do). Got a box, loaded up my leftovers, and for dinner I reheated the elk hash in the oven (just say no to microwaves), fried up an egg, and made myself some killer sourdough toast. It was just like having breakfast all over again, the only difference was I had fig jam instead of raspberry (raspberry would have been better, but I got thru it).

Summary: DOA has someone in their kitchen who knows what the ____ they're doing, someone putting some love into their product, someone who cooks at home too. Someone who loves to cook. And you, if you like really good food, should go check it out, at least for breakfast. I am headed there tomorrow night for dinner, or whatever they are serving. This place rocks, or at least it did on the morning of Sunday, 11-13-11. That was a day that gave me hope for great breakfast in Tacoma. Lots of okay or good breakfast places, but this one transcends. You owe it to yourself to try breakfast here before you die.

(no, I don't work there, own it, or have anything to do with them, other that having had a really killer meal there)