Dee-licious

Dee’s Bakery is tucked away behind South McCarran Boulevard along a neighborhood road that makes you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere instead of five minutes from Meadowood Mall. The place is a converted home, with a display case filled with desserts, a dining area to one side and hardwood floors throughout.

Since the weather was amazing, my friend MG and I decided to sit on the spacious patio, which has large umbrella-shaded tables, blooming flowers, a fountain and fire pit.

In addition to fancy desserts, Dee’s serves breakfast and lunch. The breakfast choices looked great, but we decided to go with lunch. MG went with the half sandwich and soup combo ($9) and selected the Albacore tuna and tomato basil. Neither of these are options I would have picked, so I was kind of ticked off at him because I like to eat other people’s food, but it turns out I was dead wrong.

Let me be clear. I hate tomato soup. Hate it. But this soup smelled so good I decided to try it. The tomatoes and basil both tasted fresh, and the soup was rich, creamy and amazing. If all tomato soup tasted like this, I would eat it every meal. The tuna sandwich had crisp lettuce, pickles and diced onions to give it some crunch. The bread was thick and grainy and held the tuna together perfectly. I usually dislike tuna sandwiches at restaurants because they’re usually loaded with mayo, but Dee’s has a light touch that I appreciated.

I went with the tri-tip sandwich with a side of slaw ($9). The tri-tip came with caramelized onions on a French roll and a side of au jus. The menu indicates that the tri-tip is barbecued fresh and, sure enough, a large barbecue was stationed along the wall. The tri-tip was thinly cut, tender and flavorful. Dee’s does not skimp on the tri-tip either—this sandwich was overflowing. The chewy roll along with the sweetness of the onions brought this all together. The au jus had onions floating in it and had a lot of flavor although honestly, the tri-tip was so good, I barely touched the sauce. The coleslaw had a light hint of mayonnaise and pepper with bright orange carrot slices.

Because Dee’s is also a bakery, I felt that it would be sacrilegious to leave without having dessert. Yes, I used the term “sacrilegious.” That’s how serious I am about desserts. Choosing what to share was difficult because everything looked amazing. Cakes, cupcakes, breads and delicate pastries were lined up beautifully in the case. In the end, we with the pumpkin roll ($4), pumpkin bread with fluffy whipped crème in the middle and powdered sugar on top. The pumpkin roll was incredibly light, but after eating most of my sandwich I couldn’t finish it because this was a sizeable dessert.

The only issue I had with Dee’s was I found the service to be a little inattentive. Food is ordered at the counter, and then the counter person brings it out, but she didn’t check on us as often as I would like, and when she brought dishes out, I had to ask for refills. However, she was pleasant when she came around, so this was a minor issue. Do yourself a favor and get to Dee’s while you can sit on the patio, but even indoor dining would be a treat.