I’ve been a few times to Golden Dinosaurs over the past handful of years. All
of their selections are what I would describe as “comfort food-esque” and I love their house-made seitan and tempeh selections. They are a little pricey but that is expected for the area and other comparable vegan options. On this trip we had delivery through UberEats and ordered French Dip, Potato Salad, Pastrami Rueben, Side Chickies, and a Peanut Butter Pie with Oreo Crust.
These Side Chickies are the Golden Dinosaurs take on traditional chicken nuggets. On previous visits I’ve ordered the Chickie Salad versions in wraps/sandwiches and been pleased however the Side Chickes were COMPLETELY different than what I was expecting. I thought it would resemble chickpeas more visually and instead they were fried strips of “Chickies”. Now I love a meatless fried chicken as much as the next Southern girlie but this side dish left something to be desired for me. The taste itself is decent and comparable to mass market meatless chicken (think impossible chicken nuggets) but that was when I got one that wasn’t overcooked and mostly breading, which, unfortunately, was the case for most of them. Besides being visually underwhelming (as usually expected with delivery) the mouth-feel of these was off-putting. I would expect this was largely due to the fact that the pieces are inconsistent in shape and size enough to make cooking challenging in a fryer. I will say the Dino Sauce (yellow-orange sauce pictured) I got with it was phenomenal! It reminded me a bit of Chik-Fil-A sauce and was almost enough to get me to eat more of these Side Chickies. Almost being the key word here because I did not eat more and, if I am being honest, I won’t try again.
My Carnivore Partner hated these so much that if this had been the only thing he’d tried then we would never eat here again. Similarly to my opinion he did not like that it was mostly breading but did enjoy the Dino Sauce. I found a better and “meatier” piece for him to try and he was still less than impressed.
All being said I still love Golden Dinosaurs and highly suggest bringing the meat-eaters in your life here for in-person dining on the patio. The classics-made-vegan options available means there is something for everyone! Bonus is you can squeeze in some shopping if the shops are open and burn off some of those comfort-food calories walking the cute and artsy Gulfport street! As far as suggestions go for something more tasty to order here the Rueben is great, the Cuban is popular, and the French Dip is probably my favorite personally.
#carnivorepartner #comfortfood #pescatarian #goldendinosaurs #veganchicken #sauce
