Clockwise from left Gwen, 1, Grady, 3, Lisa and her husband Scott McCrickard dine in at D.P Dough.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Owner Nick Vezina makes calzones at D.P. Dough, which is open until the wee hours in Blacksburg.

I attended a small university in a midsized city where the student population was not large enough to command the presence of restaurants specifically catering to our needs.

Nonetheless, the students had a favorite local diner that was open into the wee hours of the morning. There, the waitresses knew how we liked our cheesesteak hoagies and if we were from the South or the North, meaning whether we liked our tea sweetened or not.

While the staff at Blacksburg's new specialty calzone franchise, D.P. Dough, might not know the personal preferences of every Virginia Tech student, the eatery on North Main Street clearly has students in mind.

The vibe

D.P. Dough offers a bare-bones environment with bright red walls, tiled floors, and two decorations -- a Virginia Tech flag and logo. Customers place food orders at the counter and it arrives in carryout boxes regardless of whether you're eating in or not.

There were few other patrons during my visits, which were both on Sundays at noon and 6 p.m. D.P. Dough is open until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and until 2 a.m. every other day of the week.

The food

I first visited D.P. Dough with my family and some friends.

Interestingly, D.P. Dough bakes its chicken tenders (called D.P. Dunkers), which I ordered for my kids, and its chicken wings, which I ordered as an appetizer.

Dunkers are sold by the half pound ($5.99) and I am envious that college kids sitting in their dorm rooms on a Tuesday night can call or go online and order 3 pounds of D.P. Dunkers to quash the late-night munchies. My kids and I really liked the Dunkers, which were all white meat and weren't greasy.

On the other hand, I found the barbecue chicken wings excessively fatty and lacking in flavor despite D.P. Dough's claim that they present a "great-tasting, healthy alternative" to traditional wings.

D.P. Dough offers, by my count, 41 different calzones plus the ability to build your own. All calzones are $6.95 and come with a side of marinara sauce. On my first visit I tried the Hamzone, a calzone stuffed with ham, bacon, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan.

Perhaps the most important part of the calzone is the crust, and D.P. Dough does not disappoint. It was thin, soft and -- dare I say it -- doughy.

D.P. Dough does not skimp on the ingredients inside, either. Mine was stuffed with diced ham, bacon and gooey cheese, although I had a hard time finding the ricotta, which I'm still not sure was in there.

My friend's Parking Zone (breaded chicken, broccoli and mozzarella), which I tasted during my first trip, and the Chicken Parme-Zone (breaded chicken, mozzarella and Parmesan) I ate on my second visit contained chicken that had been breaded, diced and, apparently, heavily processed. The texture was a little spongy and it was just OK. My wife's calzone, the Roni n' Shrooms (pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan) was delicious.

The service

Because you order and pay at the counter and get your own fountain drinks, plastic utensils and napkins, the only real points of service at D.P. Dough occur when the order is taken and it is delivered to your table.

On both trips the person at the counter was friendly and helpful, though we waited a few minutes before being greeted on the first visit.

In each instance the food arrived at the table within about 15 minutes of placing the order; not bad for made-to-order calzones. My biggest problem was the discovery that no highchairs were available, but owner Nick Vezina later said they had been stolen and have since been replaced.

The bottom line

D.P. Dough offers a large selection of calzones for late-night cravings or even quick tailgate carryout. The large, tasty calzones offer good value, but I'll stick with the traditional "pizzalike" ingredients over the chicken-based versions.