Of Pancakes and Bacon in Alameda
Written: Jul 10 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
|
|
| Quality of Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Jim's is a GREAT place for breakfast in Alameda - great for that hangover too.
Cons: Coffee needs a makeover.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for big and tasty breakfasts, head for Jim's Diner in Alameda.
|
|
|
| megugrrrl's Full Review: Jim's Coffee Shop |
On Lincoln by Park Ave. is one of Alameda's favorite places to breakfast. Weekend mornings you might see a small group of the determined hungry on the narrow sidewalk crowding around the complimentary coffee. During prime time pancake time you might have to wait just a tiny bit, but not nearly as long since they expanded a few years ago, doubling their capacity. There's a spiffy looking host that manages the crowd. He's sometimes armed with some sort of notebook, and anxious diners seem to simultaneously adore and despise him.
Jim's has all the hallmarks of a proper diner - a busy open air kitchen, long counter, cushy booths, busy servers in uniforms, and a sizable menu. The feel is definitely diner - but in a nice clean kind of way. This is the kind of joint that has old black and white photographs of the Alameda of yesteryear, plaques of appreciation and those charming crayon-colored masterpieces from the younger diners on the walls. The crowd is casual Alameda locals - of all age ranges. Jim's also attracts the citizens of neighboring Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward, who look just like Alameda locals.
Breakfast staples, in a number of combinations are a plenty. (You seem to be able to get any combination of eggs, breakfast meat, and/or breakfast bread) - and then you get the sides - cup of fruit, toast, and potatoes. The protein combinations (eggs "your way" and some kind of sinfully salty breakfast meat, varies from $7-10) and are available in your basic sausage or thick slices of bacon, and more interesting choices include corn beef hash, linguica, chorizo, homemade chicken sausage, Canadian sausage, Italian sausage, and good ol' New York steak. And of course they serve a mean chicken fried steak. Each combination comes with a fat pile of excellent home made hashbrowns - the kind that's moist yet firm, with a nice brown crisp crust. They also have home fries, but take a walk around the room and you'll see how popular the hashbrowns are.
Because they carry a large variety of ingredients, their omelette menu is pretty generous as well, with maybe 20 or so omelette offerings - again with the basics like a spinach one, the Denver or a ham and cheese, and then there are the more deluxe omelette offerings like the Greek (peppers, onions, ham, tomatoes, feta and cheddar) and the Mexican (chiles, mushrooms, rice, cheese.) Omelettes are quite tasty, and the eggs are light, despite all the cheesy meaty delights hidden inside. (Omelettes are under $8 and also come with your choice of potatoes and toast on the side.)
Waffles, pancakes, and french toast are also no-nonsense and quite delicious. The pancakes (standard short stack, full stack, combination, or topped with fruit) are served warm and fluffy, and have a delightful creamy taste. I love their pancakes, even though they aren't the lightest around. (Breakfast breads are a bargain - nothing is over $6.)
Jim's also has a special specials section on their menu. It mainly showcases a decent variety of benedicts and variations thereof and even more fancy omelettes and fruity pancakes that were created after the menus were printed. The brilliant idea of Banana Bread French Toast - topped with fresh bananas sounds like a million dollar idea - but that's only if you can handle sugary sweet. Maybe if they offered just ONE piece as part of a combination of other things, or even as some type of breakfast dessert. Their hollandaise is pretty decent - nice thick consistency and tartness. The California Benedict (with avocado added on to a traditional benedict) always sounds like it will be a treat, but somehow the avocado makes it bland. Specials average under $9.
If breakfast is not quite your thing, their lunches are pretty good too with burgers, big salads and lots of sandwich selections. Pretty standard stuff - standard and tasty. Oh - and like their breakfast counterparts, the potatoes (as in fries) are quite excellent. But if you're going to try Jim's, go for breakfast.
The service is fast, but not in a rushed kind of way. Your server will probably be efficient and friendly, and make his/her way to your table at least once to refill your coffee (As good as breakfast is, coffee isn't thier strong suit.) Bussers circle and swoop, never leaving an unoccupied messy table around for long. The kitchen works pretty quickly as well - or maybe it just seems like that since you were probably acclimated by the wait for your table.
As with a lot of other people, I like Jim's. It's consistent, and while the food is diner food (and then some), it's good diner food without having to be pretentious or trendy.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
megugrrrl
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Oakland
Reviews written: 150
Trusted by: 317 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.