Review of Jimmy’s pour House - Sauk Rapids, MN

Originally posted April 21, 2009

Jimmy’s Pour House

22 2nd Ave No.

Sauk Rapids, MN 56379

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Jimmy’s has been an anchor restaurant in St Cloud since 1977. Simply put, to stay in business that long you have to be doing something right. Jimmy’s offers a lot of selection and taste for the the diner looking for a warm, friendly, and underplayed atmosphere.

Food: 6

What they may lack in ingenuity they definitely make up for in properly prepared standards in Americanna and breakfast meals.  This is not to say they lack originality in all events as they offer both a Fire Alarm Burger and a German Burger. The former is a concoction of competing fire starters and the latter being developed from the local heritage. For this sampling we tried the Chipotle Bacon Burger with its pepperjack cheese, pico de gallo, and chipotle mayo on top of a juicy, hearty sized burger patty. At first, I was a tad disappointed that the chipotle flavor was eclipsed by the pepperjack cheese, but then I found the medely of flavors when combined with the pico was far more grand than chipotle alone would have offered. Yep, fooled me once. Maybe they should rename the burger to include some of its other finer aspects. It is like calling something a ketchup burger just because it has ketchup on it.

Also in this sampling was the Jack Daniel’s Glazed Chicken. Sadly, I was less impressed here. The chicken breasts were smallish and the Jack Daniel’s marinade was in short supply. One good glimmer of hope was the side option that came with it, red skinned mashed potatoes. Think of it as the saving grace for that dish.

Jimmy’s is a reasonably priced place to eat out though. Consider it for a lunch meeting or family dinner.

Service: 6

Was it outstanding? Naw. There is nothing bad to tell, but nothing great to tell either. The service was satisfactory.  Our server was well informed on the menu, was prompt enough, and came at all the normal times to check on us. I guess I was not feeling loved by the server or that she REALLY enjoyed her job. After spending so many times analysing every minor point of the dining experience for so long  you get spoiled when you experience exempliary service. I would not use this criterion for judging whether to eat at Jimmy’s or not. There is more there to see and experience than this and remember the way I sample is through a single experience to preserve the same experience other diners would have.

Atmosphere: 8

Some places exude a level of comfort when you walk in the establishment. It is like an non-corporeal spirit. Some places have it and some do not. Jimmy’s is such a place. There is an ease about the establishment that makes it feel good.

The theme is a hybrid between Irish Pub and golf, but it is not overplayed. What I mean by this is that there is a level of acceptable decoration and then there is clutter. Jimmy’s tastefully decorates their restaurant in golf relics a kin to the mid 80’s to late 90’s need to decorate chain restaurants with antiques [cough…Applebee’s cough cough]. It works.

The dining area is sectionalized well enough enough that it breaks up the dining area. This allows for large groups as well as intimate dining.

Overall: 7

Would I go back? Surely. Jimmy’s has a large loyal local following for good reasons. They know how to make the food that people like to eat and have a clean and comfortable environment in which to dine, meet, drink, and play.

Check out their website for menu and hours.

This entry was posted on October 12, 2009 at 13:51 and is filed under Grub Reviews - OLD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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