We have an out-of-town guest visiting for the weekend. She wanted to take us out to dinner, and despite our vigorous protests, insisted on taking us to Jimmy's. We've never been there, but figured it to be a crummy tourist trap, with lousy food, lousy service, and a nice view. I was amazed how wrong we were. Walking in, the decor was about as tacky as one could imagine, replete with the type of ersatz elegance that the 1950's is famous for. The bar is a kind of huge dory affair, with S.S. Jimmy's or something painted on the "bow". The obligatory coffered ceilings were constructed out of acoustic tiling, the walls were the very best possible grade of fake wood paneling. The staff was almost uniformly in their 60s (and older in some cases), all were wearing silly looking pseudo-tux uniforms. The overall impression was just plain weird. They left us in the bar long enough to pretty much finish our drinks, and the PA system announced that our table was ready. We had asked for a table with a nice view, and they gave it to us--right near the window. The decor in the main dining room was just as weird as in the bar, but it had the added feature of SIZE--it was a big room, with huge tacky cast-iron chandeliers hanging from even more deeply coffered acoustic tile ceilings, gigantic lobsters mounted on plaques on the walls, and plenty of nautical touches, like huge boat riggings and such. Our water cameimmediately, along with a plate of these kinda Ritz crackers with cheese spread. Uh Oh--not a good sign. Is this what the food is to be like? We were left alone for a while, until our 60-ish waiter, wearing his pseudo-tux and speaking in deeply accented baritone, asked us if we would like to have another drink. Yeah--OK, at this point that sounded like a VERY good idea. He left us alone for another while, brought our drinks, and asked us if we needed more time with our menus. This surprised us, as we had expected to be whisked in and out as quickly as possible. Here we were wrong. As it turned out, our meal was very nicely paced, and the service and timing were impeccable. In the meantime, we ordered, started on our drinks, looked out at the harbor, checked out the tourists (?) eating, and had a relaxing time. Then we were brought a basket of warm out-of-the-oven breadsticks, wrapped in white linen. Hey! These were pretty good! The Ritz crackers weren't to be a bread-substitute after all! The clam chowder (not very good) and the onion soup (just fine) followed, the salads were next and were OK, with lots of VERY chunky blue cheese dressing on the side. The still-warm breadsticks went very well in the extra dressing. We had plenty of time to talk before the entrees arrived. Overall, the pacing was such that you could sit back and enjoy the evening. it was meant to be that going here was your evening's activity. We had 8 o'clock reservations, got there a little early, and finished our coffee at about 11. The fish was fine. I had grilled salmon, which was a bigger piece of fillet than is served in many restaurants, had criss-crossed grill marks on it, and was plenty moist. The rice was boring. Overall, the food was nothing great, but was nevertheless plenty good in every respect. Fresh, big, properly cooked. Dessert was more of the same. I got the oreo cookie ice cream cake, which was a huge wedge of pretty good oreo cookie ice cream, with a couple of thin slabs of cake on the top and bottom, drenched in what tasted like hershey's syrup mixed with kaluah. It was good, and enough to fill me to bursting. The coffee was pretty good for restaurant coffee, and (natch) came in little "silver" pots, so that it was easy to have a second cup. Hey--overall it was a good meal. These people have been running the place for a long long time, and they know what they are doing. Every element was just fine. Good, in fact. The price was amazingly low for 3 people who had drinks, salad, appetizer, dessert and coffee--about $95. The service was excellent. The old guy was always there when you wanted him, and never there when you didn't. Our water was always filled, everybody was very pleasant and professional. They know what they are doing. Would I go back? Yeah, with out-of-town guests. The place is a trip. The food is pretty good, the prices are good, the service is excellent.
Boston, MA