In this city, restaurants come and go faster than you can say "sustainable locavore burger." And even though there are great new additions to the culinary landscape popping up every week, you've gotta give kudos to anyone who can stick it out for over a year. With that in mind, we bring you Still Got It, our tribute to establishments that continue to serve mouthwatering meals and drinks long after the buzz has faded—or if the lingering hype is still justified.
Few phrases elicit the same kind of pure, unadulterated joy like this one: "Breakfast served all day." What kind of cruel food fiend mandated, after all, that eggs, waffles and hash browns be reserved only for the hours before noon? Luckily, Williamsburg joint Jimmy's Diner doesn't play by those pansy breakfast food rules, and if you want a damn biscuit with gravy at 9 p.m., well, you're going to get one, conventionality be damned. Oh, and it's going to be delicious, too.
Jimmy's, which has been kicking it by McCarren Park since 2007, isn't much to look at from the outside, beyond the hand-painted message in its front window famously boasting "The Best Fried Chicken in Brooklyn." And the interior is nothing fancy, either, with a handful of wobbly tables crowding the small, dimly-lit space. But don't let the aesthetics fool you, because like any good diner, Jimmy's lets the food do the talking.
Like the sign says, Jimmy's fried chicken platters are particularly good, and $13 will get you a solid helping of crispy thighs and drumsticks slathered in brown gravy. Also noteworthy are the burgers, which come on hefty buns and can be ordered with just lettuce and tomato ($10) or as a specialty burger like the potato latke-and-sour-cream-topped Williamsburger ($14). For sides, try Jimmy's salt-sprinkled sweet potato fries ($5) or thick, robust tater tots ($5) that outdo all the other puny frozen lumps of potatoes out there.
But burgers and fried stuff aside, what Jimmy's—which just opened a new outpost in Greenpoint's old Calyer spot, too—does best is its breakfast dishes, particularly the zest "breakfast bowls" that run $9 each and are available all day. "Tater Heaven" is a colossal masterpiece, packed with tater tots topped with scrambled eggs, cheese and guacamole; the equally unhealthy and unbearably good "Hangover Helper" consists of French fries swimming in baked beans, scrambled eggs and melted cheddar. Add a creamy vanilla or peanut butter milkshake ($5) to the mix, and you've got a real meal worth clogging all your arteries for. Don't you dare order a salad.
Jimmy's Diner is located at 577 Union Ave between Richardson and Frost Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718) 218-7174, jimmysdinerbrooklyn.com). Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
