Jim's Diner, at the corner of Council & 39th Expressway (aka Rte 66), in Bethany, OK. It's been kind of the only place to eat in that immediate area for a long time & my family ate there several times when we lived in the area. Never an amazing place to eat, but had good enough food to bring us back. I understand it's now under new ownership. I think that's where it's going wrong: Poor management = Poor service
I ate here for breakfast with my daughter & "tried" to eat there another day. I'll start with breakfast: When you first drive up, the front parking lot looks broken & dirty. When you realize you can't maneuver your vehicle in to any of those spaces, you then drive around to a larger parking lot, just as run down, except now you can see the back side of the restaurant. Lovely.
When you walk in to the restaurant, you are immediately hit with what seems like utter chaos. People standing waiting to pay or be seated, you're not sure because nobody's helping them - or you. Then you see a sign that says "Please Seat Yourself." So you wade through the people milling about the front door & cash register (which are about three feet apart, by the way), & walk through rows of regular-sized booths, little two-person booths; there's also a bar of stools where you can eat. If you insist on eating here (don't say I didn't warn you), sit at the bar.
We sat in a regular booth along the windows, which they have a lot of, something I do like in a restaurant because you can see any gross stuff. And there was plenty of it at Jim's! The carpeting was filthy, food everywhere, under our table, ewww!! The menus were stained, the condiment bottles & shakers were disgusting from countless dirty hands. The tabletop had been wiped with a smelly rag that reeked of sour milk & bleach, I think. Double ewww!!
My daughter wanted to leave, but we had a tight schedule, so we stayed. I wish I had listened to her...I don't remember what she ordered exactly, but she didn't like it. I usually take pictures of the food, but we were so disgusted with the crummy food & service, I forgot, I guess.
I ordered their version of chicken-fried steak, which was awful. They must use a frozen pre-formed, pre-breaded patty. It was just terrible, even burned on one part where it didn't sit evenly while cooking. The gravy was so thick & salty, I think it must come from one of those industrial-size cans. The biscuits were NOT biscuits like you & I think of as biscuits. I'm sure they aren't homemade, either.
The service? I would like to say we were there on a very busy morning & they just had a lot on their minds, but that's not the case. They simply did not care. They would rather stand around back by the bar area & talk like a bunch of teenagers on school grounds. Trying to get out of there when it comes time to pay is a living nightmare! You walk back to the cash register/hostess station at the entrance & wait in a long line of people who are trying to get out just as badly as you are. But..."Oh? The ticket thingy isn't working right?" "Oh? This happens all the time?" Sorry we should have had cash, I guess.
Everything about this place has just gone down hill. So WHY did I "try" to eat there again, you ask? Because Cracked Egg Diner, the place where I wanted to eat, wasn't open by the time I got there & Jim's is just east across Council from them. I thought, "They couldn't possibly be as bad a second time." Silly me. I walked in around 2:15pm & there weren't many people seated in the place, but strangely enough the front was as crowded & chaotic as our breakfast adventure. Hmmm. There's NOBODY at the cash register & these customers are looking around like "?" Weird.
The sign for seating was turned sideways against the wall, so I wasn't sure if it was seat yourself or not. I tried to get the attention of someone behind the bar area & asked if I should just sit down. She said, "Anywhere's fine" with a wave of her hand. Okay. I chose one of the booths toward the back, beside the bar, close to the kitchen door. Wait staff walking by, past my booth, not making eye contact. Maybe they closed at three, maybe they were thinking, "it's almost time to go home," not "there's still time to provide decent service."
After ten minutes & a hundredth time of reading the torn handwritten sign taped on the back of the last bar stool that said something to the effect of, "Don't sit here, broken," I had finally had enough of being completely ignored & left. Back through the line of people still waiting to pay. Why? Once again there was NOBODY at the cash register!
I ended up going down the street to a Sonic which was the same as I remember it - pretty DARN good for fast food. So, don't waste your time and money going to Jim's Diner. If you want to eat someplace you'll really like and it's before 2:00 PM, just jump back on 39th Expressway and "Go West, young man," to Cracked Egg Diner, just across Council.
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