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Tio Wally Eats America: Jimmy’s Down The Street

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Greetings from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
N 47.673492 W 116.762511 Elev. 2161 ft.

I went for Sunday brunch-ish at a restaurant here called Jimmy’s Down The Street. When you get here don’t ask for Jimmy. He won’t be here. There is no Jimmy. There is, however, a Mike. He’s the co-owner with his wife, Gretchen.

It turned out Down The Street was featured on the Food Network’s “Diner’s, Drive-Ins & Dives.” According to the menu the show’s crew milked the shoot for three days — Three days! — in August 2011, with that chubby bleach-blond terminally hip host-guy, Guy Fieri, subsequently “highlighting the Chicken n Dumplings ($7.49), Pecan Rolls ($5.25) and Chicken Fried Steak Skillet ($9.95)>.” Nice work if you can get it.

The menu also says the place has been here in some incarnation or another for 50-plus years, though I don’t really remember it. I guess I was always headed in the other direction, towards Rustlers Roost when it was still located downtown.

The day I visited Down The Street it had a Stuffed Meatballs special for $7.95. Who could pass that up?

Mike had told me that the cook was making the meatloaf that morning and was wondering what else he might do with the meat. The answer? Stuffed meatballs.

I thought the special came with a choice of onion rings or french fries or baked beans, so, after asking if they battered them there — and she said they did — I chose the onion rings. It turned out that there really was no choice: You got the whole shebang, along with garlic toast and a Thousand Island-ish dipping sauce.

The four golf-ball-sized meatballs were stuffed with American cheese, breaded and deep-fried. They were pretty good, the crispy outside and tender inside making for a great juxtaposition of textures. But they really needed something. Afterward I decided what they really needed was spicier meat and, what the hell, a spinach-and-provolone cheese filling. Still they were pretty good.

The onion rings were good but they weren’t quite what I was expecting. I don’t know why but whenever anyone says they batter the onion rings in-house I expect tempura batter. Wishful thinking, I guess.

The french fries, however, were great. The hand-cut, homemade french fries are so far superior to the crappy faux-fries you’ll most likely get virtually everywhere else. Gadzooks: They actually taste like … potatoes! There simply is no comparison. After all, spuds weren’t meant to be froze.

The garlic bread was delightfully garlic-y and the baked beans were really, really great. The beans had big chunks of pork in them and were not too sweet. Perfect, really.

But the next day I started craving link breakfast sausage. It took me awhile to figure out why but it was because my friend had ordered what he called a “traditional breakfast”: two eggs, breakfast potatoes, link sausage ($7.95). The sausages Down The Street serves are big fat things, akin to homemade sausage rather than the common sissy-sized pre-fab links. I wish I’d have taken a picture of them or, at least, asked him how they were. But no: FAIL.

All in all Jimmy’s Down The Street is pretty good and pretty reasonably priced. But if you go before about 1 p.m. — they close at 2:30 — there will likely be a line out the door. That’s one way to help you find it, I guess. Still, it’s pretty easy to find: It’s down the street (Sherman Ave.) on the left as you’re leaving downtown Coeur d’Alene towards that place, whatchamacallit … oh, yeah, Montana.

And so we roll.

Jimmy’s Down The Street, 1613 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Rustlers Roost Restaurant

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Hayden, Idaho.

Greetings from Hayden, Idaho
N 47.7601609 W 116.79176 Elev. 2294 ft.

I hadn’t been to Rustlers Roost for quite awhile. But I was keenly aware of how great its food is: I’ve been eating there off and on for nearly 30 years and, now, at its fourth (and final?) location. Thankfully, it hasn’t changed a bit, even after all these years.

The first thing that hits you when you enter Rustlers Roost is the sweet, pungent aroma of Marketspice cinnamon-orange tea. So distinctive (and comforting) is the smell that I could be led into Rustlers Roost blindfolded and I’d immediately know exactly where I was. I’d also know exactly what I was likely to order. But in all the years I’ve eaten at the Roost I’ve never seen anyone actually order that tea. I guess perhaps just the smell is enough.

I’ve long had a love affair with the Roost’s breakfasts ever since it was in its original location, a 35-seat hole-in-the-wall in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Over the years I’ve easily had well over a dozen different things off the breakfast menu. But I’ve established a real preference for just a few things, mostly because they’ve become go-to comfort foods for me.

In no particular order, they are Rustler Special: Three eggs, Chicken Fried Steak, Home Fries, and Biscuit & Gravy ($9.75); Boots and Saddle: Three eggs, Two Pork Chops, Home Fries, and Biscuit & Gravy ($10.75); and Lightweight: Two eggs, Two Sausage Links or Bacon, and Biscuit & Gravy ($8.00).

On this visit I had the Rustler Special. As always the eggs were perfectly cooked, the hash browns (my substitution) crispy, and the lightly-breaded Chicken Fried Steak fork-tender. But it’s the gravy that’s killer. I don’t know if they make it from scratch or it’s from a mix, but it has such a distinctive, somewhat chicken-y flavor. Add one of their signature biscuits and, voilà, you’ve got The Taste of the Roost.

Many people have commented on the size of the Roost’s pancakes. They say they’re large. The menu bills one as a 10” Solo Cake. (Both claims are moot, I think. I’m convinced that the size of the pancake is solely based on the size of the plate. Anyone can plainly see (see photo) that if the hotcake were any larger the server wouldn’t be able to grab the plate without squishing the flapjack. Duh!!! Nobody wants their flapjack squished. It’s just common sense.) They are large, though, about 10 inches across. I didn’t remember them doing it before but they served both “regular” and Smucker’s Blueberry Syrup with the pancake. Nice treat.

But all comfort food aside, easily the biggest treat of all was seeing owner Woody McEvers again. I’ve known Woody for nearly 30 years, which makes him old; coincidentally, Rustlers Roost is celebrating its 30th year in business this month. I hadn’t seen him for well-over five or 6 years. I suspect that, to him, I’m akin to a sea serpent of sorts; you never know when I’m going to pop up. Still, it’s always a thrill to see people you’ve known forever in great health and spirits, even (especially?) when they’re Woody’s advanced age.

There really is nothing unusual about the greaseless greasy spoon that is Rustlers Roost. Unless, of course, you want a great meal at a great price and don’t mind being treated like family in the process.

And so we roll.

Rustlers Roost, 9757 N. Rustlers Trail, Hayden, Idaho

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.