Breakfast Report: Jim's at 1604 and Culebra...

After what seemed to be years, I mean, really, years from the time they purchased the land at the now booming intersection of 1604 and FM 471 or Culebra Road if you prefer, the Jim's restaurant finally opened this week and this morning, my wife and I got some!If you live anywhere within the vicinity of the greater Alamo Ranch area, you are no doubt giddy with excitement over all the new stores and restaurants we have. But the wider selection did not stop the crowds eager for a breakfast fix, and we waded through soccer teams, churchgoers and people with hangovers to get what is really the equivalent of Denny's but with much better service. (Of course, I don't do Denny's anymore, so how could I know?).While we waited, in the spacious and comfortable holding pen, many people chatted with fellow patrons regarding all the new stores and restaurants; those already open like Olive Garden, Mama Margie's and of course the Starbucks, and those planned, such as Red Robin, Chick-a-lay (as we call it) and of course the new IHOP under construction. I suspect that once the initial thrill of having a Jim's (and eventually an IHOP) close by where people don't have to make the torturous trip up the bottleneck at Braun and 1604 to get to another suitable place to eat, the crowds will die down, but for now it was jam-packed and they kept the wait very reasonable.After the promised 15 minute wait, we were seated and commenced to look at the menu for something suitable to eat. Although it was already close to noon, we had nothing but breakfast on our minds. Our waitress was lickity split with the menus and off to grab waters and coffee. Considering that there was never a single table, booth or bar stool open for longer than it took to clean off dirty plates and seat the next hungry crowd, I'd say the staff (probably many of them new to the Jim's system) were firing on all cylinders. My wife did a quick count of just the visible staff and she saw 25 folks. That means many more in the kitchen pumping out eggs, bacon and pancakes and lots of folks to serve them up to eager aspiring triple-bypass cases.My wife ordered the Southern Pecan Pancakes, eggs (over easy) and bacon. She also got a side of hash browns which we shared. Oh, who am I kidding, I ate her eggs as well as mine because the pecan pancakes overwhelmed her.She started on the pancakes and simply could not stop eating them to even try the bacon, eggs or hash browns. She didn't eat a third of the cakes before commencing the Happy Dance and declaring them superior to Magnolia Pancake Haus (I know, those are strong words.)
I had the Texas Two-Step Breakfast which is buttermilk cakes with eggs over-easy, bacon, and juice. I'll put Jim's buttermilk pancakes up against any one's. My eggs were a little harder than "over easy" and the bacon seemed a little jacked-up in my mind, but that didn't stop me from dipping it in egg yolk and tossing it down my gullet a piece at a time. I have to be honest; if we had been at home, I would have picked up the plate and licked it, but that sort of thing really pisses off my wife.

I can't describe the issue with the bacon. It looked great, tasted fairly normal and my wife had no complaints with hers. Maybe it was all the syrup and orange juice that caused some sort of taste bud situation. Who knows?At the end of the day, let's not lose perspective here; it was breakfast at a diner. Reasonable price, great service especially given the crowd, and outstanding pancakes. The new Jim's in Alamo Ranch gets the Tasty Treat in their first week, and you can't beat that.

We'll keep an eye on them to see if they go all Denny's on us. Tell me how your visit to Jim's went.

Super Target in Alamo Ranch...

It isn't like we haven't been into a Super Target before - after all, they have one just up the street at Bandera Pointe and another over off of Highway 151 and Loop 410, but now that we have our very own in Alamo Ranch, I might actually go there from time to time.

If you have been down to 1604 and Culebra, you can already feel the influx of traffic in just the past month or so. No, it isn't 1604 and Bandera bad or heaven forbid, 1604 and 281 horrendous, but still, you get the feeling that as more of these stores open, people fed up with the nightmare of trying to get through the choke point that is Braun and 1604, people will take advantage of the slightly better traffic situation on Culebra and Alamo Ranch.

So, enough about traffic. If you are like us and have put off going to the Super Target, there are a few reasons to give it a try. But I must caution you: the people who designed the parking lot layout at Alamo Ranch are probably descendants of the idiots who designed most of San Antonio's ill conceived, not even thought-out, traffic patterns (see the aforementioned 1604 and 281 comment). So as you drive through, be aware that at some intersections, there are stop signs, and some there aren't, but neither is intuitive. I predict numerous near-misses, crushed fenders and splatted pedestrians before someone figures out that allowing the parking lot planners to drink beer during their lunch hour is a bad idea.Once you have safely parked, you are free to move about the lot, cautiously! Welcome to Super Target.Okay, nothing special but I do need to point out two important things: The baskets and the carts. I think someone told me these shopping carts are like a fine Mercedes, and I have to report that I concur! Talk about a smooth ride. And no sharp edges for kids to get all scraped up on.Inside the store, the place was clean and well lit (of course). One of the downfalls (in my mind anyway) is that when I go into and Target, I feel like I am somehow being hypnotized. Am I the only one? Between the florescent lights, the red patterns and flying youngsters overhead, I just feel my head start to spin.Or maybe I just feel a little overwhelmed by not getting all the hip fashions and stuff. I do confess to liking Target's TV ads - I think they do a great job of making me feel like I need to get some of whatever it is they sell. But here is where I have to draw the line. Seriously. San Antonio is perpetually on the fattest city in America list. Who do the fine people at Super Target think is going to fit on this couch? I saw a lady at a taco place today who wouldn't have been able to get one of her thighs on this seat without some car jacks on either side to hold up the flesh. And for $199.99? Seriously?But in spite of Super Target being a little more upper scale than the Wal Mart I normally attend, I'm glad to see they still cater to common folk who are free to come in and shop comfortably, without bothering to shave their backs and shoulders. That's hospitality.Finally, if I hadn't given you plenty of reasons to visit, it is official, the Starbucks in Super Target is the closest one to my house, and my wife is pretty happy about that.