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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1985)
4 jim ccrxd Sue's more tlion diner By JAY BLINDERMAN Stall Writer The Yellow Pages' ad lists }im and Sue's restaurant as 17 miles east on Highway 30 toward Huntsville. When you get to Jim and Sue's, which is also a convenience store, gas pump and bar, the menu states the eatery is 15 miles down the road. To set the record straight, this all purpose stop is 16.25 miles east on the Huntsville dirt road, there is no highway. After you walk through the conve nience store portion ol the establish ment, you enter the dining room. To the left of the entrance is the salad bar and at a 90-degree angle to the bar is a serving area that looks identical to the cafeteria serving line at every public school I have ever at tended. I didn't eat cafeteria food when I was in school — I always did my best to stay away from the stuff. Luckily for me the serving line at Jim and Sue's is used for the lunchtime buffet and I was there to eat dinner. Once in the dining room, you can sit at any one of 24 tables. In keeping with the traditional country diner, the tables had checkerboard table- clothes and plastic water cups. When I arrived, all the tables but one were empty, and it was occu pied by two waitresses. The menu at Jim and Sue's is as typical as any roadside diner with checkerboard tableclothes. There was a choice of steak, seafood, and fried items. Fried catfish is the speciality of the house and is offered on an all you can eat basis. Liver and onions — a meal I have a hard time classifying as food — is another option on the menu. Our original order for dinner in cluded a shrimp basket, but on the evening of our arrival, shrimp bas kets were scarce. My dinner com panion had to settle for the same dinner that I was having, chicken fried steak with gravy and french fries. While waiting for my dinner, I took the time to savor the surroundings Jim and Sue's had to offer. The salad bar was furnished with the basic essentials to make a salad: lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, cheese and salad dressings. Fish netting was attached to the wall above the salad bar. Hanging from the netting were plastic replica lobsters, star fish, crabs, a wicker anchor, and seashells, which might have been authentic. Above the sea-arama display were wine racks that had no wine in them. On the wall opposite the salad bar was a fire place, that if lit, would add a needed coziness on a cold Huntsville Highway night. The night I was at Jim and Sue's wasn't cold enough for a fire, but one would have been welcomed if it would have attracted some life to the res taurant. About the time my analysis ended, the chicken fried steak ar rived. It was now time to analyze dinner. The 'chi-fry'' looked like it had a crispy light crust, but after a couple of bites I realized the coating was cake-like. The fries were a little on the limp side; well, they were greasy. My roll was cold and hard but I softened it up by dipping it in my gravy. While we were eating dinner someone went into the adjoining bar and put an AC/DC song on the juke box. We waited for a while but that person never returned. Amazingly enough some patrons showed up for dinner at Jim and Sue's before our departure. Those patrons supplied us with the eve ning's entertainment. Three men, who looked as if they could be regulars, sat down at the table beside us. The waitresses called them by name, confirming my belief that these men frequented the establishment. The pot-bellied man in the group asked the waitresses, "who's cookin dinnah?" The younger of the two waitresses replied "I yam." The pot bellied man groaned and said "then you betta bring me anotha glass of watah." That comment sums it up for Jim and Sue's. For a road-weary truck driver, the stop may be a welcomed one, but for an Aggie looking for an escape from the food of Bryan/Col lege Station, the adventure or the food is not worth the drive. The prices at the roadside cafe ranged from $4 to $9. On a scale of 5, my hungry Aggie rating is a 2, and if you're a hungry truck driver my rat ing would be a 3. □ A Pulitzer Prize Winning Comedy by Thbrnton Wilder The Critics called The Skin oj Our Teeth: “a tremendously exciting and profound stage/able" u a vital and wonderful piece of theatre" “wonderfully wise as well as wacky" HAPPY HOUR s vi s Si s Daily from 3 to 6 and 9 til closing Frozen Daiquiris Frozen Margaritas ^ Frozen Pina Coladas y (Complimentary Chips and Sauce Served) t Also featuring the Best Fajitas in Town! Vi Si 1 si S Fajitas for Two $9 89 v° 809-A University Dr., College Station 846-746? Fri. & Sat. Nov. 8 & 9 8:00 p.m. Rudder Form Ticket at Rudder Box Office TAMC1 Students $4 00 Gen. Public $5 00 our readers spend a lot of time between the covers, they'd love to get to know you better. to advertise in at ease call 845-2611