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