Nichole Remembers Why She Loves Jimmy T’s

You know how when you live in one place for a long time, you sort of start to take for granted what’s neat about it? Sometimes it takes a new eye to remind you of why you’re there in the first place. Well, this is kind of like that.

I sometimes forget that the rest of the city kind of ignores my part of the world, especially that stuff which isn’t conveniently located on Pennsylvania Ave., 8^th St., H St. or at Eastern Market. So when I offhandedly mentioned to my NW-dwelling friend that I’d gotten food at Jimmy T’s today, she actually asked, “What is that?”

It’s not her fault really. I have a hard time dragging my friends over here for a night out (to their credit though, it does happen) let alone cheap, greasy, comfort breakfast, and I can see how I may not have really mentioned it since it’s Jimmy T’s – it’s just not all that special.

Sure, there’s the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story. And an autographed Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle from A Christmas Story. And pictures of the cast from A Christmas Story. And sure they serve breakfast all day, except for Mondays and Tuesdays when they’re closed. But, it’s just Jimmy T’s, right? Continues after the jump.

A friend of mine (former Hill resident, now proud SWer) needed a ride somewhere and afterward said, “Hey, I’m in the mood for breakfast – want to stop at Jimmy T’s?” Since it was 11am on a Wednesday, it seemed perfectly logical. It wasn’t until I ordered a BLT with egg and cheese and the waiter said, “Oh, a Maternity Special,” that I thought, “Oh, shit – I hope I have my camera with me – this would be a good post for PoP!” (Keeping in mind that I am not pregnant, and did not look pregnant – it’s just what they call it at Jimmy T’s.)

Jimmy T’s doesn’t have fancy food, or fancy décor (okay, I’m actually a big fan of the turquoise linoleum tables, but that’s not the point) or a fancy website. It is not “cool” or “trendy” or “hip” by any stretch of the imagination. On a weekend, the wait can be brutal, and the service glacial. There’s no wi-fi, or any of that newfangled stuff. It’s cash only. But for my Maternity Special, a side of homefries, and a debate with other customers and the staff on the morality of in vitro fertilization and that lady from CA with 14 kids on a Wednesday at 11am, it’s perfect. Oh, and my food and a Diet Coke came to somewhere a smidge north of $7. (but closer to 7 than 8, and we’re talking with tax)

Jimmy T’s is at the corner of 5^th and E. Capitol, and is across 5^th from my favorite bodega on the Hill. Their awesomely simple website is http://www.jimmytsplace.com/ . I hear they have excellent grits, but I hate grits so I don’t know this first hand.