Jimmy Beans, Berkeley

I had been meaning to try Jimmy Beans forever because it's one of those cafes that are written up everywhere, and Kete is a partial owner in that group of restaurants (Jimmy Beans, Sea Salt, Lalime's, T-Rex and Fonda). So, since Andy offered to take me anywhere I wanted for lunch and Bette's had already closed, I dragged him to Jimmy Beans.

At Jimmy Beans, you order at the counter and then the food is brought to you. As we walked in, I wasn't too impressed with the inside. I know the place has been around for a while, but it just seemed like a few bottles of bleach would do wonders inside. Also, the guy at the counter was not the most friendly. He basically ignored me until I asked if I could please order.

I was in the mood for breakfast, so I got the Eggs Blackstone (English muffins with tomato, bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce), which comes with a "trio of sauces." Andy got a steak sandwich. After waiting a good twenty minutes (the place was practically empty, so why it took so long, I don't know), they came with our food. My eggs were delicious. The hollandaise sauce was actually done really well, and the bacon was perfectly cooked. After my first egg, I was already full. The rest of the plate, though, I was not too impressed with. The potatoes were pretty uneven--some undercooked and others were burned. It also came with the sauce trio, whatever that was. Basically, they put three dollops on my plate next to the eggs--one was a pesto, the other a tomato salsa and the last was some kind of sweet red pepper sour cream or something to that extent. I didn't really see the point. They were put next to my eggs, so most of the sauces mixed in with the hollandaise which was pretty gross, and I guess it might be interesting to use with the potatoes, but none of the flavors even went together--especially for breakfast! It was confusing and a total waste in my opinion.

Andy can't wait until I get this review up and going because he wants to rant about how awful his steak sandwich was. So, I'll let you all wait to read his commentary on this blog post.

All in all, the eggs were good, everything else, I wasn't too into. I'd much rather go to Bette's for a much cuter atmosphere, better service, better prices (this total came to $27 where Bette's would probably be about $22), and way better food (i.e., no sauce trio business)!

If you would like to go to Jimmy Beans despite my recommendation that Bette's is infinitely better, they are located at 1290 6th Street in Berkeley.
Phone: (510) 528-3435

They are open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

They have a website, too: http://www.jimmybeans.com/