Jimmy's Famous American Tavern - Dana Point — Restaurant in Dana Point

Jimmy's is so great on so many levels. The place is super cute, a great size and is so very clean. It is comfortable and you will never be rushed. The service is great. The servers know the menu, are fast, but not rushing you, and check on you. If there is an issue they fix it. We have been a couple of times now and just love it.

The seating is great. You will be happy where ever you sit.

It is a tavern so I assume they have great beer and wine, but we were not drinking on this visit.

We had the best dinner. We got a bunch of food and shared. The New England Calm Chowder is just perfect, no too thick and not at all thin. It comes with their home made potato chips which are super. I loved the beef and black bean chili. It is served with sour cream, green onion, cheddar, and cornbread. Now, some of the group said beans never belong in chili. They fussed and I thought more for me and those on my bean side. It was so great and I loved the beans in it.

The cobb salad is also great. It is so crispy and wonderful. It has chopped romaine lettuce, avocado, a good amount of cherry tomatoes, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, egg, and blue cheese dressing. I don't care for blue cheese dressing so I asked for it on the side. It was so good and those in my group who love blue cheese were very happy.

The kale salad I will have again. It was great with chopped organic black kale, roasted squash, red quinoa, toasted almonds, cranberries, parmesan, with a great lemon vinaigrette dressing. This one was my favorite salad.

For our mains, we went from burgers to salmon and to tuna melts. Our standout was their burgers. Their cowboy burger with beer battered onion ring, lettuce, bacon, cheddar, and BBQ sauce was our favorite. They have a great BBQ sauce. Their regular cheeseburger is also very tasty and cooked the way you like it.

Their tuna melt is also great and you will love it. I love the toasted sourdough it comes on. It is great.

The pan seared salmon was very good, not my favorite, but really well made and the mashed potatoes are great. I ate them all. My peeps said they were full. No problem, I have this.

All in all, it was a wonderful night, with great service and good. This is a new must go...

We’ve been regulars at Jimmy’s for a long time, and we’ve always loved it. Or at least, we used to. We thought of it as a classic American spot: great food without the fuss, warm and welcoming service, and outstanding drinks. The drinks are still top-notch, and the servers are as awesome as ever. But they recently changed the menu and the food has taken a hit.

I totally get that restaurants need to evolve and that longtime customers will always miss their favorite dishes. But that's not what this is about. The issue is that the new menu just isn’t delivering. A lot of the food now tastes either bland or just plain bad—something we've never experienced at Jimmy’s.

Take the fries. They used to be hands-down the best in Dana Point. Now they taste stale, under-seasoned, and limp—honestly, you'd get better from a drive-thru. And for vegetarians (like my oldest daughter), the options have basically disappeared. There’s not a single entrée—just a salad, and there’s no way to add any kind of protein (tofu, falafel). They used to have a great veggie bowl.

The sesame-crusted albacore burger used to be something special—a delicious bit of fish unlike anything you could find anywhere else. That’s gone. In its place is a swordfish sandwich that’s fine, but forgettable. It’s mostly tomato, and definitely not worth making a trip for. If you’re in the mood for a grilled fish sandwich, you’d be better off at Coastal—their grouper burger is excellent.

My teenage son had the smash burger, and again, it was just okay. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. He said it was no better than the hundreds of other smash burgers you can find pretty much anywhere.

The thing is, Jimmy’s used to be more than “just fine.” It was the place you’d take anyone and you knew the food would be a hit. It’s really disappointing to see it lose that.

Our server mentioned that management is open to feedback, and I hope that’s true. But maybe the steady stream of tourists means they don’t feel the need to cater to the regulars anymore. That would be sad. But I guess that's the direction of travel in...

We’ve dined here a couple of times during our visits to Dana Point, mainly because it’s an easy six-minute walk from the Marriott Laguna Cliffs. Overall, it’s a solid choice when you want something convenient with a bit of variety.

The menu is classic American fare, think everything from burgers, to tacos, to ahi tuna bowls. The food is good, not exceptional, but enjoyable. Some room for improvement. For example, our calamari appetizer had great flavor, though the calamari itself was overly chewy. I had the shrimp tacos; the shrimp was perfectly cooked, but the corn tortillas were a bit dry for my taste. (To be fair, I’ve had incredible melt-in-your-mouth versions in Mexico, so my standards are high.)

My husband ordered a chicken dish that, while it looked like chicken fingers, ended up being really flavorful. It came with smashed potatoes and a half corn cob, visually, the plate could use more color or variety, but he really enjoyed the flavors.

Drinks were hit or miss. I swapped the default tequila in my margarita for something better, and it ended up being fine. Others at our table tried the mojitos and didn’t love them, describing a somewhat chemical taste.

Where the restaurant really shines is the service. The staff was friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. Our hostess in particular was fantastic and made us feel right at home.

We’ll probably return again due to its convenient location and consistently good service. While the food has room for improvement, it’s a perfectly decent dinner spot when...