Big Jim's Drive In — Restaurant in Hood River

Ate at big Jim’s tonight. It was not overly busy with only two other people in the restaurant. We ordered two burgers and two milkshakes, all of the booths were in need of cleaning so I wiped ours down with a napkin. When the young man came to our table to deliver the hamburgers, he plopped them on the table and said enjoy, have a good night with no mention of the milkshakes so I reminded him that we had also ordered two milkshakes. He replied with yeah they’ll be right out. In the meantime 4 teenagers came in and ordered milkshakes and burgers. They had their milkshakes in hand when they came to their table. When I finished my hamburger I went to the counter to ask about the milkshakes they had not even been started yet. When they finally arrived(About 20 minutes after we ordered them) we asked the young man who delivered the them, why it had taken so long to make two milk shakes.He told us that they were short staffed because it had rained. This would be understandable if the place was busy, but at this point there were only 10 people in the restaurant and the drive-thru was not that busy. I do realize that this Big Jim’s is new and there is probably a lot of training happening (hopefully) but soft serve milkshakes do not take that long to make, and I think the bigger problem is that the staff didn’t seem to see the problem or care that we were unhappy with their service. We have always been happy with both the service and the food at Big Jim’s in The Dalles. Hopefully they can get the restaurant in Hood River operating more efficiently and with better customer service because at this point we won’t be back to the one...

Good food in a down home setting.

I have fond memories of The Ranch from my youth and was sad that it shut down a few years ago, another pandemic victim. I was happy to see that someone had bought and was renovating it. When I heard it would be a Big Jim’s I got excited. I’ve been to their restaurant in The Dalles a few times over the decades and have a favorable view of it.

I was obviously not the only one looking forward to it opening. I got there at about a quarter to five on a Saturday afternoon and the line was almost to the front door. One of their two registers wasn’t working, but I expected a new business like this might be experiencing some growing pains so no problem.

The wait was a bit on the long side but they were slammed so no surprises there. It was worth waiting for. My luau burger (with ham and pineapple) was amazing. I love the sweet and savory elements. My waffle cut sweet potato fries were good, although I may ask for less salt next time. My peanut butter shake was also very good. Thick and just the right amount of peanut butter.

The facilities were all clean and tidy, but I would expect that from a business in its first week of operation. The service was friendly and prompt. I recommend this place to anyone looking for an old school small town drive in burger joint. I will...

Excited to see an expansion of a long time Gorge staple but sad to see the poor execution of the new location. The food is fantastic as usual but you never know what you’re going to get as far as if the order is correct or consistent. Service is spectacular, staff is friendly and courteous and works very well with the curve balls that come their way. It seems as they have no support, and maybe ownership expanded too soon. A go to is the chicken bucket but check your order each time, I have driven away with a basket instead and tonight I believe I received a different order because of the fries/sauces mixup, additionally it was all stuffed into one to go box when it is usually two with half the sauces missing. Big Jim’s has a good thing going on, they just need to focus on proper management and supporting their staff and it’ll be...