Jim's Smokin' Cafe — Restaurant in Niles

I tried Jim's when he was still over at the Cinema in Niles. It was amazing. I don't know if it was the fact that we were getting there almost at closing on a Sunday or what but it didn't quite live up to the first impression. Our family had three sandwiches and one platter. The brisket sandwich was alright but unremarkable, served on a generic white bun. The two pulled pork sandwiches were very fatty and also served on the generic white buns. The pulled pork platter was also about 1/4 pure fat but I really can't complain about the baked beans (aside from them being, like the coleslaw, very sweet).

Now, food aside the place needs a good cleaning. We were at the counter and the two soda taps were dripping and covered in hard water stains (but what isn't in this area?). The containers for the ice cream toppings had crud on the top and sides and all over the lids. There were sprinkles caught in between the counter and the topping containers. To be fair, they may have been quite busy that day as the weather was exceptionally lovely.

All in all the prices were a bit much for what we got but quite in line with bbq prices in the Michiana area. It's not like the northern midwest is a hotbed of authentic bbq and the meat there was still as flavorful and smokey as we remembered and I have to remember good bbq is hard to find in the midwest. Jim's craftsmanship is not in question (he was actually out of the restaurant while we were there). I mean, how many places smoke their beans? I wish I could give them a 3.9 but alas, I'm limited with the...

UPDATE:

I nearly moved to this town because I got such a good vibe! But, although I never moved to Niles, I've worked nearby and live in Buchanan have discovered the Main Street shopping district. I did a little holiday shopping with a must stop at Jim's for lunch.

I just love this BBQ and had the Brisket salad again. I would have opted for the Wednesday lunch buffet which is a really good deal, but needed to stick with protein and veg. My husband loved this buffet and it's obviously popular in town because there were a bunch of folks participating. I picked up Brisket and a couple of sides to go for my hubs and he was thrilled to have it for dinner. Wish I went out to eat more often because I would go to Jim's over and over! Still great!

My review from last year....

Love this place! We stumbled on this place while in the area and thought the BBQ was great, I love that there's a nice meat salad option and we had such fun talking to the owner (the chef also came by our table to check on our food) that we've decided to consider moving to Niles full time! If the food is this good and the peeps this friendly, it's pretty attractive. We were back on a Wednesday recently and my big-eating hubby LOVED the lunch buffet. What a great idea. The first time we went though I was craving a wine or beer which they don't serve, but they did say we could order wine elsewhere and...

Our group of 12 visited this restaurant on the morning of Father’s Day. The food was fine, not great. Nothing to rave about. The buffet was $20, an increase from the $14 it used to be, which was absurd. The girl told us it’s because “when we had the one plate limit people were piling their plate super high so we had to raise the price”. well yeah, what do you think people are going to do? But anyhow, this review is mainly about the service we received AFTER our visit. After we finished our meal and paid, we were standing outside the establishment exchanging cards and presents for Father’s Day and going about our business, and all of a sudden our server (the Hispanic male, not the female) came outside, butted into the conversation and demanded more money for a tip??? He pulled out his calculator and said “this is how much you should have left”, and stood there until we gave him more money. What the hell? We gave him more than enough for the service he provided during our visit. And even if we didn’t, it’s completely out of line to ask for more money. I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 16 and if any of us approached a guest like this, we would be fired on the spot. Tips are appreciated but never expected. This was extremely unprofessional and the first time I’ve ever encountered this type of behavior from a server. We will not be...