Friday, August 6, 2010

Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack – Iowa City, IA

I was driving back through Iowa City and called up Coach to see if he and his lady wanted to grab some Whitey’s Ice Cream with me – that’s ice cream, not honkeys, so you’re not confused. We met at the Coralridge mall and Toach said she’d always wanted me to try Jimmy Jack’s since she knows I love ribs and BBQ. We scrapped the Whitey’s idea and drove over to Jimmy Jack’s.


I walked inside since I beat them there and it was about 80% full. A good sign. You order at the counter, but I was pretty sure I knew what I’d be having. My usual at rib places. A half slab of ribs, a couple sides, and cornbread if they have it. They DID have cornbread and it came with the dinner portion, so I got it. I also got baked beans and fries. And because Jimmy Jack doesn’t play around, he serves Sprecher products, so I got a bottle of the best cream soda in the world.



We grabbed a table in the dining room. There’s lots of room, but there are these backless little wooden stools to sit on. I know some people complain about that (mostly old people), so I thought I’d note it, but I really don’t care either way. I’ve stood and eaten ribs before – it just doesn’t matter to me as long as most of the food hits my mouth-al area.

They have a sauce bar for all kinds of condiments and BBQ sauces. There are our different kinds. Original, Cowboy, Four Alarm, and Some spicy Mustard stuff that I steered clear of. I loaded up on those so I could try a couple different ones.

The food comes out really fast. I had sat down for about 2 minutes when my food came out. Perfect. The ribs themselves were really good. Not amazing or mind blowing, but they were tender, came off the bone with only a little bit of work, and there wasn’t a ton of gristle. There was a lot of meat on the bones, so I got good and full with these and didn’t have any problem going through each of the sauces I got. I liked the Four Alarm sauce the best, followed by the original and then the Cowboy. I don’t do mustard, so that’s automatically a fourth.

The fries were seasoned well and crispy and were home cut fries, not skinny pre-made ones. I really liked these. The baked beans had a lot of bits in them – some meaty bits, some vegetable-y bits. All were delicious. There was a little bit of spice in them, without being overpowering. I like Jimmy’s beans a LOT.

Thanks for taking me here, Toach. I will likely be back. I love the scenic drive through downtown Iowa City. It reminds me of when I went to school there (which was hell, by the way).

And of course, there’s always room for Whitey’s on the way home!!!!...


Top 5 things about Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack
1. Ribs
2. Baked beans
3. Fries
4. Four Alarm BBQ Sauce
5. They have Sprecher Cream Soda!

Bottom 5 things
1. It’s still no Lee and Dee’s
2. It’s a 5+ hour drive from my house
3. You can’t get the Little Jimmy (kid’s sammich) without buying a side and a drink
4. No descriptions of sauce flavors on the condiment bar
5. No backs on the wooden stools you sit on

www.jimmyjacksribshack.com

3 comments:

Ruby James Vita said...

I HAAAATE seating with no backs on the chairs! Booo!

lee said...

please, for the love of god, tell me that whitey's is next to cracker barrel and they are both on MLK highway!

Sarah said...

Ohhh will be visiting there soon!