Adam & Eats: J&J Restaurant

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

After eating lots of Asian and Latin food recently, I have had the mad love-jones for some good-ol’ American style cooking, i.e. steaks and taters. In my search for a steak and tater joint, which was closed when I got there, I sort of stumbled onto what turned out to be a staple of Alma’s food scene.

To put things into perspective, J&J Restaurant is the Alma equivalent of George’s mixed with Benson’s Grill. In other words, right up my alley.

Since 1985, J&J has been serving up home cooking to the people of Alma, and whoever else walks through their doors. As soon as you walk into the place, you can figure out why. It has that smell of Grandma’s house. It smells of bacon, fresh biscuits, and iced tea steeping. It might be what Heaven smells like. At least I hope it is what Heaven smells like. Anyway, the place has got serious amounts of Southern charm. Cushy booths, kitschy wall decorations, tabletops subdivided and sold to local companies as advertising space, the works. And yes, the waitresses call you “hon” and “darlin”.

Enough about the atmosphere, let’s talk food for a while.

Apparently, everything on the menu is good. And by good, I mean will probably either give you indigestion or a heart attack.

Before I say anything else, I have to tell you that J&J make their own gravy. This is not to be taken lightly. Very, and I mean very, few places make their own gravy. It is so easy to open a package and add water or milk and you’ve got gravy that most places go this route. Not J&J. If you grew up in the South, and you had a Grandmother from the South, you know what I am talking about.

Real gravy.

Made from the grease from whatever pork product you are having for breakfast, thickened with flour, built up with milk, seasoned with a little salt and a whole lot of black pepper.

Delicious.

Plus, for only $2.85, you get four fresh biscuits and a bowl of gravy. It is such a deal and a wonderful throwback to childhood that I have started calculating what time I would have to get up in the morning in order to get to Alma for breakfast and still make it to work by 8 a.m.

But, enough about gravy, let’s get to the meat (and taters) of the matter. Their chicken-fried steak is spot on. If you catch it on the lunch special, you get to add on three, count them three, sides and you have got a meal big enough for two people. I would recommend the mashed potatoes (of course), the fried okra, and beans. All of them taste just like Grandma used to make.

The burgers are good, but not spectacular. That also goes for the Mexican chili salad, which sounds terrifying. What J&J lacks in some areas, it makes up for in others. They offer deliciously giant grilled cheese sandwiches on Texas toast and mini-corndogs. Now that I think about it, J&J serves up food that I ate as a kid and eating it as an adult is totally awesome.

Top that whole trip down memory lane off with a piece of pecan pie and a sweet tea and you’ll be ready for a lazy afternoon of napping in the swing on the front porch. If this sounds like your idea of a perfectly spent Saturday, then I recommend heading to Alma and re-indulging in your own childhood at J&J restaurant.

Feedback
When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.