Jim’s Pizza House has been an institution on the Bedford Highway for as long as I can remember. The long, narrow restaurant perches overlooking the rail tracks and the Bedford Basin. Forget trying to find a parking spot at 5pm, when all the early birds come out to eat.
The front half of Jim’s, the original part, is like a diner: a long counter lined with stools, a milkshake machine, booths along the other wall and a pass-through window into the kitchen that lets you see the short-order cooks at work.
There’s something beautiful about watching an experienced kitchen team doing their work during busy times—it’s more like a dance (if you picture big, hairy guys in t-shirts and aprons dancing) as they bob and weave around each other, plating up the nightly specials and sliding them across the counter for the wait staff to pick up. The back half is the dining room, with windows looking over the water and a patio in the summer.
Jim’s menu, like most Greek-owned family restaurants, features a broad range of items (not just pizza), from seafood to steaks to Greek specialties like stuffed peppers and moussaka. And like most eateries of its ilk, there’s a list of daily specials, which come with soup and rice pudding or Jell-O; the meals are all large portions, cheap and filling.
I have worked my way through most of the menu and never had a really bad meal here, although of course there are some things that truly stand out, the first being the clams and chips (small $9.95).
Two words: Best Ever. Never greasy, rubbery or undercooked. And they’re big clams, too, a crazy big pile of them. Liver lovers (a closeted group, but I know you’re out there) rejoice—Jim’s liver ($7.95) is tender, plentiful and topped with sautéed onions or bacon.
There are always two soups of the day to choose from and you really can’t go wrong. Whether it’s split pea, garden vegetable, chicken with rice—all the soups taste like they came from your Mom’s kitchen (if your Mom is not such a good cook, insert a good cook’s name here). Sometimes they could stand a little more salt and pepper, but at least there’s no artificial soup base taste.
Oddly enough, for all the times I’ve eaten at Jim’s Pizza House, I’ve never had the pizza, nor have I seen it on anyone else’s table. Tonight, I’m going to find out if the namesake dish is as good as everything else. We order a small with the works ($9.25) and a large Caesar salad ($5.75).
The salad, big enough for four as a starter, is delicious, with a thick garlic dressing, plenty of bacon bits and soggy (too bad) croutons.
The pizza has a fat crust, weighed down with pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and bacon. Lots of cheese and a zesty sauce and I’m left to conclude that the pizza, though more expensive than typical take-out pizzas, is certainly up to standards.
The service here, as you can probably guess, is always friendly and homey, with lots of “dears” and “honeys”; nothing is ever a problem and while something might be forgotten during a busy spell, it’ll be brought eventually, with lots of apologies.
The t-shirts worn by the cooks sum the experience up best: “There are two places to eat: Jim’s and home.”
Jim’s Pizza House243 Bedford Highway443-6112Sun-Thurs 8am-10pmFri-Sat 8am-11pm
When home’s not working for you and you need some good dinner advice, you can always find Liz Feltham online at www.foodcritic.ca.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2005.
I have eaten clams all across Nova Scotia and tonight I would have to say that the clams I had at Jim’s was the worst I have ever eaten. They were way over cooked and rubbery. I have als eaten clams there that were very good.
I just ate at Jim’s and will not be going back. We had the pizza which was simply horrible. It was burnt and greasy. It tasted like it was a frozen pre-made pizza, the kind you would buy at the grocery store. The service was friendly and atmosphere was good but I cannot get past the awful pizza. I can understand why they have quietly dropped “pizza” from the restaurant’s name.
We ordered large donair pizza on Jan 31,2015. We were so shocked because it was so sweet. However, it doesn’t mention on the menu. We called them to return and have other order, but they were not helpful, they said the standard of donair sauce is sweet, so no need to mention. I think in this case, they should mention every details about their dishes not all people knows what donair sauce is and they supposed to listen to their customers.
I absolutely adore Jim’s restaurant, and personally think everyone above me needs to check themselves.
If you don’t know what donair sauce is, why would you order a donair pizza? Of course it’s going to be sweet! Most people know what donair sauce is, so no need to specify on the menu. It’s donair sauce, it’s pretty common. DONAIR is literally in the name, use your head. Why wouldn’t you ask before ordering it? Common sense people!
Jim’s pizza does not taste frozen, I don’t know what that person was talking about. Sure, it may have been a little burnt, but that is definitely an abnormality. And complaining about the pizza being greasy? It’s PIZZA. Of course it’s greasy. What did you really expect? I don’t know where you typically order pizza, but pizza is always greasy, it’s covered in cheese, of course it’s greasy.
I’ve never had the clams, but apart from this one review I have NEVER heard anything bad about Jim’s clams, quite the opposite, in fact. Perhaps you just got some bad clams or something, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard someone say something bad about them.
Jim’s restaurant is one of the best family restaurants I’ve ever been to, I live just across the street and have ordered just about everything, and have NEVER been disappointed with anything there. The service is wonderful, I love all the waitresses, The food is perfect, it tastes exactly how I expect everything to taste, and the overall atmosphere of the restaurant is comfortable and cozy.
Don’t listen to these wannabe food critics here, go check out Jim’s for yourself, I promise you won’t be disappointed.