Jimi's Main Street Cheesesteaks are seasoned with a dash of 'tude

Jimi's Main Street Cheesesteaks are seasoned with a dash of 'tude
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/8/07
BY ANDREA CLURFELD
FOOD EDITOR

The guy rolls his eyes at his friend, but it's not an eye roll that indicates insult; it's an eye roll of admiration. I'm picking up food at Jimi's Main Street Cheesesteaks in Belmar and, as the fellow behind the counter ticks off my order, he doesn't list the Bacon-Mozzarella Fries.

"You got the Bacon-Mozz Fries in there, right?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah, I do. Sorry. They're in there," he replies.

This is when the eye-rolling occurs.

"I've got to change my order," the one guy says to the other. "I've got to have her fries."

Vindicated, I strike up a conversation. "What do you eat here?" The pair, now waiting for the addition to their order, considers. "Cheesesteaks, with peppers and onions, the chicken cheesesteaks. We come down here from Middletown."

Impressive. A few minutes earlier, the chief order-taker told me he'd just finished off a Garlic Butter Cheesesteak. He shakes his head, again not a gesture of scorn, but of pleasure, to indicate his satisfaction level. Apparently, you don't need words at Jimi's to express taste-bud nirvana.

You also don't need space to have a social time. Though this is but a takeout joint, with square footage that inches toward the negative numbers, folks cram in and dish while their order is speedily prepped. By the time I leave, hopes of taking my hefty bag of grub to the beach dashed by dark and darker incoming clouds, I've made seven new friends.

"Do the Tex Mess," one has advised me.

"Get the Bacon Cheddar," mandates another.

Jimi's has put me in a completely agreeable mood, so I oblige pretty much everyone. The chief order-taker is also the guy with the best taste: That Garlic Butter Cheesesteak ($6.25) is subtle, yet alluring, made, as the menu states, with "chopped garlic and real butter." Real butter always does it for me.

The Bacon Cheddar Cheesesteak ($6.50) needs perhaps a slather more of cheese and a sharper, more distinctive cheddar, to boot. But I don't dismiss it. Nor do I think the fact that the horseradish sauce on the Baja Chicken Cheesesteak ($6.75) could be tangier, kickier makes it one to avoid: Au contraire, it's got a nice attitude about it.

The irresistibly named Tex Mess ($7.95), a layering of shaved steak, BBQ sauce, cheddar poppers, lettuce, chips and then, for good measure, a slather of extra cheese, is a spunky goofball of a sandwich. In fact, the only thing that disappoints me at Jimi's, which is one of Belmar's busiest places the minute school lets out, are those Bacon Mozzarella Fries ($4.50). They need seasoning. Without a blast of cooked-in salt and pepper, neither the bacon nor the mozz link to the spuds.

I owe that eye-rolling guy an order of mac-and-cheese bites. That's what the chief order-taker recommended. I should've listened.

Andrea Clurfeld is the restaurant critic and food editor of the Press. Eat Out, her look at casual-dining options, appears on Fridays, while The Dining Companion, her critical review of restaurants, appears in Sunday's Entertainment section. Chat with Andrea on her blog, Eating with Andrea Clurfeld at www.app.com, by e-mailing her at clurfeld@app.com, calling her at (732) 643-4273 or writing her in care of the Asbury Park Press, 3601 Route 66, Neptune, N.J. 07754.

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