Jimbo’s Joint

Sad to see this most awesome restaurant close it’s doors. Loved their food and staff.

One of my favorite places, but they may be closed for good?
Hopefully not, but went yesterday and they had a closed sign on the door. Called today, not answering. I’ll be really sad if it’s permanent.

As an Über driver I drive all over the Tampa Bay area and I frequently drive past Jimbo’s but it always looks closed because their huge parking lot is empty most of the time I drive past (of course I usually only drive at night so I figured that maybe it was just open for lunch) — thankfully an Über customer had me drive past it and she told me that not only is the place open but the food is amazing. After I dropped her off I rushed over to Jimbo’s and I was met by a cute fun girl named Bobbie who took my order-​it took a few minutes to complete said order as I wanted to sample from each section of the menu. I could have easily ordered over a dozen items but I settled on five. The Big John Fries was the highlight but that is not saying the other items were bad– all were huge portions and showcased the owners eclectic thinking. Their tribute to Iron Maidens The Number of the Beast sold me as soon as I walked into the place as I have that album cover tattooed on my leg but I question the location of this place as it is in a part of town catered to a different element. I will be a once every couple of weeks customer for as long as I Über and for as long as this place stays open.

The food here is great! It’s like a homemade hamburger joint, just with a focus on chicken (and the sausage and patties here are, in fact, homemade and not out of a package/​can). For example, the meatball sandwich is made from chicken meatballs. And Jimbo’s has very creative variations of common fare foods. The sausage sandwiches are typical of what you’d expect on a regular hot dog — except these are chicken sausage sandwiches. In addition, besides typical things you’d find on a hot dog (relish, mustartd, celery salt, onions, etc), you’ll find some pretty tasty variations on dishes whose names refer to pop culture. For example, the Sweet Caroline has coleslaw, dill relish, and a tasty sauce called — what else — Sweet Caroline Sauce. It makes for a not so typical, but great tasting sausage sandwich. Plus, they serve breakfast here and have great milkshakes, with a milkshake flavor of the day. The deco inside is entertaining, too. You’ll see characters from Pulp Fiction, the Big Lebowski, and even some rock stars as… chickens. Yeah, I guess it goes with the theme that this place is heavy on the chicken items. But the wall paintings and posters inside are pretty funny.
Too bad it’s not in a prominent area, and I can’t understand why the parking lot is always empty when I’ve come here. My friends who have tried this place also rave about the food.

Definitely unique! We stopped here for lunch on the weekend and I had a grilled mac and cheese sandwich and Brandon had a philly cheese steak and we shared an order of waffle fries. Everything was very tasty! We were the only ones there at the time so it definitely wasn’t busy but the food was very tasty and we’ll be back! I suppose it’s sort of a mix between fast food and sit down type restaurant, either way it was a great experience and the guy working was super nice and helpful and made some great suggestions.

Wow. What can I say. I love me some jimbo’s
Biscuits and gravy on point with the homemade chicken sausage. Add a bit of their Rc-​7 sauce to kick it up a notch.
The Mac attack is heavenly.
Please support this locally owned And operated food joint.

Once again short and sweet —
I ordered wings and fries — wife ordered the Froman (sp?) and onion rings, two chicken strip meals for the kids. Presentation was good, my wife actually said «Wow, that looks pretty», not sure how many times you’ve heard that about a chicken sausage.
We all loved our food!
The service was great!
My wings were BIG ++++ just a little greasier than I would have liked — — -
The price was reasonable — I’ll pay any amount as long as I feel like we are getting or got our money’s worth — well I DEFINITELY did here!!!+++
I can assure you we will be going back since choosing between the fries and collard greens was tough (you can only eat so much). Jimbo’s actually fostered good karma amongst the patrons who came in — something about the place just made you happy and want to be nice to people — I know that sounds weird, but in today’s world sometimes it even feels weirder to let down your guard and be nice to strangers and that is what was going on when we were there???
If they can make the wings a little less greasy — the next review will absolutely be a 5 star review.

In love with this place! It’s one of my favorite restaurants! Love!
Very kind staff and food is amazing!

Went again recently has I had purchased some groupons and needed to use one. Even better this time around, but like others mention they need more customers. I really want them to last! I gave some Groupons to ppl I work with in hopes that they go too. My assistant who is a veg head was excited that they have options. I told her they have pinball too and she was going to bring qtrs.
Decent sizes at a good price, fresh made and good service.
Go soon, go often and ENJOY!

For the eclectic semi-​fast food market, this place is probably the best in the area. That being said I hope this place gets more customers! I think the location isn’t in the best parts of town, they would do much better downtown but I’m assuming the rent isn’t cheap down there.
Service is lovely, food is surprisingly delicious and incredibly flavorful. Their collard greens are probably the best in the area, cooked to perfection. And their waffle fries are crispy, starchy potato gold. Cover them in cheese, chili (beanless!), and onions and you won’t be disappointed!

We love this place. We visited Jimbo’s Joint once for dinner and once for lunch. Both times we practically had the place to ourselves. I hope they make it! Love the chicken sausage and chicken meatballs. The falafel is just okay but the tzaziki (sp?) is very good. Speaking of sauces, the Sweet Caroline (South Carolina style) is my fave (duh) but the RC-​7 is great too (spicier and more traditional type BBQ sauce). I love the big salad option. My kids love the tater tots. The huge pop culture chicken character mural is worth the visit in itself. See you again soon Jimbo’s Joint.

The décor inside of the restaurant is kind of a retroish homage to pop culture of the past. It was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. I was also happy to see there is a lot more than chicken sausage on the menu, although the non-​chicken items may need a little bit of work. The «steak» on the philly didn’t really have a nice flavor. It came with a generous amount of veggies but, unfortunately the meat flavor/​texture kind of ruined the whole sandwich. The pulled pork sandwich had a really nice flavor but the bread it was served on disintegrated within minutes. The best thing we had was the chicken sausage. It was seasoned nicely and cooked perfectly. The waffle fries were only okay, but the sidewinder fries were crispy and delicious! We’ll definitely be back and I’m hoping we’ll have more hits than misses next time :)

I enjoyed our lunch here. Had a groupon so that made it even better.
Tried the big johns fries, waffle fries covered with queso, their house sauce, jalapenos, onion, and chicken sausage. Wow they were good. It was mac n cheese day when we went so we also tried the queso mac, which was ok, but not stunning. Lunch date had the original sausage dog with house sauce and said it was very good.
On Friday they have half price beer day so a can of cigar city was just a little over $ 2. The place was clean, very clean, and the service was friendly as well.
WIll definitely go back

I’m not sure how I feel about this place. On one hand it provides low-​priced and unique yummies while on the other hand its location may lead to doom for this relatively new restaurant.
HITS AND MISSES FOOD
Why was there Lettuce at the BOTTOM of my Big John’s Fries? Pointless and just withered away before I even noticed they were there. This meal of Waffle Fries, Chicken Sausage, Peppers, Jalapenos, Onions and Spicy Sauce is exactly what you expect– messy fun food that’s a meal itself. All the types of Fries they do are done well with mild seasoning and a good crisp. Their Beer Battered Fries have a great, thick crisp to them and better seasoning than any Steak Fry I’ve tasted– plus it has fun, twisted, swirly shapes.
The Chicken Sausages used in their Hot Dogs are HUGE and juicy but are rather bland so you depend heavily on whatever toppings you add. The Bread is also rather bland but thankfully they don’t use thick buns. I’ve eaten all mine with a fork and knife. Meatballs: The Movie (uses Meatballs instead of Sausage) was bland throughout and boring. Barely any spices. One Crazy Summer was better with its Chili Sauce kicks and crunches from the Onions. If you ‘make your own’ and want it spicy, they can really kick in the hot stuff.
BRING THE FAMILY
With quirky, Chicken-​décor movie posters everywhere and picnic tables, this is a very relaxed place to grab a bite to eat. The staff has mostly been friendly with a few being very stoic (like most teenage workers). My first time there I was mentioning what I wanted from their website’s menu only to find they didn’t sell it anymore – please update your website!
ABOUT THAT LOCATION
I’ve NEVER seen Jimbo’s packed and its emptiness is more obvious because of how much space there is in the parking lot and inside the restaurant. I’m worried all this space can place expensive pressure on a place selling at fast-​food prices.

The food is alright but not spectacular. It’s chicken. After my second visit here I knew I was done. The staff was pleasant and the chicken art was interesting.

I have to admit, that I have passed by this location dozens of times and laughed at the sign. I couldn’t bring myself to go in, but a Creative Loafing deal changed my mind and in we went.
The lady at the counter was kind enough to walk us through the menu, she explained that the chicken sausages were made with dark meat chicken, herbs, spices and jalapeño peppers. We made our selections and sat down.
One of us got the Big Greek, which was topped with feta, onion, cucumber, tzatziki sauce and tomato. It was amazing, messy and dripping of tzatziki sauce, so I was absolutely won over. I got a chicken sausage topped like a Chicago style dog, and it too won me over. The only thing we didn’t overwhelmingly enjoy were the buns. They were dense and kind of dry and crumbled easily, I would like something a little chewier, perhaps with a bit more gluten to hold it together. We disliked the bread enough that we would probably forego the bread altogether next time and maybe opt for a salad.
If chicken sausage isn’t your thing, they also have meatballs and vegan falafel. If you’re not feeling adventurous, they do have hot dogs, but they don’t make those in-​house.
With our meal, we also had side-​winder fries, which were something between a potato wedge and a curly fry and they were delicious, but one odd thing won me over that I didn’t expect and that was their macaroni and cheese. The helping for the side is generous and it’s not too greasy, clearly made with real cheese and absolutely delicious.
We will definitely be back, the location is great, and the prices are decent. Next time I will have to try their hamburger to see how it is, according to the cashier, they grind their meat in-​house, so I’m hoping for a reasonably priced, fresh tasting burger.

As I walked up, I wondered what the food was going to be like since each time I’ve been there, the parking lot is pretty empty. So of course I was a little apprehensive.
Both times I went to Jimbo’s Joint, the service was good and the people that work there are very friendly .They are more than happy to explain the menu items.
I have been twice and the food was much better the second time I went. The first time, the bun was dry and so was the sausage. Later I talked to someone who had been to Jimbo’s and they said the sausage was juicy. So I decided to go back again and give them another try.
This time I used my Groupon, and I purchased the double feature with the chicken meatballs and the Abe Forman with the chicken sausage and a side of collards since the girl that was working there said they were really good. I tried both and this time they were juicy and full of flavor. Also the buns were nice and soft, enjoyable with the sausage. I will say the collards were not good, the stems were still on and they were hard, and the flavor needs work. I ended up throwing them away. So I would skip the greens until they find someone who knows how to cook good greens.
These items have a ton of condiments, which I love but they are hard to hold for the next day so If you’re going and you have a Groupon, bring a friend.

WOW! THANK YOU FOR COMBINING SRIRACHA INTO YOUR DISHES!!!
We came here because we saw them on CLDeals. WE WERE SO GLAD WE DID! This place is awesome.
The food: I ordered the Big John Fries and the Double Feature. BOTH OF WHICH WERE FRICKIN AWESOME! The Big John Fries come with chili, cheese sauce, Sriracha, onions, mustard, jalepenos, sausage, RC7 sauce and romaine. This combo worked perfectly and the thought of it is making my mouth water right now. The dish had a little kick to it but the flavors were balanced. The waffle fries (my favorite type of fry) were crispy and hot and made a great base. When I was ordering this I was kind of confused about the romaine lettuce, but after eating this dish, it makes sense.
The double feature was good. I like the idea that they make the sausage in house and that care is done in doing so. The sausage is good, but what makes the sandwiches is the toppings. The Double Feature came with queso, jalepenos, corn chips and Sriracha. I also put RC7 sauce on it because its good. The problem I found when eating my sandwich was with the roll. It was a standard, large, hotdog roll (not like the roll in the pictures) and was on the stale side. So as I am trying to eat the roll, the roll was falling apart. I switched to a fork and a knife which solved the problem.
A hidden dipping sauce, that really isn’t super hidden, is the Wasabi Honey Mustard. That was a treat! That would be so good on some chicken nuggets.
The theme in here is outstanding. I love the references to all the movies. The décor in here was well planned. The place is super clean which was a big plus.
The tables are picnic tables and are a little short considering I am 6’5″. The service was fast and the food came out hot. The only issue I see with this place it is an hour from my house… Build one in TAMPA PLEASE!!!

YUMMY!
The inside had paper covered picnic tables which gives you a down home feel which was very nice. The staff were super friendly and helpful when ordering to make suggestions on their fav. ways to change items around. I ended up getting the Children of the Corndog and changing the hotdog out for the chicken sausage and I’m so glad that I did! Not only were the portion sizes massive but it was amazing! It came with some spicy carmel sauce. And it was indeed spicy but it was good! I thought I would give there Ginger Peach Sweet Tea a try and I’m so glad I did! It was the perfect blend of sweetness, peach and a dash of ginger.
Keep the chicken sausage coming!

My husband and I stopped in on a Friday with a BOGO offer from Facebook to order out. We tried the Abe Froman, Big John Fries and the Sweet Caroline. All of what we ordered was pretty good. The only change to our order that we made was to the Sweet Caroline. I changed out the chicken sausage for the meatballs, which was just as good as the chicken sausage. It had a sweet, tangy taste to it. Their RC7 sauce is made in house and isn’t bad at all. It has a nice tang to it, as well.
The Abe Froman is pretty much a Chicago dog with a chicken sausage, instead of a Vienna hot dog. It was a nice change of meat. The chicken sausage has bits of jalapeño mixed in. I didn’t feel any heat off of it, so don’t be deterred from trying the regular sausage.
The Big John fries are a wonderful mix of waffle fries, chili, RC7 sauce, jalapeños and a chicken sausage cut up. My husband really enjoyed this mix of flavors. It was enough to fill a full sized to go box.
The atmosphere was really laid back, while the staff was very helpful and informative. We will definitely be back to explore more of the menu. They also serve breakfast all day and are open 24hrs Thursday to Saturday. They also have outdoor seating and seem to be pretty family friendly. We saw some patrons with younger kids getting crayons to color on the table paper with, while they were waiting for their order.