Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse

I came across Jimmy Mac's almost accidentally on a recent family trip to Seattle. Because it was a family trip and we had a bunch of kids with us, we ended up staying in Renton. Nice surprise. I come from So. Cal. where there's more than enough "theme" chains to go around. Jimmy Mac's wasn't anything like those. It's a very informal place to get grub (yes, throw your peanut shells on the floor). Great for adults and kids.

The food is outstanding. The crayfish chowder requires a special mention. I'm a clam chowder freak and that's pretty much all I eat when I'm up in the Pacific Northwest. Jimmy Mac's crayfish chowder is a nice change of pace. I could live off of that stuff. It's a creamy concoction of cream, potatoes and succulent pieces of crawdad meat. The perfect thing for a cold rainy day in Seattle.

It's a Texas Style Roadhouse - which typically means "not a BBQ joint" - glad that's cleared up.
The steaks are fantastic, the burgers are delictable and everything else is just dern good! I judge a good steak place by the number of times I've gone back... I lost count. Jimmy Mac's stands far out in front of places like the "Outback". Great fun here for the kids too - be sure to grab your bowl of peanuts when you walk in and have a good time tossing the shells to the floor and crunching them up under foot.

Ive eaten at this restaurant several times for lunch, and only once for dinner. I can only speak on behalf of the burgers, and not the other food. The best part about coming here is the warm yeast rolls with honey butter and the peanuts. The burgers are good and served on hubcaps, the fries are okay but you can substitute any of the other sides for the fries (such as the crawfish chowder which is good). Id recommend splitting a burger with a friend (they are half pound burgers), so you can eat more rolls and peanuts. The service has always been good. The prices are on the high side, but splitting a burger makes it a good value. The ambience is okay, but the country music can be too loud for normal conversations and there are too many random decorations on the walls. At lunctime there are few shells on the floor. All in all its one of my lunch time favorites.

I just moved to Seattle from Kentucky, and the second I walked in Jimmy Mac's I wanted to laugh. I haven't been able to find one good bar-b-que place since I have been here, and Jimmy Mac's certainly didn't change that for me. I think they try a little too hard to fit the stereotypical "country bar-b-que" restaurant. Nothing I ordered tasted very good, and the service wasn't great. The overwhelming amount of peanut shells on the floor is just covering up the fact Jimmy Mac's lacks the necessary elements of a great southern restaurant.

A place called Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse, which is littered with peanut shells that have been thrown about, is supposed to have loud country music so I didn't hold that against them. We were a large post-football game party who ate well and drank well - you get your wooden bowl of peanuts at the door. They closed a little early than I would have liked but I had to remind myself that I wasn't in the city and we were the only table left when they started putting chairs up. Steak and wings were good. Salad could have been better. Drinks were mixed on the strong side and the service was okay. I will likely go back.