ALONG COMES MARY

Sometimes, you just have to sit back and remind yourself how lucky you are if you live in California. Our Spring has been absolutely gorgeous with flowers blooming, warm weather and plenty of sunshine. Its a regular round of “Zip A Dee Doo Dah” in Los Angeles…..

On one of these recent, gorgeous days, I was able to catch up with my friend, Jennifer from Real Mom of SFV. She invited me along to check out the grub and wines on tap at Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern at Westfield Topanga’s promenade, The Village.

Upon entering Jimmy’s, I was struck with how open and air-y the space was. Plenty of room,  patio and indoor dining, with a wide bar in the center, I knew this was my kind of place to get lunch and try  one of their wines on tap.

Despite it was just the 2 of us, most booths are wide and can easily sit up to 6 people. I decided to try their ’13 Simi Wines Sauvignon Blanc and it was the most refreshing, floral white I’ve had in a while. The nose on my glass when I first smelled was all PEARS!  Being one of my favorite fruits, I knew I was going to love it. While it would have been easy to enjoy this glass and keep ordering refills, I lingered with it and it paired perfectly with my dish.

The starters at Jimmy’s are enough to fill you up; from dips to calamari, they have several to choose from and have something for whatever you’re craving. Jen and I decided on their parmesan garlic fries. I am a huge fan of thick French fries, these were thin which I felt made it a bit more difficult to enjoy the array of cheese and spices on top of them. We paired them with their famous Chipotle sauce that has a BBQ sauce “punch” to it that we all know I love; not too spicy, either.

For our main courses, Jen was all about their JFAT Combo, which is a pretty great lunch that can easily be split into 2 meals; choosing their corn chowder or chili, tuna melt, American grilled cheese (with avocado and tomato) or the JFAT pastrami reuben and a side green salad and potato chips, Jen opted for the tuna melt and chowder, it looked like the perfect comfort food….

Me, on the other hand, was set to try their Grilled Apricot Chile Glazed Salmon Salad, until I saw their Red Snapper entree with a creole sauce boasting grilled, fresh shrimp on top. It was easily one of the best  sauces I’ve had yet on a seafood platter. My sides were rich, creamy mashed potatoes and green beans. I felt like I had left SoCal for the South! The snapper paired expertly well with my Sauvignon Blanc and I think I have a new favorite white fish.

While Jen had heard a must-try is their ‘Bananageddeon’ dessert specialty, with fresh bananas, vanilla bean pastry cream, pecan blondie crumbles, butter pecan ice cream, salty rum-caramel sauce, candied pecans and whipped cream….we knew we’d had enough of a good thing and opted to rain check on that mouth-watering dish!

JImmy’s Famous American Tavern has locations throughout  SoCal ranging from Dana Point, Brea and, of course, my new favorite in Woodland Hills. They are also a great choice for weekend brunch and happy hour! Learn more HERE and hope to see you there soon. xo

(*Disclosure: I was a guest of Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, thanks to Jennifer. All opinions are my own.)