Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern

Great location, good food, descent beer list but it’s a chain and you get a little bit of that vibe.
The food is better than average but the price is a little higher too. They’re good, It’s like… Just short of gastropub grade beer and food.
Not sure if that’s what they’re going for but it’s sort of what I was looking for.
I’ll go back for sure.

Ate there last night for the first time. We ordered chicken strips and their homemade chips. The food was fresh (not frozen) and DELICIOUS! The thyme gravy with the strips was so rich and yummy!
Happy hour prices are great! This place is obviously a local favorite.
I highly recommend

Favorite restaurant by far. Amazing food and a great staff here. Every time I come here it’s a pleasant visit. The place isn’t too noisy at all. It actually has a perfect balance of noise. I bring the kids here and they love it.

What can I say but a fabulous restaurant in Dana Point. This place is trendy and right across the street from the Ocean. Not sure how long it’s been open but it’s all new fresh and beautiful. Low lighting which I really loved because it gives it a nice atmosphere.
Our server (Chase) was excellent. Can’t say enough about this young man he was running all over and yet anytime my beer or drink was getting low he was right there to ask if I needed another one. Some of the best service I’ve had in a very long time. They were very busy and yet the food came out quick and is excellent. I will definitely be coming back again to this establishment and hopefully Chase is our server again because he did a fantastic job.
Great menu… appetizers were amazing and the main courses hit you with a big dilemma because everything sounds so good!
Prices aren’t too outrageous for the area and it’s close to all the bars up the street in Dana Point. I’ll be back very soon! CHEERS.

This place sucks! This place should be called Jimmy’s Not-​So-​Famous American Tavern.

This place is a dream come true ! I never wanted to say good bye to my burger! My wife and I were moaning and it was not from the sweet love making ;). Every bite was like a taste of heaven !

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. My flatbread pizza was delicious and my husband’s salmon was great as well.

The Fried Chicken was recommended by our waiter, Rick. FABULOUSLY DELICIOUS!!! Rick is an awesome help! Love everything about this new discovery! We flew in from Houston for our first trip to Dana Point. What a great find in Jimmy’s!!! We will return!!! Also had the Southern Pimiento Cheese & Guac Dip. TO DIE FOR!!!

So the idiot who works at the host stand told me over the phone they were open till 10:00pm and serving food until they closed. We show up at 9:30 and the bartender tell us kitchen is closed. Didn’t even make an effort to accommodate us. Will not be going back terrible people

Atmosphere is great. View is awesome, ocean is right in front of you. Now for the food, I had the cowboy burger. That was awesome!!! Hate using the same word to describe everything but it’s AWESOME! Everything tasted great. My wife also got the fried chicken and that was amazing! I also got the peanut butter beer and that was good also. Overall the food, the waitress, and the ambiance was great!!! A must go and revisit.

This place is a hit or a miss, depending on your luck. They pride themselves on being a high end American food establishment, and the first time I was there they served me a perfect medium rare rib eye. Sooo good. On other occasions (particularly when they’re busy, which I understand) they have over cooked my steak and messed up my order. If this was a grease spoon diner, I wouldn’t care, but at Jimmy’s I am paying for perfection, so I demand it. My advice is to send stuff back if you think it’s over cooked or under cooked.
On the plus side, great atmosphere, wine selection, and location. Good place for a steak.

Trisha was my server and she was so nice and recommend a beer and it was delicious. I ordered the fried chicken and wow best fried chicken ive had in a long time. I would recommend this place to anyone.

Love this place but the hostess is coming down with a cold. So now I’m worried that I just came in contact with patient zero. Besides being injected with the plague I feel everything else was great. The chicken tenders that they only serve during happy hour will make you feel like you’re in a Panama City wanna hump hump bar and your dream girl just walked in and you’re the last man on earth.

When you see a fish on the wall with antlers you know you’ve found the one.
— The interior is amazing
— The servers are amazing
— The food is wonderful.
— The cocktails are great.
— Well managed and great ownership.

Good service and food! Great view towards the water if you sit at the front windows, was really nice during this time of year to see all the lights out.
Used my free app from Unilocal and we enjoyed the cheese dip and chips.

I wish I could give 3.5 to this place. Met a friend here and only had to wait a few minutes for our table. We were seated near a window which had a beautiful view of the Christmas lights lining the street to the harbor.
If you check in on Unilocal you get a free appetizer of a delicious pimento cheese dip and guacamole dip with tortilla chips. It is delicious and a wonderful way to start the meal. After that I decided to get just an entrée, although they do offer ala carte soups and salalds. I got the filet stroganoff. The meat was tender but abit overdone to my liking. The sauce was rich and creamy. However, I was not impressed with the noodles and my dish was only luke warm. My friend ordered the sea bass with roasted brussel sprouts. I liked hers better and would get that next time. We split the seasonal dark cherry cobbler served warmed with ice cream. Now that was delicious and I would recommend.
The service was good, not great as our server was not that attentive. We were never asked if we were happy with our food. However, the food came out quickly, the place is spacious and clean. I would give this place another try!

I’ve been to JFat a million times and have never been disappointed! They have a great coupon on Unilocal!Their dip is delish!
I went there for happy hour and ordered the cheddar fondue, chicken tenders and the Unilocal!Advertised dip along with a few drinks. Our waitress was great. Actually, the service in general was great. We had a little problem with one of our food items but they made it right by taking that item off our bill and giving us a free dessert. They also offered us a JFat gift card. I will definitely be back not only to give the food another shot, but the service was really great and that’s always a pleasure when dining anywhere.

Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern is a wonderful and welcome new addition to Dana Point!
Last weekends ridiculously hot weather had me in Dana Point looking for a place to grab a bite in the Doheny Marnia area and Jimmy’s popped up in the Unilocal app for iPhone. After seeing just a few pictures I knew where to grab lunch and now have a new favorite spot to visit in south county! I had a 20 minute wait for a table (the place was completely slammed) so our party bellied up to an open spot at the spacious bar and ordered up the best Bloody Mary’s in Orange County. You need to stop at Jimmy’s for the Bloody alone, it is really that good and it boasts the perfect amount of heat. Each one comes stock with a shot of absolut peppar, a blue cheese olive, pepperoni, fontina cheese, pepperoncini and the Bloody is flanked by a 6 ounce serving of Ballast Point’s Longfin Lager as a chaser. I cannot think of another Bloody that even comes close to Jimmy’s. Best in class.
The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous, modern and meticulously clean. The concept seems like a mash up of a trendy Gastropub and The Yardhouse less the classic rock. The service was warm and friendly throughout my visit even though the restaurant was busting at the seams. As for the menu, it is monstrous and offers everything from Chicken and Waffles to Prime Rib Benedict (yes, you read that right).
I decided on the Deli Pastrami Reuben which contains a heap of grilled Pastrami, Swiss cheese, Coleslaw, a Russian dressing smear and of course the prerequisite Rye acting as a delivery mechanism. Jimmy’s puts on a righteous Reuben style sandwich. The meat is nice… briny and soft plus the dressing & cheese make an appearance without attempting to steal the show (are you listening Capriotti’s?). The Rye is of notable quality and everything was nothing if not fresh. A good sandwich all around, not breathtaking, but perfectly good.
Now for the disclaimer:
I would be lying if I said I didn’t immediately think to myself «Langer’s #19“as the plate was sat before me and why wouldn’t I? It is a direct reenactment. The direct comparison would be unfairly negative to Jimmy’s (although the associated costs are in the same ballpark) and if you are looking for a sandwich of that magnitude just head north on the 5 and call it a day…
Final words: Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern is most likely my newly crowned favorite spot in Dana Point and although I doubt I would get the Rueben again, my return is imminent. There are far too many incredible choices on that menu to not return just to try and the atmosphere, bar area and that Bloody Mary are each worth a stop in their own right.
Look out for a 5 star update soon.

JFAT happy hour satisfies again. I was happy to see a check-​in offer for a free Souther Pimento Cheese Dip which also came a good amount of fresh Guacamole and thick cut Tortilla chips that looked like they were just fried in the back. The Grilled Santa Fe Ceaser is the bomb and a steal for $ 6 at happy hour. I have to say it’s my favorite salad ever the way they grill the big branches of romaine and then douse it with pepita dressing, corn, avocado, and tomato chunks (see pic). The Charred Brussel Sprouts soaked in maple syrup with bits of bacon are awesome as well (also $ 6 during HH.)
It’s not on happy hour, but the Santa Fe Burger (cooked at a true medium or rarer upon request) is really really yummy. We shared one tonight with the Parmesan Truffle Fries which were interesting, but to be honest not as good as just dipping them in their unique Chipotle Catsup.
The atmosphere is great all around, but I prefer to get one of the outer booths with a view of the harbor to the Southeast.

Jimmy’s is a popular hotspot to the locals! Great place to kick back with drinks and great food. JFAT offers American comfort food in a casual, relaxed setting. Nothing fou fou or even remotely OC snob-​ish.
I’ve had Jimmy’s twice and the food was nothing short of amazing! The first time was during New Years Eve when my boyfriend’s family ordered take out. We literally ordered up the entire menu and I was impressed that they didn’t mess anything up especially with the holiday patrons dining. The food was delicious!
Some stand out menu items include:
–Pear, black fig jam, Gorgonzola&fontina flatbread with prosciutto & arugula. YUM!!! Sweet and savory.
–Tomatoes & Sweet Basil Flatbread with mozzarella, fontina & burratta
–Flatiron steak frites
–Santa Fe Burger
–White Truffle Mac & Cheese: HELL YES.
The second time I visited was on a Saturday around noon. We came in to grab drinks and saw the free Dueling Southern Dips upon check in! (SCORE!!) It is pimento cheese & chunky guacamole with warm corn tortilla chips. Easily 5 stars for the pimento cheese mix. We scraped that plate clean!