Jerry’s Cafe: 1209 West 103rd St.

 Posted by at 2:24 am
Feb 242011
 

I consider it a personal failure never to have visited Jasper’s or its lowbrow sister, Marco Polo down at 103rd and State Line road. This is a part of town with a number of nearby office buildings, medical facilities and a major metropolitan highway. Yet lunch options are a little thinner than one would expect. Certainly Marco Polo, Gates, Fritz’s Sausage and Guadalajara come to mind, but little else beside chains and a few nondescript sports grills and Chinese places serve to sate the presumed hordes of corporate lunchers.

So I set my sites on lunch at Marco Polo, but was quickly distracted by a sign for Jerry’s Cafe virtually next door. My lunch plans quickly changed.

Exterior

Charles Ferruzza wrote a piece for the Pitch back in November about this plain little diner owned by the former proprietor of the Woodswether Cafe, a seriously interesting joint with great diner food. It had almost slipped my mind, despite being thrilled that Jerry had found another culinary outlet.

The dining area is small, plain and pretty boring except for a stupefying Pulp Fiction-themed mural along one wall which depicts Jules and Vincent holding a burger and fries, respectively. It’s been long enough since I’ve seen the film that I can’t recall of this is a reference to a specific scene or just a curious general homage.

Interior

Two signboards rest in the front window advertising daily specials. The specials were identical on each of my visits so I suspect they are more or less permanent options.

Specials

As you can see, prices are pretty reasonable, especially considering the size of the portions. I ate a reuben ($6.99) that was so a large and sloppy that I had a hard time finishing it. I did eat it all, ultimately, instead opting to leave quite a few fries on my plate. While hand cut and freshly fried they were entirely too waxy, dense and limp for my tastes. I suspect they were not fried twice, which can be fine as my friends at the Snak Shack tell me, but it requires a specific cooking method. At any rate, the fries at Jerry’s were disappointing.

Frozen fries are so prevalent because good, hand-cut french fries are not easy to prepare. As more and more restaurants serve the real deal we are bound to encounter some less than stellar versions of the glorious fried potato.

Reuben and fries

On my next visit I ordered onion rings which were great, although I couldn’t tell if they were hand-dipped or not. Jerry uses the cracker-style coating which I normally don’t prefer but these were tasty rings.

Oh did I mention I had a Chicago style hot dog? Hell yeah, it’s damn near authentic and may be the best one in town. Someone tell KC Napkins guy!

Chicago dog

This dog is no shrinking violet, it’s of sufficient size to make you blush, extending an inch or so from either end of the bun. It’s an all beef Vienna dog with most of the requisite toppings: neon green relish, tomato slices, sport peppers, onions and mustard. The only thing missing was the celery salt which I often forego anyway.

Chicago dog

Before my dog came out, Jerry visited my table to make sure I knew how hot the sport peppers were. Yes, I know, I assured him. Later as I was eating, he came back out to make sure I was doing ok with the sport peppers and all. I take it he gets a lot of diners who don’t like spicy food. At any rate, Jerry seemed like a nice guy and the hot dog was awesome — worth every penny of the $3.99 it set me back.

While Ferruzza had some mild complaints about the service and the table set-up, I experienced no such foibles. My servers were all very quick to the table and quick to deliver the check. Refills came without prompting. They do use flimsy napkins which is silly considering how sloppy the food can be. Make sure you get some extra ones for your meal. Also the kitchen is fast enough that you could get out of there in a half hour if you time it right.

In summary, get yourself to Jerry’s for breakfast or lunch. The joint is open Tuesday – Sunday until 3pm. No dinner here. The food is miles beyond what you will get at your average diner anywhere in the KC metro. Ignore the strip mall and enjoy your meal.

Jerry’s Cafe
1209 W. 103rd (at State Line, southeast corner)
Tues-Sunday: 6am-3pm

Jerry's Cafe on Urbanspoon

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  12 Responses to “Jerry’s Cafe: 1209 West 103rd St.”

  1. Big Kahuna Burger is "A Tasty Burger".

    I used to walk down to George's Greek when it was in that spot and I lived in MO.

    The in-laws have been to Jerry's a few times with mixed reviews.

  2. Pancake is hubcap sized.

  3. Thanks for the reference. From the looks of it, that should be a tasty Chi Dog. The tomatoes are unexpectedly ripe-looking for this time of year. Question – was there any mustard on it? Can't see any. That's a crucial part. Yellow mustard.

  4. Yep, there was yellow mustard on the bun under the dog.

  5. "Jerry seemed like a nice guy and the hot dog was awesome" So dirty DLC.

    Don't call Coach's a nondescript sports bar. Coach's has great burgers well worth a try, especially the blue cheese burger with bacon.

  6. Bull I had no idea about Coach's, duly noted.

  7. I work pretty close, so I will be checking this Reuben, as it looks good.
    Thanks DLC!

  8. I should have mentioned that, like Woodswether, this is a pastrami reuben, not corned beef. I love pastrami so it wasn't a big deal for me but not everyone is a fan.

  9. Went there today. The Reuben is bada$$. Check the specials, cause the Reuben was not on special and the fries would have cost another 2.99. I opted for just the sandwich and drink, and with tip got out of there for 11 and a half bucks. But it was enough food.

    Check the specials, cause with the fries and drink, you will be stuffed.

  10. I was disappointed in the Reuben at Jerry's. The slices of meat were really thin, like it was store bought, not thick and juicy like the original at Woodswether. But the server assured me that they make their corned beef in house.

  11. It took me a year but I finally made it to this place today and I was not disappointed. We got there for lunch at 11:30 and got the last table in the place. The food portions were HUGE! We both ordered the hot beef sandwich and that came with a salad and additional side all for $6.99. Food was great. Can’t wait to try more things there. Still can’t believe how packed it was.

  12. This mural could have two separate references in the movie and I guess this would depend on who painted and why they wanted it, besides the obvious of Pulp Fiction being a great film. There is two conversations in the movie (that I remember) that deal with burgers. The first with Big Kahuna Burger and the second dealing with what they call a quarter pounder w/ cheese a Royale w/ cheese in France.