Jimmy Madison's impresses on opening day
Kirsten Parmer; Columnist
You never, ever review a restaurant on opening day. And if you're really kind, you wait a few months until they've smoothed out the rough edges. But when experienced restaurateurs open a meticulously planned space, you shouldn't notice much of a difference between day one and a year from now. That's what happened this week at Jimmy Madison's Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar on their first day of business. I'm not going to call this a review, but how about a "first look"?
Jimmy Madison's is owned by Jeff Ramsey and Steve Kiracofe, the duo responsible for Byers Street Bistro and Sauced in Staunton and The Palms in Lexington. Located in Harrisonburg in the former Dave's Taverna space, Jimmy Madison's keeps much of the same architectural features — two levels with a balcony open to below, bar and stage areas, exposed brick, spiral staircase — but has warmed it up with great lighting (including whiskey bottle pendants), booths, fun artwork, great music and a new color scheme. It feels familiar but new at the same time. Gone is the rooftop taratsa, though. It's a huge restaurant to fill up as is and right now, taking over that space isn't on the table.
You can tell when you walk it that this will be a popular place for a diverse demographic. Sophisticated whiskey drinkers will come for the premium selection, families will come for a menu with broad appeal. It's classy enough for date night, fun enough for an evening with friends, and cool enough for college kids with live music and a great downtown location.
The menu is chock full of fantastic Southern fare and so much of it, it makes choosing difficult. For example, you'll find pimento cheese and fried green tomatoes on the appetizer menu, on a burger, and in a BLT. There are yummy starters like roasted corn and bacon hush puppies, sweet potato poutine, and smoked bourbon wings. Salads are topped with fried chicken, black eyed peas and corn relish or grilled shrimp, Granny Smith apple, and candied pecans. The sandwich list offers pork shoulder tacos with bourbon barbecue drizzle, a mahimahi club on toasted jalapeno cornbread, and a turkey Reuben with sweet pickle Thousand Island. The Jimmy's Burger has bacon marmalade and a fried egg. And that's just a sampling of what you can get at lunch.
After 5 p.m., you can dive into the entrée list. Bacon-scallion johnnycake with hickory-smoked pork shoulder and peach-bourbon drizzle. Buttermilk fried chicken on bacon and sage waffles, shrimp and smoked gouda grit cakes, sweet tea-brined pork chops, scallops and country ham hoppin john, mac and cheese with blue crab, filet mignon with Gorgonzola brulee.
There are a variety of sides including delicious roasted Brussels sprouts that are sweet and crispy and even available with sandwiches. Items are marked gluten free and vegetarian when applicable. And for dessert there is the option of chocolate peanut butter mousse pie, peach crumble or a lemon-blueberry parfait.
I went with three friends and we ended up having a two-and-a-half hour lunch, partially because we took a long time drooling over the menu and partially because we decided after appetizers and sandwiches that dessert would be a round of whiskey to sip (Four Roses Small Batch, Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye, Jack Daniels Single Barrel, and 1792 Ridgemont Reserve 15 Year) and peach crumble to share, which — I might add — makes for a fabulous combination.
The staff and service were fantastic, the food excellent, and the operation polished and running smoothly. Jimmy Madison's already has it right. Grab some friends and go check it out.
— Kirsten Parmer is the owner of Taste. A Food Company — a small business dedicated to all things food. Email her at kirsten@
tastefoodcompany.com.
Jimmy Madison's Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar
121 S. Main St., Harrisonburg
www.jimmymadisons.com