Jimmy's Big Burgers: Big Burgers in Big D

Restaurant: Jimmy's Big Burgers
3611 14th Street, Plano, Texas 75074
Buffet or a-la-carte: A-la-carte
Date of visit: 12/24/13

Outside. Photo Credit: Me

Background:
Salam/hey guys! This is probably my final review of a restaurant in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Currently the status is that we are going back to Houston tomorrow evening. I will definitely review more restaurants whenever I visit again. So the final stop in this city is Jimmy's Big Burgers. While the other two were in Richardson, this particular restaurant was in Plano, and it has another one on Independece Avenue west of US 75. After delays since arriving in Dallas, I finally had some quality guy time with my uncle. All we needed is a restaurant to go with our Audi that we had. So I decided to go to this restaurant. I remember someone actually recommending me this restaurant, saying that it was as good as Olive Burger in Richardson. So, after a few stops in Allen for some work, and a bullet ride on US 75, we arrived at the restaurant.



Let The Experience Begin!
Jimmy's Big Burgers is located at the intersection of 14th Street and Shiloh behind the gas station. This resembles the restaurants that are located at gas stations on major interstates. While most of them serve country food or Texas cuisine, this one serves burgers and sandwiches. Inside, there were two TVs, a bunch of tables, a place where you get your condiments and cutlery, and the cashier. We confirmed the halal status of the restaurant and after reading the menu, my uncle and I proceeded to order.



Let's Eat!
My uncle ordered the Philly chicken sandwich. Philly chicken is exactly like the Philly cheesesteak, but instead of beef, it has chicken. To drink, he got a glass of Coke. I initially wanted to order the Double Jungle Burger, but after I heard you could customize the burger, I ordered the same thing with an extra patty. Altogether, the burger consisted of three patties, sauteed onions, mushrooms, jalapenos, bell peppers, bacon, American and Provolone cheese, mayo, ketchup, Hickory BBQ sauce, Mustard, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Pickles. This definitely has the most components that I have ever seen in a burger! It even has more components than the loaded double burger from M&M back in Houston! To add to that behemoth, I got a side of seasoned curly fries and a glass of water. we paid around $20 (tax included). The waiting time for everything was only 7 minutes and 25 seconds! This is great considering how big the burger was.



Menu (click to enlarge):

Burgers

Sandwiches

Appetizers, sides, quesadillas, drinks, salads, desserts, and kids menu
 

Like Olive Burger, all the burgers cost less than $10. However, making a combo is 25 cents cheaper here than it is at Olive Burger. There are far more choices of food  here than there are at Olive. Most importantly, while Olive Burger uses both pork and turkey/beef bacon, Jimmy's does not use any pork products in their menu, which gives it a huge advantage in both business and customer loyalty. Otherwise, it is like a halal version of Fuddruckers.

Philly Chicken

Triple Jungle Burger with Curly Fries

The Verdict:

Judging by the looks, one may say that the burger is overdone and that it was very dry. The reality: it was awesome! Honestly, the taste was as good as Olive Burger. "Why does it look black?" one may ask. Well, the answer to that is the hickory BBQ sauce, and the turkey bacon. The patties were cooked to perfection, with the slight pink indicating that it was medium-well. The burger was so big that it was not able for all of it to fit in my mouth. I needed a knife and fork to eat through the behemoth burger. When I actually finished the burger, both my uncle and the server were surprised at how I was able to finish it without belching or giving up! I guess my appetite comes from the days back in Saudi Arabia, where I would make it a priority to eat something whenever my family would go out, and it would turn out to be the biggest shawarma or cheesebread available. The curly fries were seasoned perfectly. It felt great to eat curly fries again, as they are only found in non-Zabihah restaurants back in Houston. I managed to take a bite out of the Philly Chicken, and it also tasted great! It reminded me of the wonderful Philly chicken I had a long time ago at Busy Boy when I was still in middle school. My uncle said himself that the food was alright. All the food was washed down by a nice glass of water. Overall, two thumbs up.

The service was great too. The gentleman that helped us was very nice! I was having trouble taking pictures of the menu that was displayed on the wall, but he told me that there are menus on the side. This is critical as people in the past have gotten into trouble with restaurant employees and even owners for snapping pictures of their food or menus. While ordering the food, we had a nice chat about how we heard of the restaurant and he told me that there was once a person who ate a 6 patty burger, and would ask me whether I could take a shot at it. Yes I'm a guy with an appetite, but I have my limits :P But nevertheless, the whole conversation was lighthearted, and he made us feel welcome in the restaurant.

Conclusion:

So the big question: Olive Burger or Jimmy's Big Burgers. This is a particularly tough one. The last sort of comparison I did was with the three biryani-centered restaurants back in Houston. Also, that comparison was definitely a no-brainer for me. But this one is different. Taste wise, they were the same: fresh, and awesome tasting. They both were not overpriced, and they had combo deals. After thinking it over, I decided that it's gonna be a tie. Regarding pork being served in a restaurant, like Olive Burger, as long as you tell them to put the beef/turkey bacon, you should be fine. For those who believe that there is a slight chance of cross contamination: it is best that you trust the restaurant people, hoping that they would not cross contaminate the meat. If they do anything wrong, then THEY would be answerable to God for the actions that they did without the customer even knowing. The customer, on the other hand, will be forgiven by God, and it would be a nice reminder to avoid ordering bacon with their meat at that specific restaurant. Another, much simpler thing to do is to NOT ORDER BACON AT ALL. It's not rocket science. If there is anything on the menu that states that bacon is part of the dish, JUST FREAKING TELL THEM NOT TO PUT IT ON! This also applies at any halal restaurant if you feel skeptical about whether they use pork bacon or turkey bacon. All halal restaurants that serve pork bacon actually cook it separately from the other meats, while turkey/beef bacon is cooked with the halal meat. Whether the cooks are Muslim or not, it is well known that Muslims cannon eat anything pork related or pork byproducts, so they actually cook separately. I have actually seen a cook make a really delicious halal dish for me separately from the other meats. Whenever I visit Stanton's City Bites back in Houston, I tell them to not put bacon, and they actually listen! They themselves are aware of not putting bacon in the burgers, or even cooking it with the burgers when told not to because it is an extremely popular restaurant with young Muslims, and if cross contamination was there, they would lose a lot of business. Also, the people running it are non-Muslim! Even zabihah.com, the most popular halal food search engine in the world, explicitly states that "a vast majority" of people "are comfortable with this as long as there is a halal food option for them when dining out". So, take a chill pill, go out, and eat some good food!

Source from zabihah.com: http://www.zabihah.com/cf.php

Grading:

Service: 10/10

Food: 10/10

Waiting Time: 10/10

Overall: 30/30 = 100 % (A)
Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Jimmy's Big Burgers
3611 14th Street, Plano, Texas 75074
Phone: (972) 423-2611
Website: http://jimmysburger.com/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimmysBigBurgersEastWestPlano
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimmysBurgerTX (Or follow them @JimmysBurgerTX)
Timings: Mon-Sun: 10 AM - 10 PM
Caters: Yes
Delivery available

Feel free to comment below!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed