Jess & Jim's lunch menu

 Jess & Jim's, the legendary and venerable steakhouse in Martin City has the cheapest lunch menu in all of KC metro for steaks and burgers. Every day of the week there is a lunch-sized steak special, either a filet or a KC Strip for either 11.95 or 10.95 respectively, and every day the hamburger/cheeseburger, which is a ridiculously huge 12 oz., fresh grilled patty. That's 3/4 lb. for the math challenged. I ordered today the bacon cheeseburger, with hand cut french fries for $6.25!! Where most places add 75¢ or $1 for bacon, the bacon cheeseburger is only 25¢ more than the plain cheeseburger without bacon, and while my arteries didn't need it, I couldn't resist adding what ended up being the 4 strips of thick-cut bacon melted under the cheese for the cost of a gumball. The hand-cut french fries come in a full separate basket, and the 3/4 lb. cheeseburger with all the trimmings filled a normal sized plate. I'd be sick into the weekend if I ate the whole thing, so as soon as it landed on the table I immediately cut it in half and brought the other half home for my voracious 17-year old, along with most of the fries. The sodas are a little pricey at $2, but they're bottomless, the waitresses kept filling it up at every turn. So all in all with tip it was still about $10, at least $3 less than almost any other good bar/grill burger anywhere else in town. Not sure how long they can keep those lunch prices with gas at $3.60/gallon, but get it while the gettin's good. 

A few side thoughts: 1) The steaks and burgers at Jess & Jim's are grilled on a flat griddle, not a charcoal or gas grill with typical grill marks, but they must use the "griddle" at a high temperature which still sears the outside and there's tons of beefy flavor. 2)One of my frugal cooking tips: when you get a TON of fries that you can't possibly eat, always take them home and throw them in a ziploc bag in the freezer, and refry them in hot oil for only a few seconds, just like Ore Idas. It's like free food. 3) Jess & Jim's offers free wireless internet access, as more and more but not enough places are doing, which allows the business lunchers to linger and do some business over a long business lunch, as I do. This 70-year old restaurant is up-to-date and doing everything right, at ridiculously cheap prices.