Fabled diner gets new energy from a local chef
By Ken Magri
Just in time for California’s post-Covid era, Jim Dennys restaurant is back in business, and serving some of the best tasting burgers in town.
Joe Pearcy, a chef who has worked in the local restaurant industry for years, reopened the famous 10-stool diner last Saturday with a simple menu of burgers, fries, sandwiches and frozen-fruit desserts. The well-known grill by the front corner window, that fried so many hash browns and scrambled eggs, is not yet operating. But Pearcy said it will be soon, as he eventually offers a larger menu including soul food items.
“Joe has a two-year lease with a two-year option,” said Tom Naygrow, whose family owns the building at lot at 816 12th Street.
Everyone in Sacramento has at least driven by the location, even if they never went inside. The restaurant has been a downtown fixture since 1940, when it was opened as “Jim Dennys #2” by a lovable prankster named Jim Van Nort.
Van Nort and partner Dennis (Denny) McFall first opened the original Jim Dennys diner on 16th Street in 1934. Six years later, Jim added the 12th Street diner, which survived for 80 years until its most recent operator, Danielle McClure, had to give it up last year after her rent doubled.
Much of the Jim Dennys popularity in the early years sprang from the antics of Van Nort himself, whose unusual personality and sense of humor was witnessed several times by this writer.
Jim was a short-change artist who never actually kept the change, but simply enjoyed practicing the con.
Back in the 1960s, Jim put up a sign by the cash register that read “Free beer tomorrow” and another by the pay phone instructing customers to answer it and take food orders if the waitresses were busy. Those signs stayed up for decades.
If anyone asked for pie a-la-mode, Jim would hand them the pie on a plate and then toss the ice cream scoop in the air, yelling “think quick!”
During certain hours, Van Nort would let his favorite customers sit at a small counter back in the kitchen, which he named “the Sky Room” because its window looked out onto Terminal Way. But if plates started piling up in the sink, a waitress would toss the customers a towel while hurrying by and say, “How about helping with the dishes, hon?”
After hearing customers tell a few Van Nort stories at last Saturday’s re-opening, Pearcy said, “We’ll have to try some of that.”
The Art Deco building, with its red-on-white color scheme, has been designated as a historical landmark for Sacramento. But long-time Jim Dennys patrons who walk back inside will notice what’s missing.
The milk machine with its giant Elsie the cow decal is gone. So are the many framed newspaper articles, all yellowed from age, that retold the Jim Dennys story to new generations.
But the grimy wood paneling, the uncomfortable stools and worn-down countertop are all still there.
“Yeah, we can’t change anything,” said Pearcy, as he pointed to an outline of the famous pay phone (now gone) at the end of the counter. “We can’t touch these countertops, can’t touch the floor,” Pearcy said.
Who would want to? Most of the loyal Jim Dennys customers also came for the experience of a ten-stool diner and a classic slice of Americana. Even though Van Nort has been gone since the 1990s, that warm feeling of an earlier Sacramento, which is historic for some but highly nostalgic for others, still radiates from inside the walls of Jim Dennys.
Jim was my grandfather and I absolutely am delighted to hear that Jim-Denny’s is back. I came to Sacramento last year to have one last meal but the previous owner had closed early. I’ll be back soon. On a side note, I have Jim’s old Harley Davidson that Antonio Magri customized for him in the 50’s. Seeing the pic with them together made me melt. Furthermore, this article would have made my dad so proud to read. I wish this was published just 6 weeks earlier and he could have read it. Thank you for keeping the spirit of Jim-Denny’s alive.
My mother worked at Jim and Denny’s from 1943 until the
mid 80’s. It was almost 3 years before she met Jim because
he was fighting Europe( Battle of the bulge). I’m 83 years old
Most of my life. He was my sponsor for my first communion.
He was married to a beautiful lady Named Helen, son jimmy and and a daughter name Lory. I loved Jim!
riding my harley thete in morn….
Glad to see Jim Denny’s Back it’s a great place to be
I’m just excited to see the Famous Historical Diner back in Business ❤️ can’t wait😊
My Dad was a friend of Jims. During the mid ’50’s My Dad would often popped in with one of two of his ‘girls’ for a visit with Jim. we would have chili and ice cream in the “Sky Room”. Yes, I have been eating at Jim Dennys since I was FIVE. I did eat there a day or two before final closing day. I am SOO tickled that Joe Pearcy has Re-Opened!!! When our temps are below 90 I will be THERE!!
Great place to eat, if I came in and all the stools taken, then I would stand behind one of the stools and wait for the person to finish eating , then when they are done , then I sit down. Chili great, hamburgers, dogs, pancakes, Jim would flipped the burgers, I asked Jim is my Hamburger really a dime? 10 cents was the price on the wall!
I grew up in Sacramento during the 1950’s and 1960’s but never heard of Jim Denny … I now live elsewhere in the Northwest but still feel the draw of “home” from time to time. Next time Iam down for a visit, will try and drop in for a burger. Always looking for things from my time in Sacramento which has changed so much since I left in the early 1970’s.
I got breakfast and coffee there almost every morning when I worked @ the Trailways terminal next door, Jim and his staff were the best, and the food was great and reasonably priced. I’ll head that way next time I’m in Sac and get a burger.
I lived in Sac back in the early-mid 90’s and on occasion would make a point of stopping in to J Dennys for a burger. in this world of massive restaurant chains and fast food, this place always brought back memories of how much more unique dining experiences were many years ago. Every place was just a little different. Glad to see them back up and running!
I can hardly wait. We are anticipating the great tasting food and the live music. I would love to work there as a Hostess.
Yes, my mother Eleanor and my two Aunts worked for Jim for twenty plus years, I used to walk across 12th street across from Jim Dennys and sit on the Harley’s back then. Mom was the cook and Aunt Jane and Aunt Shirley was waitresses. Man, I sure wish I could go back to them days when life was so simple. I washed a lot of dishes there and peeled a lot of potatoes for their fresh potato salad best in town. Helen and Jim were amazing people. Best one-pound burgers in town. So many great memories of downtown Jim Dennys back then. I can remember as kids we would ride our bikes down there and have lunch then ride through the capitol grounds then into oldtown.
Love to see and read of Jim Denny’s. My dad was the DENNY, and I remeber sitting in the “Stand” which was the nickname for Jim-Denny’s in Salt lake. Sometimes my mother would take me to work with her at the location down by the ballpark in Salt Lake where I could eat french fries while I waited for her to finish work and take me home. Jim used to always come visit whenever he was in Salt Lake, and I remember when he came “home from the war” and came over to the house to visit.He ws always a great guy.