[ Editor's note: when we saw that our friend Craig had hit Kim's several times in its first week open, we asked him to guest blog in order to let us know what to expect. As an fan of the old Kim's, we knew he had a good feel for it. ]
The first iteration of Kim’s Diner was, ironically, both kept in business and closed down because it was a dirty old restaurant. The interior was dark with a water-stained drop ceiling. The bathroom smelled like mothballs, and though I never knew the amazing waitresses by name, it would not have shocked me one bit if one of them were a Flo. There was always a vague sense of danger in eating there, like being in a Dennis LeHane mystery, and that’s why generations of Wacoans (including me) loved it.
It’s also why the Health Department shut it down.
The Second Coming of Kim’s could not be more different. Billed as a “50’s Diner,” it is clean and feels a little like a new car. In fact, it’s a bit too clean. And it could more adequately be described as a “50’s Museum Diner,” as it seems they tried just a bit too hard. Had they stuck with the red and white checkerboard floor, the juke box and vintage restaurant furniture, it would have been perfect. Instead, they went all out with Looney Toons images, Elvis, classic cars, and Betty Boop salt and pepper shakers—none of which would have likely been found in an actual 1950’s Diner. But it is Kim’s, and the preservation of the outside sign is enough to make me forget those transgressions.
I’ve dined there three times since they opened earlier this month. The first two time I went for breakfast: pancakes and sausage for the first one; eggs, sausage and hashbrowns for the second. It wasn’t crowded. I was waited on eagerly and competently, and it felt like the “old Kim’s” experience. I miss my regular home fries with grilled onions, but aside from that the breakfast food was good.
My dinner — sliced brisket, beans and potato salad — was also good, with the exception of the potato salad, which was clearly out of a bucket and probably made somewhere hundreds of miles away, not to mention that it came in too large a bowl. The brisket was significantly above adequate, quite a bit below “real good.” It’s no Tony D’s or Rudy’s, but beats any number of other local BBQ joints.
The dinner experience, though, showed that the staff is still trying to find its rhythm.
I had about an hour and fifteen minutes to give, so I chanced it, even though it was crowded. I sat at the bar and overheard one of the employees (I couldn’t tell if he was the manager, a server, or just someone who wandered behind the counter) tell a customer that they were going to serve banana pudding, but their suppliers’ opinion of what constituted banana pudding was inadequate, so they scrapped it.
The 55 minutes from when I ordered to when I got my food was a comedy of errors.
Too many customers, not enough waitresses. That happens (though usually not during week 1) and is understandable. But the solution is not to have customers seating themselves, creating a situation where everyone in the restaurant is seated at the same time. Which means they are also going to order at about the same time, creating what I could see looking from the bar into the kitchen — 20-25 orders in front of a cook looking at them like a deer in the headlights. I wanted to yell at him, “Hey, you! Just look at the first one, the one on your far left. Do that one, get it out of the way, then do the next one.”
Kim’s is such an institution that most of the folks in our town will probably give them a grace period. But the owners should know that it will be a limited grace period. During that time they need to hire a dinner hostess, a kitchen manager, and by all means, someone whose idea of banana pudding and potato salad doesn’t include breaking the seal and scooping product out of a bucket.
In the meantime, enjoy it for what it is: a great place to eat breakfast.
