A place to eat Down the Street

COEUR d'ALENE - Home cooking, made from scratch, southern flavors.

That's the holy trinity at Jimmy's Down the Street.

Jim Purtee and his wife, Anna, purchased the storefront breakfast and lunch diner at the east end of Sherman Avenue just over a year ago.

Despite the recession, Purtee says business is booming.

"I think it's because there's a real attraction to any neighborhood restaurant that's friendly, casual, clean and affordable," Purtee said. "Most everyone who comes in knows someone else who they can raise their hand to, and say, 'Hi'"

It's a spot where locals and visitors to the Lake City have dined, in one way or another, for 54 years.

Built as a home in 1922, it first became a diner in 1956, and went through several names and owners. For 19 years before Purtee took over, it operated as just Down the Street, before Jimmy added his name and his personal touch.

"It's not wasting away. We're growing," Purtee said. "I think we're great for East Sherman. We're what can happen on East Sherman, double-digit sales increases."

Purtee credits some of the appeal to the addition of "a few key southern dishes" to the menu like southern-fried catfish and sweet potato pie.

"We serve grits, and fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes have been a tremendous hit," Purtee said.

A woman sitting Thursday at a table by herself with a newspaper and an empty plate leaned over, "Are you Jimmy?"

Purtee nodded.

"I just had your pork chop breakfast," she said. "That was the best pork chop I've ever had."

"We hand-cut them right here," Purtee said.

Pat Martin from Hauser said she stopped in regularly before Purtee's time at the restaurant.

"It was always my favorite place," Martin said. "This is the same, but better. I'll come back again."

It's a dialogue Purtee has grown used to hearing from diners.

Most come in regularly, he said, whether it be every day, once a week or whenever they're driving through the Lake City.

"It's becoming one of those places people include in their trip plans," Purtee said.

Just this morning, a woman from Switzerland stopped in, and asked if she could have a photo taken with Jimmy.

That kind of international notoriety might stem from recent Internet buzz about an August visit to the restaurant by host Guy Fieri and the film crew of the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives."

Purtee said no one at the restaurant contacted the television show or its producers.

He was told that the show had received many unsolicited requests to feature Jimmy's, and those requests came from all over the region, from Moscow to Spokane to Missoula.

The television show featuring Jimmy's is expected to air sometime later this year, and will highlight the restaurant's chicken n' dumplings, fresh-baked pecan rolls and chicken fried steak skillet.

None of this happened by accident, Purtee said.

He credits some of the success to his staff, calling them "the best in the Northwest."

"Jim takes care of us," said Ben McFarland, Jimmy's head line cook. "And we're given some creative freedom. If we put something together, the customers get to try it, and if they like it, it might go on the menu."

It's likely Purtee's years of experience in the restaurant business also have something to do with the restaurant's success.

His first restaurant job was at a McDonald's in 1966. He spent 45 years working in the industry, much of it in the McDonald's corporate system, and for Pepsi Corporation. Purtee also opened and ran several of his own restaurants.

He came out of retirement last year because he wanted something to do, and Jimmy's 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. hours fit well into his life.

The restaurant has been named Best Diner in Idaho by Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living.

"I think Jimmy's is a Coeur d'Alene success story," Purtee said.