On the street again
Jimmy Purtee and his wife, Anna, are returning owners for Jimmy’s Down the Street, the breakfast and lunch diner at the east end of Sherman Avenue. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
LOREN BENOIT/Press Jimmy Purtee and his wife, Anna, took over Jimmy’s Down the Street in 2009 and added their personal touch to the Sherman Avenue eatery.
COEUR d’ALENE — Jimmy has come home.
Jimmy’s Down the Street, the breakfast and lunch diner at the east end of Sherman Avenue, returns to its namesake’s hands tomorrow morning, when former owner Jim Purtee comes out of retirement and gets back in the kitchen.
Built as a home in 1922, the place first became a diner in 1956.
Before Purtee and his wife, Anna, took over and added their personal touch in 2009, it was simply called Down the Street.
Purtee compared the diner to an old sweater — comfortable and familiar.
“You just walk in and put it on,” he said.
That friendly atmosphere is a big part of what brings people back, he said.
“You can holler at someone you know across the dining room,” he said. “People walk in, and if they know one another, they’ll share a table. It’s that type of environment.”
The other big draw? Naturally, it’s the food — mostly Southern fare, reminiscent of Purtee’s childhood in Georgia and Alabama.
“We’re used to really down-home cooking,” he said. “You bring with you through your life those memories of good food. I wanted to share that.”
Share it he has, with a bigger audience than he originally imagined. In 2011, Jimmy’s Down the Street was featured on an episode of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.” Host Guy Fieri highlighted the chicken and dumplings, pecan rolls and chicken fried steak skillet — old family recipes that Purtee brought with him to Coeur d’Alene.
After the episode aired, Purtee said, the diner was flooded with calls from as far away as Florida and England. Canadian visitors drove for up to six hours just to taste the food they’d seen on TV.
Purtee, who has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 50 years, sold the diner in 2012. Since then, he’s served on the Coeur d’Alene School District board and even filled in as a substitute teacher at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy.
He’s coming out of retirement to get back to his passion — and back to the friends and customers he’s met along the way.
“He’s a people person,” said Anna, Purtee’s wife. “He misses that part.”
It’s going to be a family affair. Anna put in her notice at North Idaho CASA, where she previously worked as an advocate, so she can help at the diner. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter, Maria, will also work at Jimmy’s and learn the ropes of the restaurant business.
“We’re a quintessential American family,” Purtee said.
Purtee said he plans to remodel the restaurant to maintain a classic diner atmosphere. The homecooked food that regulars have come to love will stay the same, from meatloaf to fresh-baked pies.
He said he wants Jimmy’s Down the Street to remain an integral part of east Sherman.
“We’re at Jimmy’s to stay,” he said.