Sampling Jeb’s Waffle’s and Ribs

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Posted by Annie in Restaurants on August 26, 2009

Jeb's Waffles and Ribs

Jeb's Waffles and Ribs

At long last the mysteriously elusive Jeb’s Waffle’s and Ribs finally opened it’s doors last Thursday. We have been awaiting this day for years now. From all accounts Jeb’s is off to a rocky start.

One reliable source informed me that they normally have three breakfast cooks — this morning though, they opened with only one. One young man hired just yesterday, didn’t bother to show up for work this morning. The other called in sick. Perhaps the economy isn’t as bad as we thought.

I had stopped in during their interview phase last month, hoping they were finally open, they had an enthusiastic turnout if applicants, with many hopeful prospects. One would think it would be relatively easy to find qualified employee’s in todays market.

When you are collecting unemployment benefits, after working hard, for many years, it’s sort of hard to go back to the daily grind of working every single day. Once those unemployment benefits start to wind down, the full impact of all the recent store closures will hit home with area residents.

New Restaurant Rhythm

After attending the near opening of Gary’s Country Deli, located in Galt, CA several months ago, we swore we’d never do that again.  We made a special trip to the valley and stopped in on their second day of business — it was painful to watch. The right hand just didn’t know what the left was doing — or not doing. It took forever to get our meal (well, just shy of 2 hours) — today was just a repeat.

Club Sandwich

Club Sandwich

It takes a time for a new business to establish routines, set down policies for staff and define job duties. Let’s just say a lot of things get overlooked in the planning stages of any new business. A restaurant is unique because there are so many little details that make up a fine well-tuned team. Working out the rhythm is no simple task. It probably doesn’t help that we showed up at just past Noon on a Tuesday, only their 6th day open.

Delay in Opening Business

Rumors have been flying for years as to why Jeb’s had not opened.  So, I took this opportunity to ask a waitress about the long delay. According to this young lady Jeb’s didn’t have enough parking area for patrons, so the City of Sonora forced them to purchase more land. The auto dealership (who now has a new paved parking lot as well) located next door provided the necessary space that allowed Jeb’s to expand their parking area.

Ordering off the Menu

Shawn claims the turkey club he devoured was one of the best he has ever had. Score one point for the home team. I helped out with the cooked-to-perfection onion rings. If you’ve had onion rings from The Rock Pub and Restaurant, in Twain Harte, and like them, you will enjoy these. They are most likely the very same brand.

Alaskan White Fish Sandwich

Alaskan White Fish Sandwich

I ordered the Alaskan White Fish Sandwich, on a hard, crunchy sub bun that dwarfed the fish in comparison. The fish was lukewarm and very crunchy, not over-cooked crunchy but a very crusty coating, I couldn’t quite make out what it was exactly. I ate the fish, dumped the bun.

Jeb’s colorful nature strewn menu held many options — breakfast is served all day our bubbly drink server happily informed us. The one obvious omission was the absence of appetizers — no mozzarella sticks for me.

 It didn’t take much convincing for Zachary to order breakfast. He said the waffle and sausage were good, and the eggs were lacking bread — a common staple when eating eggs in our home. The menu also mentioned a “cream sauce” that came with their waffles, though the only thing we could see was a lump of butter.

Half-Waffle with Sausage and Egg Over-Medium

Half-Waffle with Sausage and Egg Over-Medium

As for some of the other food; Jeb’s only serves seasoned french fries, mine were rather crunchy and not hot. The cook had forgotten Shawn’s onion rings and as far as I could tell that was the only item served hot to our table.

The portions were fair, the food, of course was fresh. The wait for our food was very lengthy, but it was to be expected at this stage in their development. Picky restaurateurs will want to wait to make visit, until they have all the kinks worked out.

We’ve agreed to try them out again next month and see if we have an improved dining experience. We are always on the lookout for a nice family restaurant to frequent, we haven’t written Jeb’s off just yet. Our family is hoping they can pull their act together.

If you are looking for employment, Jeb’s Waffles and Ribs just might have an opening, stop in for a gander and see.

I invite our readers to stop in and sample Jeb’s menu, then drop us a line and let us know what you ordered and how you enjoyed your meal.

Jeb’s Hill Country Cooking
729 Mono Way
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 588-9633

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Comments (3)

  • Astrid says:

    Hi,
    While we live out of the area, we have a place up there and would love to know the address of this place..thanks!

  • annie says:

    I guess I neglected to share that information. I had trouble finding the listing myself. I finally checked out Yellowpages.com and this is how they are listed:

    Jeb’s Hill Country Cooking
    729 Mono Way
    Sonora, CA 95370

  • annie says:

    True to our word, we gave Jeb’s another try. We stopped in for breakfast Tuesday morning around 10 a.m.

    As luck would have it, we had the same waitress as our first visit – she was bright and chipper, which was refreshing. She remembered us from our last visit and thanked us for coming back to give them another chance.

    My son ordered a western omlet. He didn’t really care for the sauce but said everything else was wonderful. The orange juice he ordered was fresh squeezed with pulp, which he didn’t care for but my husband enjoyed very much.

    I ordered half a waffle, bacon and one biscuit with gravy. The price was right and I managed to finish off everything except for a portion of the waffle, which my son gladly devoured.

    I don’t recall what my husband ordered but he ate the lions share of it and commented afterwards that his breakfast was good — and that’s saying something because he’s not a breakfast person.

    I’m not totally sold on the rest of the menu yet, but I can recommend the breakfast menu without reservation. The service was superb, our meals were hot and the cost of the meal — while not cheap — it was reasonable. Our check for the three of us was $32.00, not including the tip.

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