Jake’s offers homestyle cooking

We arrived at Jake’s for a late lunch at 2001 Padre Boulevard on South Padre Island. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and a mesmerizing view of the traffic going by.  You’re immediately faced with the choice of where you want to sit and there are many options.  Not only do you have the usual tables or booths, but there are also seats at the bar and the raised counter tops with stools around the edges. In nice weather, there’s a covered patio with hanging plants in front.

We started out perusing the appetizers which range from $4.95 for nachos or chips to Market Price for the raw oysters. Jake’s has added some interesting new appetizers as well, starting at $5.95 for spicy pickle fries to $9.95 for their Shrimp Cocktail, which we almost selected.  Ultimately, we ordered Meatballs in Sweet ‘n’ Sour sauce for $7.95, which was good.  It was plenty for two to share.

There’s so much to choose from for lunch, that it was actually hard to decide between one of the Friday lunch specials, the Green Enchiladas, a burger, a seafood platter or perhaps a sandwich. After asking the waitress what the most popular item on the menu is, she recommended the hamburger, so I went with that while my partner had the enchiladas.

Another reason why I had the hamburger is because I could build the burger to my own liking.  I added cheddar cheese, avocado and egg, making it a delicious $16 gastro-burger.  The waitress said that it would be a big burger that filled the jalapeno cheese buns, which everyone loved. The burger did not disappoint.  It did fill the bun (the bad ratio of small burgers to over-sized buns is a pet peeve of mine) and was cooked medium, exactly to order.

Because of the add-ons, the piled-high burger looks like it would be an unsightly mess to try to eat, but it held together perfectly.  We decided that it was because I didn’t add condiments. Yes, this is an example of the scintillating conversations we have about the meals we’re critiquing.  But, if you like condiments but don’t want things sliding out all over the place, you could put whatever you chose on the plate and dip the burger in it.  Consider that a tip from one of the messiest eaters in the world. I don’t have a trophy or anything; I’m just pretty sure it would be me.

The green enchiladas were also a hit, filled with shredded chicken and covered with a tasty green enchilada sauce.  It normally would come with rice and beans, but my partner requested a side salad, though you’re not supposed to ask for substitutes on the daily specials