One fine Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, my mother took me out for lunch after church. After a few minutes of disputing where to satisfy our hunger that day, we decided to eat at some small diner on South Park Road. This old-fashioned diner goes by the name of Jim & Lou Lou’s.
As I walked in for my first official Jim & Luo Lou’s visit, my eyes caught a few things they don’t see often. Such as a long diner counter reminiscent of the late night diners of the past, ones I’ve seen mostly in the movies. I saw the cook in the back, pounding and breading fresh chicken and cutting potatoes for the dinner rush. My eyes also caught something else: a handmade sign hanging over the kitchen window that read “JIM & LOU LOU’S HOMESTYLE COOKING SINCE 2012.” It made me chuckle.
The menu was like that of all of the classic American diners. Breakfast served all day, and homemade dinners like breaded chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pizza, etc. I got the chicken-parm sandwich. It was as good as they come.
As I drank my fresh brewed coffee, a local elderly couple came in the diner. The lady hollered “Hey Jimmy!” to a man in a white chef’s shirt. Her warm welcome gave the diner a certain old-fashioned feel to it. A feeling you cannot get at the common chain restaurants littered throughout Bethel Park.
I was so fascinated by this homey diner, I just had to talk to the man in the white chef’s shirt.
I said to him, “Hi, I’m Mitchell Krieger. I’m a senior at Bethel Park High School, and I was wondering if I could interview you for my school paper.”
“Are you gonna make me famous?” he answered with a smile.
“I’ll try my best,” I told him, laughing.
I found out his name is Jim Kearns, a Pittsburgh man who has been working at restaurants his whole life.
“I grew up in Mount Washington,” he said in a thick Pittsburgh accent. “I’ve been in Bethel Park for the past…10 years? No, 12 years.”
“What inspired you to own a diner?” I asked him, intrigued.
“Well, I’ve worked for restaurants my whole life. I was taught everything I know at Louis Tambellini’s in Mount Washington. That’s before your time.”
Louis Tambellini’s original Italian restaurant was established in Mount Washington after World War II. Tambellini was an Italian immigrant who moved here with his four brothers in 1939. His small restaurant became a Pittsburgh institution and remained on Mount Washington until it moved to a new location on Route 51 in 1981.
Jim Kearns, in his younger days, learned everything he knows about cooking from the Tambellini family.
“They all spoke Italian, and I spoke American,” he joked. “I worked there for 12 years.”
“Is Lulu your wife?” I inquired.
“Hah, no she’s my girlfriend. She owns the beer distributor up the street.”
“So what’s your favorite thing about running this place?”
“You want to know the truth? Turning the key at night!” he said with a grin. “Nah, I’m only kidding. It’s family. It’s fun, you know?”
Jim and Lulu’s is definitely a family-orientated restaurant. It’s quite unlike all the other restaurants I go to in this area. Jim & Lulu’s has that atmosphere you only get at the dinner table at home. Home-style cooking and friendly people: something that, in this day and age, we could all use.
I can’t help thinking back to when I laughed at the sign above the kitchen when I first walked in. “SINCE 2012” it read. Even though it’s only been around for a short time, there’s something about Jim & Lulu’s that gives me a hopeful feeling that it will stick around for a while. Maybe one day my own child will look up at that sign and “JIM & LOU LOU’S HOMESTYLE COOKING SINCE 2012” will still be true.