Jerry's Coffee Shop

On our way out of town for the recent holiday weekend, #1DC Antoinette and I had planned to go to the historic Munch Box in Chatsworth. Being crazy Huell Howser fans and having just watched the episode where he went there, we were really looking forward to it. When we arrived, though, the place was shuttered and there were no signs of it opening soon or ever again. Seriously, no hours posted, no 'open' or flipped over 'closed' sign, no nothing.

We asked GPS what we should do and GPS said "Jerry's Coffee Shop" in that snooty accent of his.

GPS took us out to Simi Valley, which I only know from the OJ Simpson trial...or was it the Rodney King trial? Either way, it was something having to do with injustice.



The moment we pulled up, I knew this place was something special. It looked like a dump, and dumps are either the worst or the best.



Jerry's is small, having maybe ten tables (with a few picnic tables outside). The carpet is stained and frayed, and the kitchen, which you can pretty easily see from the tables, is cluttered and messy.

The most interesting thing is...



...saran wrap on the radio and covering the outlets.



A lot of the booths have these really fascinating chairs. They look like they would have been a semester long project in a high school shop class or a side project by the Bauhaus...no, not that Bauhaus, this Bauhaus.

The coffee was only $1.65 and it tasted like $1.65 coffee. It was decent but a bit weak.

The menu was short and simple but had all the traditional favorites.

Antoinette ordered a simple breakfast of two eggs and a ham steak ($6.50). She liked the eggs. The ham steak, which looks obscenely phallic in that picture, was good but the some of the fat should have been trimmed off of it. The home fries were great.

I ordered the pancake sandwich ($5.50). The eggs were a greasy, which I predicted they would be. Despite that, they were pretty good. The sausage patty was a nice change of pace.

The biscuit was drier than I like and that was a whole lot of gravy for just one biscuit. Antoinette did not like the gravy at all, but I really liked it. It tasted--my hand to God--exactly like peppered beef jerky.



The pancake was close to perfection, like the best pancake you ever made at home on a Sunday morning. It was wonderfully moist and doughy.

After we finished eating, Antoinette got up to use the bathroom. I was probably spacing out thinking about lovely things or gas mileage or something, when I noticed someone staring at me. I shook out of it and realized it was the cook. He gave me the cook head nod that always means "Was the food okay?" I gave him a thumbs up. He smile and nodded and gave me a thumbs up back.

Jerry's was a great out of the way find. Because of its distant location, I can't imagine we'll ever be back though.

Food: Very good.
Service: Very nice.
Price: Very reasonable.
Pie: Very no pie.

Jerry's Coffeeshop

4817 E Los Angeles Ave
Simi Valley, CA 93063

(805) 526-1652