During the pandemic bar owners Fergie Carey and Jim McNamara, of Fergie’s Pub and The Goat, along with Tony Rim of 1225 Raw and The Foodery opened The Jim in the old JC Chinese restaurant location.  They kept the old JC logo on the exterior, the very cool old rectangular bar and the dragon murals and now serve dumpling, noodles and Korean-style Chicken wings and have a good beer list and cocktails.  The Jim’s interior space is tiny and bunkerlike but they have outdoor seating along 8^th street.  The place has a good vibe and the food is excellent – great old school American-Chinese food – and the waiters are on point about available vegan options, which include several dumpling and noodle options.  The Lo Mein noodles are classic and come served in an old-style cardboard Chinese take-out box.

The Dumplings:  The waiter told us that some of the dumplings are house made and some are brought in, but they are moving to making all their dumplings in house. My guess is that the pork and veggie dumplings are house made and the mandu style, kimchi dumplings are brought in.  The pork and cabbage dumplings were juicy, savory and very tasty, you can get them steamed or deep fried.  The kimchi and veggie dumplings were also stellar, a great funky, umami, spicy kimchi flavor.  We got a steamed order and a deep-fried order, both were great but I think the steamed version was best.  The dumplings are served in cardstock to-go boxes.

The Location:  The Jim is located at 1701 S. 8th St at Morris Street in South Philly.