Jess' Quick Lunch

Photo by Joy Boardman

Jess' Quick Lunch, located on Main Street

In 1967, Gus Furlos became the owner of Jess' Quick Lunch, a local hot dog and burger joint. By 1979, he had a dining area built for customers to sit and enjoy their lunch. Furlos is still the owner to this day.

Jess' used to be a building where a customer ordered food and walked out with it. Furlos made it more convenient for people who want to just relax for lunch.

Jess' Quick Lunch is a small restaurant located in downtown Harrisonburg, a few blocks away from A&N on Main Street. Upon entering the restaurant, customers seat themselves; the waitresses take their orders in a short time. Food and drink are served in a matter of minutes. It is not a long wait at all compared to other sit-down restaurants.

Everything on the lunch menu is less than five dollars. The breakfast menu is more expensive, but the most anything costs is $5.50. It is a cheap place to eat if money is running low. Two people can eat for less than $10.

The dining area itself is small, but clean. The only problem is that there is no separate area for smokers. It is always filled with people of all ages, especially families with children. The service is great and all of the waitresses are very nice. Though they have many customers to attend to, they always make sure that everyone is served and that no one is left out.

Keeping the bus carts in the middle of the aisle poses a problem, however. It is not a great sight to see when eating lunch.

Still, many customers do not seem to mind that as much. The rest of the dining area is clean compared to the cart.

The food itself is great. It is served in a matter of minutes, as the restaurant's name suggests. The fries are not greasy at all, although the ketchup could have been better.

Jess' most popular menu item is hot dogs. From one customer's perspective, these were excellent. I tried the bacon cheeseburger, which was not half as bad as I had expected. The customers were impressed by the fast service and enjoyed themselves. Most took a long time to leave because they were enjoying their food. Even though they do serve alcohol, not many people were ordering it.

Overall, the total time spent to eat and pay for a meal is about half an hour. Even on busy days the wait to be served and eat is not long. My friend and I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, two drinks, and a hot dog for a total of $7.60.

Not only are the waitresses very helpful and knowledgeable about their jobs, but they also seem to like to work there. Jess' deserves a high rating for their quick service.