Longtime restaurateurs open shop in Shrewsbury.

• Position: GO!

Byline: Barbara M. Houle

COLUMN: TABLE HOPPIN'

New on the restaurant scene is Jimmy's Tavern & Grill in Shrewsbury, which has been open more than a month in the former Bugaboo Creek spot in the White City Shopping Center.

The place specializes in steaks, burgers, seafood and "tavern favorites" that include barbecued ribs, chicken dishes, baked lobster pie and pasta.

Owners are Nick Miminos of Andover and his brothers, Jim of Winchester and Mark of Lexington, and Tony Karas of Wilmington. They have been in the restaurant business for more than 30 years and own several other suburban Boston restaurants, including Primebar Grill in Wayland.

Peter Karas (Tony's son) is manager of the Shrewsbury restaurant, which seats about 225.

With most of their restaurants concentrated outside of Boston, why a Jimmy's in Shrewsbury?

Nick Miminos said, "The new owner of the White City Shopping Center is a customer at our Wayland restaurant, and he told us that he wanted a Jimmy's in Shrewsbury. We checked out the location and liked it. So here we are."

Jimmy's Tavern & Grill is open for lunch and dinner. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to closing Monday through Saturday; noon to closing, Sundays. The bar remains open after the kitchen closes.

The lunch menu offers variety and value. Seafood choices include fish and chips, $8.99; Norwegian organic salmon, $10.49; and jumbo Maryland crabmeat pie, $9.99. There are a couple of dishes, such as baked stuffed shrimp and steak teriyaki, $10.99, listed under Land & Sea.

Tavern favorites include steak tips and steak teriyaki, $8.99; chicken parmigiana, $7.99; veggie lover's pasta, $8.49; linguini and meatballs, $6.99.

Small plates, burgers and sandwiches, sides and greens are offered at lunch and dinner.

Dinner selections run the gamut from a char-grilled filet mignon, $18.99 to a pan-seared ahi tuna, $21.99. A seafood platter costs $19.99; broccoli, chicken and tornelli, $12.99; Argentinean steak frites, $13.99.

Jimmy's rice pilaf is one of the choices offered with entrees. The style of the rice is different from the norm, with spinach as one of the ingredients. "The recipe belonged to my mother," said Nick Miminos. "It's a nice side dish."

A popular dessert is the homemade bread pudding named after "Kim, a waitress who likes to bake," according to Miminos.

Executive chef Rico DiFronzo, who has worked with Jimmy's owners for 15 years, opened the Shrewsbury restaurant, training kitchen staff.

He said daily specials would be...