There is a restaurant attached to a supermarket called “Jimmy’s” in Oyama, Ginowan City, about 30 minutes by car from Naha Airport. The lunch buffet is highly recommended here! You can experience everything from pizza, pasta, Okinawan cuisine to American desserts!
Point 1: What is the Jimmy’s supermarket?
Jimmy’s is an Okinawan supermarket with 20 stores on the main island of Okinawa. The Oyama store was founded more than 60 years ago as a general merchandise store.
The spacious store offers everything from bento lunches to Okinawan souvenirs, as well as American goods and foods that even Americans in Okinawa come to buy.
Only three of these stores, the Oyama Store, the Naha Store, and the Misato Store in Okinawa City, have an “Island Grill” attached to them! Jimmy’s is so popular that it has opened stores at airports, but stores with an Island Grill are a rare find.
I walked around inside Jimmy’s Supermarket and saw a line of prepared foods near the entrance. Pre-prepared “Tebichi” was cheap, like 250 yen!
Toward the back of the store, there was a line of retort pouch products such as Okinawan Tebichi, foods that would make good souvenirs and American-made sundries that Americans living in Okinawa might come to buy. I picked up some aluminum foil and found it to be very heavy! （I picked up some aluminum foil and found it to be very heavy!
Found a rare “large can of Campbell’s Soup”!
Anchor tableware imported directly from the U.S. and Rubbermaid Tupperware were also a nice touch!
In this way, “Jimmy’s” is a unique supermarket where Okinawans and American are churned out.
Point 2: What is the buffet at Jimmy’s Island Grill Oyama like?
So what is the buffet at the Island Grill, which is attached to Jimmy’s supermarket?
When you enter the entrance of Jimmy Oyama restaurant, you will see the reception desk for the Island Grill on the right side. There, tell them you want to eat the buffet and pay 1,600 yen in advance.
You will then be shown to your seat, and after securing your seat, go to the buffet table. The customers seem to be almost exclusively locals.
The buffet lineup is not as stylish as that of a hotel buffet, but that is what gives it a nice flavor.
Pork feet and jimmy tofu are next to pizza and pasta, and Okinawan-style zenzai is next to American-style cake, which makes you feel excited!
If I had taken this and that, I would have had more than I could eat.
Point 3: “Jimmy’s” also has cheap and very good cakes!
This “Jimmy” is famous for its delicious cakes. I heard that Okinawans default to buying whole cakes instead of cut cakes (lol).
This time, I bought a “carrot cake” that was sold at Jimmy’s. Carrot cake is a traditional English pastry that has been eaten since the Middle Ages, but in modern times it has become a boom among health-conscious Americans.
It is moist, slightly spicy, and not too sweet, even though it costs 1,250 yen for a whole piece! Note that this cake was also sold at Jimmy’s store at the airport!
Other cakes in the lineup include Windsor Cake, Chocolate Butter Cake, and Crumble Blueberry Cake! If you want to try the taste of cakes commonly eaten in Europe and the United States, I highly recommend this shop.
