is a chain of restaurants owned by
San Antonio -based
Frontier Enterprises . Jim's, best known for its breakfast and charbroiled Frontier Burgers, was begun in 1947 when founder
G. Jim Hasslocher built his first burger stand, which became a drive-in burger joint with carhops and eventually led to full-service restaurants in several locations.
Frontier operates 17 locations in the San Antonio area and 3 in
Austin . Two of the San Antonio locations have been renovated to the new, slightly more upscale ''Jim's Café and Coffee Bar'' format, with a third location currently undergoing a similar renovation. In addition to new menu items, the ''Jim's Café and Coffee Bars'' offer coffee drinks, pastries, and wireless Internet connections. Frontier Enterprises also opened the
Magic Time Machine theme restaurants in 1973, with one each in San Antonio and
Dallas (the Austin location was closed).
At one time, Frontier operated nearly 30 stores statewide in San Antonio, Dallas and
Houston . Jim's would eventually exit the Dallas and Houston markets. In San Antonio, it took over eight
Shoney's diners in 1998 and later converted them to Jim's. Frontier also operated the
Tower Of The Americas ' restaurant at HemisFair Park in San Antonio for more than three decades. The Houston-based
Landry's Restaurants chain was awarded the operating contract for the Tower restaurant in 2005.
