My love affair with Crabby Jack's

[café au lait]

I think I've fallen out of love with Crabby Jack's. For three or four years, I've been addicted to their fried green tomato/shrimp remoulade poboy. That plus a side of onion rings is all I ever get there, and I am never disappointed. Until lately...

My first let down was a few months ago when they changed their onion rings. They previously hand made their rings with a flour based batter, just like old time onion rings of my youth. No more, now they are no different than the onion rings at Sonic - that God awful dark brown breading.

Well, not one to give up easily, I returned a couple of weeks ago to find the fried shrimp on my poboy were like those frozen salad shrimp you'd buy in a package from the frozen aisle of the grocery store. The batter wouldn't even stay on them. They were so slippery that after the batter slid off, the entire poboy just fell apart. And the onion rings were still of the Sonic variety.

I am crushed. I don't know anywhere else in the area that serves a poboy with two of my favorite dishes - fried green tomatoes and shrimp remoulade. Does anybody here go to Crabby Jack's and if so, have your standard menu items undergone changes?

[BTG]

I have noticed a drop in quality as well.

A co-worker introduced me to the place early last year and I could not sing enough praise for the shrimp po-boy they put out. The shrimp were big, seasoned well, and not greasy. Best of all it seemed like there was always so many shrimp that almost as much ended up falling off the sandwhich as stayed on.

One Friday this past lent we went and my po-boy was pretty ragged. I attributed it to them being so busy, but I have tried two more times and the results have not been much better.

All in all, still not a bad po-boy, just not enough to make me happy after seeing how good they could be.

[café au lait]

The shrimp were big, seasoned well, and not greasy. Best of all it seemed like there was always so many shrimp that almost as much ended up falling off the sandwhich as stayed on.

One of my regular dining companions always gets this, and it was always just as you described - loaded and never greasy. My other MFDC gets the fried shrimp plate and can only eat half of it because it's so loaded with shrimp. I haven't eaten with them in a while, so I don't know if the quality of the shrimp for other dishes has slipped as well.

[PNG]

My Sweetie felt the same way about loving Crabby Jack's until.......... The last time that we dined there, our ketchup bottle blew up when we went to open it. It looked as though they were refilling bottles, which is illegal, and caused bacteria to flourish in that bottle from being used for so long. There was ketchup all over us, the walls, the ceiling, the other customers sitting near us, and just everywhere. Sweetie said no more Crabbys! Enjoyed several of their menu items before that though. The manager came over and acted as though we were idiots. They did not apologize or offer to clean our clothes. They handled the aftermath badly.

[foodieCon]

I hated when Louisiana Seafood closed and crabby jacks opened up. Talk about a let down. I remember going there the first time when it was crabby jacks and ordering a shrimp po-boy and having 12 shrimp on my large po-boy. sigh. Since then, I never went back. Too many old memories of the old Louisiana Seafood exchange that I never wanted to end. i know it's probably not fair to judge one place by another, but well, I did. So sue me.

[PNG]

Every shrimp poboy that I had there had shrimp pouring out all over the place.

[hungryone]

My Sweetie felt the same way about loving Crabby Jack's until.......... The last time that we dined there, our ketchup bottle blew up when we went to open it. It looked as though they were refilling bottles, which is illegal, and caused bacteria to flourish in that bottle from being used for so long. There was ketchup all over us, the walls, the ceiling, the other customers sitting near us, and just everywhere. Sweetie said no more Crabbys! Enjoyed several of their menu items before that though. The manager came over and acted as though we were idiots. They did not apologize or offer to clean our clothes. They handled the aftermath badly.
Never heard that refilling ketchup bottles is "illegal"....tell me more. I see this practice all over the place. As ketchup is loaded with sugar & vinegar, which are both darn good preservatives, I'm surpised that the stuff would ever go bad.

[Schuarta]

I think I've fallen out of love with Crabby Jack's. For three or four years, I've been addicted to their fried green tomato/shrimp remoulade poboy. That plus a side of onion rings is all I ever get there, and I am never disappointed. Until lately...


As your "apprentice" in fried green tomato/shrimp remoulade poboys, I totally enjoyed that sandwich at Crabby Jack's during my last visit to NOLA. Sorry the hear of their demise. :(

I'll be watching your posts to see where you go for poboys next. ;)

[ibjamn]

Mahoney's on Magazine has a grilled Shrimp, fried green tomatoes and remoulade that is verrrry good.

[PNG]

Never heard that refilling ketchup bottles is "illegal"....tell me more. I see this practice all over the place. As ketchup is loaded with sugar & vinegar, which are both darn good preservatives, I'm surpised that the stuff would ever go bad.

Unless the laws have changed since I was in the business you were not allowed to keep refilling bottles as they were never being washed and may have been used for long periods of time with bacteria building up in the bottles. That bottle at CJ's was under great pressure when we popped the top probably due to the right bacteria being present in the bottle. Many bacteria love sugar!

[café au lait]

As your "apprentice" in fried green tomato/shrimp remoulade poboys, I totally enjoyed that sandwich at Crabby Jack's during my last visit to NOLA. Sorry the hear of their demise. :(

I'll be watching your posts to see where you go for poboys next. ;)

I thought of you when I posted this. I have other places for when I want other kinds of poboys, but this poboy combination is just so different and unusual. And it was previously so good!

ibjamn, Mahoney's is just not ringing a bell. What's it near on Magazine? Although I like the fried shrimp on Crabby's version, I'd be willing to try a grilled shrimp one!

[willifred]

So I'm not the only one that has had one of their favorite lunch places go to hell? Really freaked me out with the onion rings....they were the real thing before "sonic" took them over. I'll still go as long as they make the roast duck poboy....truely a one of a kind ....don't get it dressed...order just meat and bread. ......I was told by someone that should know, Jack was serving a duck breast dish at J-imo's. He realized that it was cheaper to buy a whole duck and break it down than just the breast ready to use, so hey...free money.He uses the breast at the other restaurant, then uses the legs (one reason the poboy is so damn good) at Crabby Jacks. Got to give him credit on that one!

[café au lait]

Really freaked me out with the onion rings....they were the real thing before "sonic" took them over. ......I was told by someone that should know

Hey willifred, if you've got someone on the inside, try to get him to give Jack the word that he is losing some of us fast with the crappy onion rings and to bring back real shrimp. Hey, if he's got to go up on the price to have quality ingredients, I don't mind paying. But, I'm not going there and paying for crap.

[foodieCon]

I got in the habit of smelling the ketchup on the table before using it to make sure it wasn't bad. It's amazing how many times I found it smelling bad and got a new bottle. I would ask for a new sealed bottle. Sounds funny but I am not eating rotten ketchup.

[Oyster]

In the biz, there are many products for saving/marrying ketchup bottles. It always seemed like the most ridiculous thing, but many places use them to save a few dollars. To me, it seems pretty easy to tell by looking at the bottles if they were new, but if not re-used to the extreme, it may be harder to determine.

Here is just one example of a product sold commercially. There are many variations.

Link:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/tablecraft-kk33-ketchup-saver-station/808KK33.html


Now, ask me about the can of tomato sauce that exploded when punctured with the can opener and covered the kitchen with a beautiful shade of red...

[Isabella Maja]

In the biz, there are many products for saving/marrying ketchup bottles. It always seemed like the most ridiculous thing, but many places use them to save a few dollars. To me, it seems pretty easy to tell by looking at the bottles if they were new, but if not re-used to the extreme, it may be harder to determine.

Here is just one example of a product sold commercially. There are many variations.

Link:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/tablecraft-kk33-ketchup-saver-station/808KK33.html


This is gross. I too look at the bottle to see if it is new or fairly clean.
Sorry, I've seen too many folks lick their knife & then stick it in the ketchup bottle because the ketchup was stuck.
Why oh why do people think this is an okay thing to do?
Or wipe the rim of the bottle with their finger or dirty napkin.

If they don't have a clean enough ketchup bottle or any new ones, then Ketchup Packets are what I ask for.

I don't eat ketchup that often, but please . . .


I have no problem with asking for a brand new ketchup bottle.

[Schuarta]

In the biz, there are many products for saving/marrying ketchup bottles. It always seemed like the most ridiculous thing, but many places use them to save a few dollars. To me, it seems pretty easy to tell by looking at the bottles if they were new, but if not re-used to the extreme, it may be harder to determine.

Now, ask me about the can of tomato sauce that exploded when punctured with the can opener and covered the kitchen with a beautiful shade of red...

OK Oyster, I'll ask you two questions.

1) Tell us about the exploding tomato sauce. Was it heated first? Were the top and bottom buldging out, a sure sign of growth inside? Living at 5,300 ft ASL, many things buldge here before we open them.

2) How do restaurants consolidate the contents of Tabasco bottles? I know they do. The bottles on the table are filled to the top, but have that well-used look, just like ketchup.

[ibjamn]

ibjamn, Mahoney's is just not ringing a bell. What's it near on Magazine? Although I like the fried shrimp on Crabby's version, I'd be willing to try a grilled shrimp one!

It hasn't been open very long, it's in the 3400 block of magazine. There was another restaurant there before, but I don't remember the name of it.

[Oyster]

OK Oyster, I'll ask you two questions.

1) Tell us about the exploding tomato sauce. Was it heated first? Were the top and bottom buldging out, a sure sign of growth inside? Living at 5,300 ft ASL, many things buldge here before we open them.

2) How do restaurants consolidate the contents of Tabasco bottles? I know they do. The bottles on the table are filled to the top, but have that well-used look, just like ketchup.


Ok Art, here goes!

1) There was no heat involved, other than normal temps in a kitchen pantry. There was no bulge. Living at 13 ft BSL, there was no bulge involved. However, when the can opener pierced the lid, the entire contents of the can covered the kitchen. Realizing that it was not something that any maneuver I could have done would have caused it, started checking the cans in the pantry. Checked the dates, and all looked good, except for two. One in the pantry, and the one I opened. The were apparently so old, they wern't even placing the dates on the can! Guess a write off to the old FIFO for canned goods in the pantry. I will tried to introduce the wife to the system, but apparently failed miserably. Please, DO NOT tell her I said this.

2) Has to be tiny funnels. Very, very tiny funnels.

[JonSmith]

Has anyone actually brought this up with Jack? He's a stand up guy and I've never had anything but the best poboy there, evem recently.

Maybe someone should ask the "original" "Food Police" (an oldie from the original TF board) about how this place is.

[jshushan]

I thought of you when I posted this. I have other places for when I want other kinds of poboys, but this poboy combination is just so different and unusual. And it was previously so good!

ibjamn, Mahoney's is just not ringing a bell. What's it near on Magazine? Although I like the fried shrimp on Crabby's version, I'd be willing to try a grilled shrimp one!

Mahoney's is in the old "Winnie's" half a block downtown from the new Martin's on Magazine. It's a couple of blocks uptown from the corner of Louisiana Avenue on the river side in the middle of the block. It's in a shotgun house so look carefully.

I've been once. I had a very good basic ham and cheese po-boy. I'm going back. They've been introducing the menu slowly they told me and had about half of it when I went a few weeks ago.

Jonathan