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Meeting people for dinner there. Anyone have any recs....at all?? (I say this tongue and cheek because I've looked at some of the prior reviews on here and they've been pretty brutal). Thanks in advance.

The guy can cook, so the food's not the problem. Its the atmosphere that turns most locals off. What you are going to see is mostly out-of-towners packed into a hokey little space, standing around waiting for tables. If you don't know what I mean by hokey, let me warn you not to allow yourself to be seated at the little table they put in back of an old pickup out on the curb.

I stop by his lunch spot occasionally and I like it. Its called Crabby Jacks. They have some of the best shrimp and oyster poboys in town--oops.

Everything that ratcheese says. But I will add that the food sucks too. The whole concept reeks of what a New Orleans style restaurant would be like in a New Jersey strip mall.

The appealing factors are the location and price point. There's a lack of fine dining options in that area and I think that's one of the reasons people like it. The other is that it is relatively inexpensive for a fine dinning restaurant and that is another reason for it's popularity. I use Jacque-Imo's as a test. If you like it, then I can have no respect for your food opinion whatsoever.

I would also agree with ratcheese that Crabby Jack's is halfway decent. And probably the way to go if you are curious about this guy's food.

The only item on the menu that I like is fried chicken.

bam bam wrote:There's a lack of fine dining options in that area and I think that's one of the reasons people like it.

Within an easy walk of J-I's are Boucherie, One, Dante's Kitchen, and Brigtsen's, not to mention at least a dozen other non-fine-dining places.

I think J-I's appeals to a certain sort of from-out-of-town undergraduate who associates the place with lots of drinks before dinner and a lack of pretension. It depresses me to drive down Oak and see people eating at the pickup-truck table. But hey, people used to patronize "Anything Goes"** back in the day; I guess there will always be a market for a guy with a gimmick...

**wasn't that the name of the theme restaurant w/souvenir photos and ridiculous decor?

I am well aware of the restaurants in the Carrollton area. My highly successful law practice is located on Maple St and our parking lot is adajecent to Brigtsen's where we have firm dinners with increasing regularity. (Frank, keep the 1961 Latour flowing). Regardless, I do not consider Brigtsen's, Dante's and One within walking distance (although I have largely been taking chaufferes limos these days) and Boucherie, while in the hood has its own set of distinct issues. Hence, my mention of the lack of fine dining options in the area.

Haven't been but I have been told by more than one local that it's the best restaurant in town. Seemed odd because I have always thought of the place like the Jersey strip mall thing...trying so hard to be funky that it turns out funky...and not all that genuine

todd m wrote:Haven't been but I have been told by more than one local that it's the best restaurant in town.

LOL. Good one!:toast:

I hope Casper comes back with a report--not sure why--but as a local, I know that it is not a place we frequent, even though it is within walking distance. It just seems like too much of a hassle. Wrong vibe. Someone mentioned Tulane student with visiting family in town--that's it.

His simple food is good--that would be out at Crabby Jack's--blue collar lunch on paper plates. I've had some good food there.

Come back Casper

I am probably the only person on this board who has never been to Jacques-Imo's. I post on a travel board from time to time as well and this place gets within the top 3 tourist inquiries consistently, so I've never felt compelled to go. The herd mentality is a fascinating aspect of human behavior to me. With a bad back and encroaching fossilization setting in, I am not inclined to wait in line for much of anything anymore, particularly if I can get the same thing without a wait at a locals-only place. BTW, I do like Crabby Jack's.