Jacques-Imo’s is a cult restaurant, so popular that eating there almost always requires as a preface a good bit of time waiting, out on the sidewalk. This owes to an intentional funky-chic style many people believe is indispensable for a genuine New Orleans dining experience. The food is along the same lines, with a latter-day pop-Cajun quality that stops just short of cliche. It's very convincing at the atmospheric level.
Owner Jack Leonardi, former K-Paul's chef (and Tulane MBA), opened Jacques-Imo's in 1996. In the beginning, when the place wasn't very busy, he'd come to your table, as what you'd like to eat (that could be almost anything you wanted then), and return to the kitchen to cook it. Or Austin Leslie--legendary New Orleans soul-food chef, who was associated with the restaurant back then--would fry his fabulous chicken for you. After a year or so, the menu gelled, Jack expanded his dining areas, and the phenomenon was born. It became the keystone of a growing restaurant community in the historic Oak Street commercial district. In 2002, Jack opened Crabby Jack's, a combination commissary for the cramped restaurant and a poor-boy restaurant, in Old Jefferson.
The kitchen is in the middle of the old, minimally decorated building. You walk through it to the larger of the two dining rooms, a sort of hut built into what was once a courtyard. A few tables are scattered here and there in the rest of the building. All have a vague Creole voodoo in their decor.
Some of the tables are very unusually placed. There's one in the back of a truck parked in front of the restaurant, and more on the sidewalk on both sides of the street. All of this contributes to the laughs.
Avoid dining here at Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras, or any other time that brings in large numbers of young New Orleans fans. They'll take reservations (no more than a month in advance) for five or more people, which makes life much easier. Beware enormous portions; two courses is plenty. Know that the restaurant closes for the month of August.
The reservation system is curious: you can only reserve for five or more people. And some of the tables are unusual
| Attitude | 1 |
|---|---|
| Environment | 0 |
| Hipness | 2 |
| Local Color | 3 |
| Service | 0 |
| Value | 2 |
| Wine | 0 |
