J Gumbo's

Reviews & Tips

• 0

  The staff are really friendly and helpful, so if you aren't sure what to order, they can definitely lead you in the right direction of creole goodness. The price is a little more than I wanted to pay for lunch, but as with anything downtown, if you go out for lunch then be prepared to throw some cash down.  In any event the food was delicious although I felt you got much more rice than meat/veg in the portions.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 12.05.12 Adrian C.

  • Report
• 0

  This is a great place for a quick lunch downtown.  It is fast food, but it is good food.  I find many of their dishes to be too mild, but they have hotter selections that I usually stick with.  Only real downside is the limited seating inside, so get there early or get it to go.  If it's a really nice day, you can get your lunch and head over to Fountain Square and eat.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 04.10.12 Greg O.

  • Report
• 0

  The food is ok.  It's like they tried to take some Cajun classics and make them fast food.  The result is that the food is indeed fast and tastes reasonable, but unfortunately, it is still fast food.  The red beans and rice is sort of tomato-y and the crawfish etouffee leaves you wondering where the crawfish was.  While the sausage used in most of the dishes has a little kick to it (a plus), it is more like a hot dog than true andouille.  However, the rice is cooked perfectly.  I would never recommend this place, but if I have a hankering for some RB&R, I might have to settle for J Gumbo's.
  
  Bottom Line: I'll probably never be back - unless I just need my Monday RB&R.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 11.22.10 Dan M.

  • Report
• 0

  Great place for lunch... fast, friendly, and great food! The Cajun music adds to the experience!

  Review Source:

  Posted on 09.21.10 Mike S.

  • Report
• 0

  Having moved to Cincinnati in 2007 after more than a decade in New Orleans, my B.S. detector went haywire when this "Cajun" place opened downtown some months back.  
  
  The complaints first:
  
  J. Gumbo's, a chain based in Louisville, was purportedly founded by a guy with Louisiana ties, but the menu is loaded with ersatz "Louisiana" fare that you'd never find on an authentic Cajun or Creole menu:  "Voodoo Chicken," "Bumblebee Stew," "Bourbon Street Chicken," etc.  There's even something called "Drunken Chicken," which sounds like an escapee from a 1970s Chinese menu.  The only po boys on the menu have chicken in them, which is almost unheard of in Louisiana, where seafood poboys (shrimp, oysters. catfish) are by far the most common, followed by roast beef.  
  
  Popeyes aside, Louisianans simply aren't nearly this obsessed with chicken.
  
  More:  The restaurant conflates Cajun and Creole, as if there is no difference between the two.   The entrees are served with bread that approximates Texas Toast, rather than the plain French bread that usually accompanies Louisiana entrees.  And I almost forgot to mention the restaurant's cornball name.
  
  The first thing I thought upon taking all of this in was "mall food court."
  
  All these quibbles aside, J. Gumbo's is an OK lunch stop.  I have tried the red beans and rice and crawfish etoufee, and, while the flavors seem a little bit off, they are hearty and tasty dishes.  The portions are large and prices are reasonable, especially when the restaurant offers five-dollar specials.  The folks behind the counter are helpful and friendly enough.
  
  I probably overrate this place by giving it three stars, but there aren't that many places to get even bastardized Creole/Cajun fare in Cincinnati, and J. Gumbo's is capable of hitting the spot if I'm in the right mood.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 02.10.10 Ben N.

  • Report