Jay’s Bar-B-Q Sherwood

THIS IS NOT A BARBEQUE RESTAURANT! The food is a collection of microwaved or steamed pre-​sliced deli meat. The prices are absurd, at some point maybe this place may have been a local staple but it’s clearly just an attempt to cash in on those unfortunate enough to dump 15 dollars on a plate of canned beans, beef slop, overcooked sausage, and what amounts to gas station deli ham.

Unfortunately the great service they provide doesn’t reflect in the food. The fried okra and corn nuts were pretty decent and are hard to find in Baton Rouge however, the main courses were less than desirable. Such high hopes let down, a little pricey $ 13.25 for one meat and 2 sides. I ordered a turkey sandwich with barbecue and it was literally sliced lunch meat.

Great little hidden gem in town. My family has been eating here for around 30 years. Go in expecting a little hole in the wall with really friendly staff. The bbq beans have a really nice tanginess and the sausage and also beef are my favs. The potato salad is pretty good, like a standard picnic style. Not really a fan of the shaved pork-​prefer more of a pulled pork. That beef tho… soooooo good. Sausage is juicy too.

We hadn’t eaten here in many years, and a visit recently reminded us why. The food is just too expensive for what you get. $ 9 for a hamburger bun with a few slices of over cooked pork or beef, a tablespoon of generic sauce, and fries? $ 11 for a «chef» salad that is nothing more than a couple of handfuls of lettuce topped with a meager amount of chopped deli ham and turkey? Sorry, but there are far too many other places nearby that are actually good.

When I want bar-​b-​que I drive by either Sherwood Forest and grab a sandwich or stop into the one on Government St. I have noticed that when you drive up to SF location you need to make sure (while at the ordering board) that they repeat exactly what you want since the people inside seem to assume what you are going to say. Just listen and speak clearly. Love the food. It is consistent and never changes. I think it is a Baton Rouge must.

I went about 2 weeks ago for a pickup order of 2 sliced beef PBs «Jays way» on wheat with extra sauce on the PB plus and extra sauce on the side for each PB plus another sauce on the side. What I got was no sauce on the PB and only one sauce one the side, and it was very stingy, just enough to cover the bottom of the little cup. I went again 3 days ago, Ordered the same thing. A kid came out the door to the outside order station and said he couldn’t hear me. He repeated the order back to me, and it wasn’t close. I said «I want 2 sliced beef PBs on wheat buns with sauce, «Jay’s Way» with extra sauce on the side for both, plus another extra sauce filled to the top. He said, do you want a sandwich? I said, do you know what Jay’s way is? He said when I hear bun, I think sandwich. I repeated my order to him again and explained what Jay’s way was. I am sure he still does not know even after I told him to read it off the menu. When I drove around back and picked up my order I asked the cashier if there were 3 sauces on the side, and he said yes. There were 2 very cold sliced beef PBs on wheat no sauce and only one almost empty sauce contained on the side. I have eaten at Jays for 50 years, and the one on Sherwood is always stingy with the sauce. If I go back I will just buy a pint or quart. The mushrooms are just plain bad, the coleslaw is the best in town, and the bean are beans.

Just picked up an order at the Sherwood Forrest unit. Just for me, 1 and a half pounds of ribs, small fries for twenty-​eight bucks plus. Too Expensive number one. Number two and more important, sauce provided in cup was killed by vinegar over-​powering. Backtaste on the ribs — vinegar. Someone is vinegar nuts and it spoiled the sauce and didn’t help the ribs. Ribs were tender and tasty except for the vinegar aftertaste. I don’t get it. Run restaurants in Texas and North Carolina and know of most sauces regionally. This one is not good. Watery and pale did not help the looks of it either. First time and won’t be back. Friendly and efficient service at the window and when I called with my complaint. Nice guys anyway.

While Louisiana and Baton Rouge may not have much of a barbecue identity, I can’t help but put Jay’s chipped beef in something that sets us apart from the rest of the country.
In Alexandria, there used to be Jim’s Westside Barbecue, an establishment that did one thing very well hot pressed chipped beef sandwiches, creamy potato salad, spicy vinegar sauce and cold root beer. I’ll never know if Jay and Jim knew one another or shared recipes, but their tradition lives on.

Different but delicious. The service was lackluster and the real star here is the sauce – most BBQ doesn’t need it, but the meat here depends on it. If you’ve never had spice rubbed 18-​hour smoked BBQ, this place is excellent. If you have, it’s OK because the sauce is good. The BBQ po’boy is very good but it’s the sauce and the bread, not the bland meat.

I grew up on Jay’s bbq poboy sandwiches, delicious! If you are in the neighborhood and looking for lunch, I would eat here in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t drive from the other side of town, but for the price, the bbq (esp. the sauce) is great… pulled pork poboy and curly fries… yum. The place hasn’t changed much in the decade+ I have been going there, still a great lunch spot. The ladies waiting on you can’t be any better either!

Pretty much grew up on Jay’s. My grandparents would always get take out from there for family gatherings… but we’d also get the po boys. Ahh… Memories.