J. Gumbo’s

I’ve had J Gumbos at other locations, and this one is by far the worst experience I’ve had. I received only about half as much food as I typically get when ordering the same food. The rice was overcooked, and the overall feel of the restaurant was sketchy at best. I will not be visiting this location again.

Drunken chicken is my favorite. It’s spicy but tastes just right. There is a gumbo with eggplants on the menu on the website, but it has been removed from the actual menu. Feel disappointed as an eggplant fan. The serving size is large! No worry about not having enough.

It’s good food but they give you half servings and get a total of a half bowl. $ 8 is too much for half a bowl of rice and chicken

I give this Jgumbos location 5 stars. The food was pretty good, I had never had it before and it was above average, nothing that I would necessarily seek out for, but it was good.
BUT the reason why this gets 5 stars is because the customer service was INCREDIBLE! I have not had such great customer service in a long time. I called back and thanked them for doing such a great job, I have NEVER done that before. I was thrilled to be their customer!

I’ve had J. Gumbo’s on numerous occasions, but this was my first visit to this particular location. It was an overall good experience, and I can’t say that anything went particularly wrong. I will say though that the other J Gumbo’s I’ve been to butters the bread that comes with the entrees, and this one didn’t. I suppose I assumed that every location would do that, but it may just be the prerogative of individual establishments. It doesn’t make a huge difference in the overall tastiness of everything, but it did throw me off momentarily.

I HATE giving one-​star reviews. But when I go out to grab a bite to eat, I expect a bit of courtesy and decent food if the prices are high. I didn’t expect 5-​star service… it’s a place right off campus. I was sick of paying high prices on campus for bad food, so I thought I would try this place out. I didn’t understand that the high price for the small sandwich I got did not include a drink or chips. The cashier just ushered me to get them (usually people say «Pick out a drink and a bag of chips» if they are included in the price). Nope, I ended up paying OVER $ 10 for a terrible «cajun dish» served on stale bread. I didn’t realize until I got my receipt that I had been upcharged for every add on. Before I could say anything, the girl disappeared to the back and didn’t come back out until another customer came in. I love cajun food. This is such a disappointment.

I am giving J. Gumbo’s four stars, not because they have four-​star food, but because they’re better than their competition. Competition being quick-​service restaurants under ten bucks per person in the campus area.
The food itself was rather clumsily seasoned and entirely lacked anything that one might call «nuance,» (see also, my jambalaya tasted like a mix between a packet of Cajun spice mix and off-​brand spaghetti sauce) but I was able to get a giant bowl of real food for the same that a Big Mac meal would cost me. The service was fine for what it was and where we were.
The accompanying bread was stale as hell. But whatever.
Is this an amazing meal? No. Is it better than McDonald’s or Wendy’s? Yes.

This location is located right in the middle of the construction zone about ½ block south of the donut shop on High St. I figured I’d drive by and if I could get a parking space, I would, otherwise I’d go to plan «B’.
As it turned out I did get a space and it was close enough to feed the meter. So I ordered Red Beans & Rice. Those came with smoked sausage, onion, and plenty of spice. And a roll, which was just okay. The food was good! And it had been a while since I’d had it, and never at this location.

Apparently J. Gumbo’s is a national chain, but I had not heard of it until I came to campus. Glad I discovered it! I don’t know Cajun food at all, so I don’t know what it’s supposed to be like exactly, but either way it’s great.
They have a pretty wide selection, and the menu board tells you the level of spicy, and indicates if they are vegan or vegetarian. You’re welcome to taste the different options, and best of all, you can get a bowl with two different items if you’re overwhelmed by the options.
And the prices are pretty good, considering the portions are pretty large and there’s a good chance you’ll have leftovers for another meal.
The campus location is a very small place, with a bar facing the street and then a few tables. And usually they only have one worker, so if it’s busy you may have to wait for a bit.

Taste of New Orleans.
J Gumbo’s is one of the wifey’s favorite campus spots. I like the gumbo as well but I like to mix up my food choices from time to time. They have a variety of gumbos that can be served on rice or chips with an assortment of toppings. I’ve had the Bourbon Street Chicken, the Jambalaya and the Drunken’ Chicken just to name a few. The wife usually gets the Bumblebee Stew which is a sweeter dish. Different but also very good.

I feel like this would be 3 or 4 stars for the other J Gumbo’s locations I’ve been to but my experience at this location was just awful.
I was craving a po’boy and decided to go here because it was close and that wasn’t the best decision. I came in and was asking the guy the difference between the different meats and he basically just pointed at the menu board. Wow, what amazing service. I was holding my toddler and he asked if I was dining in or taking it to go. I asked if there were high chairs and when he said no, I said, well I guess it’s to go then!
Lastly, their po’boys are just their meat slopped on stale bread instead of rice. Super disappointing. I was so glad to have a decent po’boy when I was home in Florida I almost cried! I will not be going back to any J Gumbo’s soon, and definitely not this one!

Cheap and tasty for the price. I got the crawfish (nice surprise) etoufee and it definitely filled me up. Could have used more flavor, especially the crawfish which were extremely plain and forgettable, and the consistency was pretty darn thick (not sure if this is typical for the dish), but none the less was a good deal. Plenty of seating and I enjoyed getting a big hunk of bread with my meal. My company at lunch got gumbo and liked it, although it wasn’t nearly spicy enough for his taste. Overall if you’re looking for cheap and filling university area food that satisfies, I recommend J. Gumbo’s, although check out the surroundings first.

While I cannot vouch the Cajun/​Creole authenticity of this food, I can say with certainty that it is great comfort food. Well, I suppose I should use the word comfort loosely, because the menu does hold some masochistically hot/​tasty meals, the Voodoo Chicken being the hottest. There are of course milder options, and even vegetarian and gluten-​free dishes, such as the Creole Ratatoulle and the White Chili, both savory and satisfying. The Drunken Chicken, though, is probably the greatest thing the menu has to offer, having a rich, spicy sauce with tangy, beer marinated chicken. I have lost track of how many times I have visited this place, and the number just keeps growing.

After having tried J. Gumbo at several events, I decided it was time to get over to the source and check the place out. Like many of the restaurants along High St on the OSU campus border, this is a small space with several tables along the side wall and a long table with stools along the front window, looking out at the street.
There are a lot of choices, including some vegetarian options, some gluten-​free options, and a variety of spiciness ranges. As others have mentioned, depending on your spicy tolerance, you may need to add some hot sauce, which is available on all of the tables. There are more traditional-​style dishes like gumbo, red beans and rice, and jambalaya, and then some fun twists like a vegetarian white chili and bumblebee stew, which has a sweet aspect to it.
The portions are good, prices are reasonable, and the food is tasty and filling. I also like that it adds a little bit more variety to the string of pizza joints, sandwich places, fast food, and bars in the area, so it works for me!

When this J. Gumbo’s location came to the campus area, I was all about Cajun & Creole cuisine coming to campus. For around 6 – 7 bucks and after a rainy day of classes, I decided to stop inside and a grab a bowl of some cajun grub. After looking over the menu, I noticed some vegetarian options as indicated with a V yet did not have the spice level of the meat dishes such as the Voodoo chicken.
I am not from the Bayou region, but have experienced New Orleans food that has kick and flavor. I opted for the Bumblebee Stew and had to ask for extra cajun seasoning and a few jalapeños (pickled) to get it up to my heat scale. The corn & stewed veggies had a decent taste, yet it was missing the wow factor that cajun and creole food always contains. Even after a ladle of the voodoo sauce (I broke vegetarian just to add heat), nothing could save this dish.
So it’s totally a chain restaurant feel and alright if you are looking to drop 8 bucks on lunch. Portion sizes are average for your money, but it’s nowhere close to the quality grub you get on Bourbon Street in the Big Easy.

I am not pretending to be from New Orleans or any expert on Gumbo, but boy oh boy, in my book they do it right!
The business first caught my eye when they came into our office building offering food to raise money as a fundraiser. The smell haunted the hallways literally making my feet walk in a zombie state right up to the table and hand them an empty bowl.
They had a white bean chili, plain old, original gumbo, and a drunken chicken. I went for the white bean chili since it sounded the most unique and «light.»
My fork then became possessed, shoveling the food from the bowl to my mouth in a fast, scary operation. When I finally looked down and only saw the bottom of the bowl, I suspected a conspiracy. I reported back down the hall to them to get the gumbo… yes, I now have had two servings of J. Gumbo’s within an hour.
I have visited their campus location and have tried various dishes. I love their drunken chicken and the spicy bite to it! This is definitely a college eatery. They pile the food on top of a butt load of rice and even give you a big old slab of carbs (aka bread) to top it all off!
I highly encourage anyone who is near to stop in for a meal that could last a week by the portion sizes! It is great to be able to stop in here and grab a warm, big meal when the Columbus weather is a little chilly and evil.

Places like this make me miss good ol’ NOLA. I haven’t had a dish here that I haven’t liked. Red Beans and Rice, Crawfish, White Chili, Bumblebee (personal fav) are all great. I had the VooDoo Chicken mixed in with my Bumblebee but I wasn’t too impressed. All-​in-​all, Gumbo’s is a cajun favorite and a solid choice for lunch or dinner. Portions are huge, so expect leftovers!

I went here because I bought a Groupon which offered $ 12 of food for $ 6. I always like trying new places, and J. Gumbos is a few blocks from my apartment so I figured why not? I went while school was not in session so it was not busy at all. My boyfriend and I were the only people in there. I really liked that the guy at the counter let us try whatever we wanted. I tried a few things, but most were too spicy for my taste (I have no tolerance for spicy food at all). We both ended up getting the Bourbon Street Chicken. It was served over a bed of rice. The look reminded me of pulled pork or chicken. It was served with a piece of bread also. The amount of food I got for the price was really great. I got SO much food for $ 6.50. My boyfriend is a big guy and he couldn’t even finish all of his. The taste was alright. It was good, but the chicken was a little too sweet for me. I tried it at the restaurant and it was good, but when I ate more once I got back home, it became really sweet. It was really good to eat on top of the bread. I would definitely go back, but maybe try something different. I would give the food a 3/​5, but the overall experience was a ⁴⁄₅.

I’m no cajun expert but J Gumbos was alright in my book. My roomate had previously eaten here and I felt left out so today for dinner I went to go check it out.
The FOOD:
I didn’t know what to expect so when I entered I asked they guy behind the counter for a recommendation and he offered up the «voodoo chicken» so I went with it. I was not entirely impressed with the dish but as I was eating I observed what others were ordering and their items looked much more appetizing. with the promise of a more delectable dish I give the food a ³⁄₅ star
The Atmosphere:
At first the atmosphere was nothing too special. it was clean and pleasing to the eye with artwork hung up on the walls, and a tv hung in the back if you feel so inclined to watch. As I was sitting there I then realized that they had excellent music playing in the background which is a bonus. I would give the atmosphere a ⁴⁄₅ star
I’m not one to rate poorly on one Item so I’ve gone with a total break down of three star, I was not dropping my jaw with excitement but on the other hand I was not dissatisfied. I left with the intention of coming back one more time to see if I can find an item I enjoy thoroughly
My Recommendation:
I would recommend going here for lunch more than I would for dinner unless your by your lonesome in which case It’s ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ toss up… Just don’t do it for breakfast ;)