J. Gumbo's Down-Home Cajun Cookin': Bayou taste in the heart of Louisville
What visitor to New Orleans doesn't wax nostalgic for the delicious taste of gumbo, jambalaya or étoufée after the vacation ends? Well, 700 miles away from the Crescent City, the taste of the bayou lives in the Derby City at J. Gumbo's Down-Home Cajun Cookin'.
One of J. Gumbo's founders, Billy Fox Jr., has taken his Louisiana grandmother's recipes for Cajun and Creole cooking and put them on the menu, most as Big-Bowled Entrees. These hefty helpings are priced at $5.65-$6.59, and all entrees come on a bed of white rice and with a slice of toasted French bread.
To facilitate ordering, signs on the wall indicate how hot the various dishes are. "Sweet and mild" options includes such Louisiana favorites as the red beans and rice, the jambalaya and the Bourbon Street Chicken, which is shredded chicken in a sweet, buttery Hoisin sauce over rice. Among the "Medium Zesty" offerings are the étoufée (chicken, shrimp or crawfish), the vegetarian white chili and Bumblebee Stew, made of corn, tomatoes, black beans and onions in a spicy, buttery sauce.
What's "hotter than a N'awlins summer"? Why, several menu items, including Drunken Chicken (shredded chicken olive oil, stewed tomatoes, Cajun spices and beer) and Voodoo Chicken (chicken slowly simmered in garlic, crushed red pepper, Cajun spices and J. Gumbo's own fiery Voodoo sauce).
All the preceding mild and hot dishes carry the same $5.65 price tag.
Hankering for a fiery chili, Po' Boy sandwich, a muffaletta or a gently rum-laced bread pudding? J. Gumbo's carries those New Orleans treats, as well.
While J. Gumbo's doesn't have a light menu or a kids' menu, all entrees are available in a half-portion for just $3.
The growing J. Gumbo's chain has eight locations around Louisville, including one on 4th Street Live, plus one in Cincinnati.
J. Gumbo's also caters, whether for 20 or 2,000. With 24 hours' notice and a $15 delivery charge, the staff will deliver orders of over $100 directly to your office, your home, your party, your celebration or even a park or ballgame. Check out the catering menu here.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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