Jacques-Imo's Cafe

A tiny place you must visit. Courtney was such a great server, they all were. The food was delicious. Ambience was so unique and completely NOLA. Don't hesitate!

The vibes are everything. When I envision New Orleans, this is what I want. Shotgun style house, walking through the kitchen to get to our table, which table was tiny, haha I couldve gone for a bigger table with all the food we ordered but great nonetheless! It is loud with the acoustics which I love, people laughing, talking, enjoying themselves.

Started off with some watermelon mojito, those were nice! The cornbread is so good. Then onto fried boudin balls, which were good but next time will be trying something else. Why we didnt go with the shrimp and alligator cheesecakes no idea - kicking myself for that one.

One of us ordered the redfish, nice loved it. HUGE portions. HUGE. The other ordered the Godzilla, it was IMPRESSIVE and amazing!

We will be back - love the vibe of this restaurant and the food. We went next door after our meal to dance off some of the calories, maple leaf bar, how nice to have these two next to each other!

I am giving this place four stars mostly for the ambiance and the potential I see in their food...

The inside decor of Jacques-Imo's is super fun, and the ambience is perpetuated by the brief pass through the kitchen to get to the main dining room. The staff here is incredibly friendly and I'm pretty sure each of them all thanked us for coming by. There is a sign on the wall that says "Be Nice of Leave" and the staff of Jacques-Imo's seems to be taking this to heart.

Now to the food, I could tell that some real thought goes into the dishes here. There is an effort to reinvent and elevate southern cuisine, which is appreciated... though the daily special I ordered -- a yellowfin tuna and clam dish -- was lacking flavor. The shrimp jambalaya was good, shrimps were cooked perfectly, but truly the best thing we ate was the red beens and rice side dish... I wish I would have ordered just a bowl of that!

I'll definitely return should I find myself in New Orleans again, I'm interested to try again with such a fun place.

Have you ever had alligator cheesecake? Sounds weird right? But bear with me.... It's not your traditional cheesecake by any means, or sweet! It's more like a quiche and it is DEEEEEELICIOUS. Like if you had the filling of a handful of delectable ravioli but in quiche form - it's creamy, savory and flavored to perfection. 10/10

This place was not on our radar at all for our trip to New Orleans. If it hadn't been for our driver to our swamp tour, we would've probably never discovered it!

We opted to try the bbq shrimp but the shrimp didn't taste very fresh. I didn't care for it, we didn't finish it. The sides of sweet potatoe and corn was really good.

Actually, I enjoyed their complimentary corn bread that had a spread of herb butter and garlic more than the bbq shrimps. (,:

Ben was our server, he seemed nice - nothing to complain about.

The decor inside was very colorful, the stained glass windows definitely bright in different color hues before the sun set.

We didn't make a reservation but then again we were just a party of two and we made sure to show up 10 mins before they opened. The place filled up pretty quickly and by the time we left, they were a full house and had people waiting for tables.

I'd recommend this spot for the alligator cheesecake and delicious corn bread. I'd skip the bbq shrimp.

Service was amazing. One of the items wasn't available so we were comped another dish. Everything was delicious, even the veggies. And yes, get the alligator cheesecake

Jacques-Imo's is a New Orleans institution that we've been trying to go to for years. It only took us 9 years to finally check it out, but it was well worth the wait.

When I called the restaurant to ask for their wait time, I was informed that I should expect about a 45 minute wait. With night 1 of Jazzfest still happening at the same time, I decided to take our chances.

We arrived at Jacques-Imo's around 6:20pm. Luckily the wait was only 5-10 minutes when we got there. While waiting for our table, we took in all the quirky, vibrant, New Orleans-themed decor around the restaurant. Also loved the eclectic 80s-90s music they played. Very cool vibe.

Our server was Hailey, who was amazing. She was such a sweetheart, and I appreciated her attentiveness. Food came out in a timely manner as well, which was a major plus.

We weren't super hungry and only snacked on appetizers. The food was fantastic though, and I enjoyed everything I ate. Even though we got appetizers, I thought that the items we got were considerably heavy. Glad we shared!

The complimentary cornbread with herb butter was a delightful. It was crispy on the edges and had a nice sweetness to it.

Loved the alligator cheesecake. This was what we really came for. It's like a quiche.

We also shared the deep fried roast beef po boy. If po boys were a chimichanga, this would be it. The crunchy texture was awesome, and it came with a side of au jus for added flavor.

I have no choice but to think about this food for the rest of my life.

The best meal I had in NOLA by far. Went with a group and tried a little of everything, but the cornbread (which is complimentary!!!) and grouper with shrimp and asparagus... to die for! The grouper was so so fresh and cooked perfectly.

I would have never thought of pairing parsley with buttered cornbread but it WORKS!

The only unfortunate thing is that this place is not on DoorDash otherwise I would have had it every day of my trip. Headed straight there next time I visit!

Everything was amazing! Came with a party of five and was able to get squeezed in.

So first, no reservations which is kind of a sad panda situation but hey, they can command that kind of demand so good on them.

Literally everything we put in our mouths was great.

The corn bread they put on the table had a little spicy zip which was a great amuse bouche.

Their gumbo was different but still good. (They put potato salad in it which was admittedly strange but still good).

I ordered a potato crusted fish which was crunchy and light in an amazing sauce.

Friends got the redfish and alligator cheesecake.

I'd trust anyone to order anything and have faith that they'll be happy with what they get at Jacques I Amos

The only complaint was we all ordered the special cocktail which was a watermelon mojito and it did t really work with the straw. STILL TASTY THOUGH.

I rarely give 5 stars but there is nothing bad I can say about this place. The service and food alike were nothing short of AMAZING! I feel like 5 stars are warranted when going above and beyond not only by doing simply what was expected.

A small family like quaint restaurant. When we arrived we were told there would be an hour and a half wait. We were entertaining a friend for his birthday who already was having a grand time, New Orleans style before we arrived. We were just leaving the St. Patrick's Day parade so you do the math . Needless to say we all needed to get some food in us.

While waiting, the bartender gave the birthday boy a drink. We only waited about 39 minutes before being seated. Our friend graciously entertained everyone in the restaurant by announcing it was his birthday. All in fun, they joined in acknowledgment and wished him a happy birthday! He was thrilled and the staff weren't annoyed like I would imagine some others might be.

Our drinks, appetizers, and meals came out quickly. The waitress was pleasant and attentive and carefully reconfigured our meals. The garlic butter cornbread was nothing short of good! The ribeye was some of the best steak I've ever had. The entire visit and experience was nothing short of amazing!

I've been to their sister restaurant Crabby Jacks many times but never to their dinner restaurant. We knew the wait might be bad but it was over an hour. However we got lucky with bar spots almost immediately. The bar service was great and a fun atmosphere. I got the blackened redfish with maque choux and red beans and rice. Definitely the best local food we had while in NOLA.

We got the gumbo to share. It said it came with potato salad and I forgot that part by the time it came out. I would say that is a skip if I came back.

We got the crème brûlée for dessert and I'm normally not a huge fan but theirs had such a deep vanilla carmel flavor that I would get that again!