Vintage New Orleans: Jacques-Imo's

Have you missed me? How has your February been? We went to Rome, Paris, London, and Amsterdam! It was pretty awesome.

My good friend is going to New Orleans soon, so I'm going to post about our two trips from October and December first.

And who doesn't love New Orleans?

When we landed during Columbus Day weekend, the first thing we did was head to the extremely popular Jacques-Imo's. If you have a party of five or more, you may make a reservation, but otherwise the no-reservation policy means that waits for this shack-looking restaurant can sometimes last over an hour.

Forty minutes passed before our name was called, and we made our way through the bustling kitchen to the noisy, kitschy, convivial rear dining room.

Was it worth it?

OH, YEAH.

Complimentary cornbread.

Not quite as moist as I'd like but palatable enough for being free.

This plate of golden fried chicken whizzed by us to another table.

It looked fantastic.

Shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake ($9.00).

It sounds really weird, but this is one of the restaurant's specialties. You must get it! Rich! Creamy! Savory! Insanely delicious!

Fried rabbit tenderloin with Creole mustard cream ($9.00).

Meaty, fried, mustardy happiness.

Crabmeat-stuffed shrimp with magnolia sauce ($9.00).

This ain't your regular fried shrimp appetizer! Crab! Crab! Crab!

Godzilla Meets Fried Green Tomatoes ($27.95).

The pièce de résistance! We couldn't resist this because of its fun name. "Godzilla" was actually a big fried soft-shell crab! On a bed of wondrous fried green tomatoes! Amazing! We also enjoyed the side of corn maque choux and mashed sweet potatoes.

It's clear why Jacques-Imo's is a New Orleans institution. It's definitely one of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans. I'd gladly wait again and again.