The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris. . . Revised May 2009 #113 Jacques-Imo’s Cajun. Riverbend.: 8324 Oak. 504-861-0886. Map. Dinner Monday-Saturday. Very Casual AE DC DS MC V www.jacquesimoscafe.com   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   Jacques-Imo’s is a cult restaurant, so popular that eating there almost always requires as a preface a good bit of time waiting, out on the sidewalk. This owes to an intentional funky-chic style many people believe is indispensable for a genuine New Orleans dining experience. The food is along the same lines, with a latter-day pop-Cajun quality that stops just short of cliche. It's very convincing at the atmospheric level.   WHY IT'S GOOD   Jacques-Imo's food really is good. It's made with more-than-decent ingredients and cooked with genuine local flavors and techniques. On the other hand, it's not nearly as good as its most fervent fans would have you believe.   BACKSTORY   Owner Jack Leonardi, former K-Paul's chef (and Tulane MBA), opened Jacques-Imo's in 1996. In the beginning, when the place wasn't very busy, he'd come to your table, as what you'd like to eat (that could be almost anything you wanted then), and return to the kitchen to cook it. Or Austin Leslie--legendary New Orleans soul-food chef, who was associated with the restaurant back then--would fry his fabulous chicken for you. After a year or so, the menu gelled, Jack expanded his dining areas, and the phenomenon was born. It became the keystone of a growing restaurant community in the historic Oak Street commercial district. In 2002, Jack opened Crabby Jack's, a combination commissary for the cramped restaurant and a poor-boy restaurant, in Old Jefferson.   DINING ROOM   The kitchen is in the middle of the old, minimally spiffed-up building. You walk through it to the larger of the two dining rooms, a sort of hut built into what was once a courtyard. A few tables are scattered here and there in the rest of the building. All have a vague Creole voodoo in their decor.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Fried green tomatoes meets Godzilla (a soft-shell crab), or with shrimp remoulade. Shrimp and grits. Shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake. Eggplant with oyster dressing. Fried oysters with spicy garlic sauce. Duck and andouille gumbo. Fried chicken. Stuffed pork chop. Cajun bouillabaisse. Blackened tuna. Panneed rabbit with oyster-tasso pasta. Banana cream pie. White chocolate bread pudding.   FOR BEST RESULTS   Avoid dining here at Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras, or any other time that brings in large numbers of young New Orleans fans. They'll take reservations (no more than a month in advance) for five or more people, which makes life much easier. Beware enormous portions; two courses is plenty. Know that the restaurant closes for the month of August.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   A certain amount of chaos is inherent in the Jacques-Imo's act, and probably could not be remedied without changing the experience. The platters can have so much food that they become a mess.   FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD   Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter. Dining Environment -1 Consistency -1 Service Value +2 Attitude +1 Wine and Bar Hipness +2 Local Color +3   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Outdoor dining Open Monday Well-known chef Historic Unusually large servings Reservations accepted Click here for an index to all 200 Essential Restaurant reviews. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com