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Shrimp remoulade.

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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

starstarstarstar
Excellent and ambitious.

starstarstar
Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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Joey K’s

Neighborhood Cafe.
Uptown: 3001 Magazine. 504-891-0997. Map.
Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday.
Very Casual
MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
It's a super-neighborhood restaurant, drawing customers from all over town with a menu bigger than is usually found in places that look like this. All the essential dishes of casual New Orleans eating are here, from beans and jambalaya to seafood platters and daily specials.

WHY IT'S GOOD
It's a classic New Orleans casual menu, almost to the point of cliche. But they take all of it seriously and cook it well. The daily specials are particularly good, enough so that many of the customers know exactly which day to be there for what. Portions are almost grossly oversize, and if that's not enough, they have an all-you-can-eat catfish deal that runs every day.

BACKSTORY
Clay Farnet opened Joey K's in 1992, a time when neighborhood restaurants were in steep decline around town. In its early years the restaurant was self-consciously nostalgic, serving famous dishes that not many people ate in restaurants anymore. When neighborhood joints had a resurgence, particularly after Katrina, Joey K's seemed a perfect example of the genre--especially after exposing the antique decor under what had become a shabby outer skin.

DINING ROOM
A big room with big windows on two sides (this is literally a corner cafe), with some nooks and crannies here and there for added space. The place looks (and is) much older than the current restaurant. Although it looks like the kind of place where the main clientele would be cab drivers and cops, in fact you see the entire assortment of Orleanians here, including a surprisingly large number of Uptown ladies and businesspeople. The wait stuff is fun.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Onion rings.
Shrimp remoulade.
Fried artichoke hearts.
Fried crab claws.
Eggplant Napoleon.
Seafood gumbo.
Seafood poor boys.
Roast beef poor boy.
Shrimp Magazine (artichoke hearts, ham, green onions on pasta).
Trout Tchoupitoulas (fried, with crab and shrimp).
Fried seafood platters.
Fried catfish (all you can eat).
Fried chicken.
Hamburger steak.
White or red beans and pork chop (Monday special).
Stewed chicken (Tuesday special).
Boiled brisket and cabbage (Wednesday special).
Creole jambalaya (Friday special).
Bread pudding.
Apple cobbler.

FOR BEST RESULTS
Order light. They serve too much food here. Don't wear your best clothes. It's usually hard to get a table in the peak of lunchtime.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Some of the specials swap quantity for careful cooking. The fried seafood is crisp and hot, but the coatings all taste the same.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 12/20/2009.

A list of all 300 full, current reviews is here.