Jesse James Foods — Restaurant in Batesville

Not long ago, I saw a lot of people on Facebook raving about Jesse James Food, so my husband and I decided to try it for lunch. When we first looked at the menu, the prices were a bit surprising, but after seeing the portions and presentation of food at other tables, we thought it seemed reasonable. That was until our own food arrived—and we were very disappointed.

I ordered the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich, and my husband ordered the Patty Melt. My sandwich came with just chicken and bread—no lettuce, tomato, onion, or anything else. The grilled chicken itself was dry, and the hot honey sauce tasted more like plain honey with a little bit of pepper sprinkled in for a slight kick. Honestly, it had almost no flavor at all.

My husband’s Patty Melt was greasy to the point that it was dripping, yet still lacked seasoning—no salt, no pepper, nothing. It was just heavy and oily. We tried to eat some of it, but it was so unpleasant that we couldn’t finish and ended up leaving most of it behind. And the bill came out to $34.45, which made it even more disappointing.

For me, there’s a big difference between leaving a meal feeling pleasantly full—light and satisfied—versus feeling stuffed, heavy, and uncomfortable. I’ll always choose the first kind of fullness, but unfortunately this place left us with the second.

I honestly don’t understand how so many people can say this food is “delicious.” It really makes me wonder what kind of meals they normally eat.

(After reading your reply my review) How do you expect good reviews? ​Your cooking will never get better if you just take customer reviews so personally. And isn't the whole point of a review to share my personal experience with others so that it can be helpful? I shouldn't lie about my experience, right? I just wrote about what I personally experienced and tasted, and you're scolding me for that. If you only want good reviews, then improve your skills. Don't reply with emotional comments to reviews that you don't like reading. If I had made you try that chicken sandwich I ordered that day, you wouldn't be replying to me like this. And I specifically said the patty melt my husband had was unseasoned, not the chicken. ​I can applaud your confidence, but honestly, your cooking is just so disappointing. ​Let me add one more thing: wouldn't it be a better use of your energy to take customer feedback as a tool to improve your cooking skills rather than getting so emotional about it? The chicken was so dry, it had no juice at all and tasted like rubber, and the sauce, which supposedly had ghost pepper in it, wasn't spicy at all—it just tasted...

I hate to complain and I know everyone has off days but the food was absolutely terrible. We ordered boudin balls and that came to the table undercooked, the sausage was cold and obviously raw in the center. We showed the waitress and she talked to the chef and came back and told us he was out of boudin balls so he made homemade one with beef. It was not beef it was 100% breakfast sausage. So we told her we couldn’t eat them like that and she took them off the table. Our meals came out, my friend got a breakfast plate and her bacon was completely burned. I got the eggs Benedict and I know it comes with sunny side up eggs, which I eat but this wasn’t just supper runny yoke. The white parts of the eggs were just runny clear goop everywhere. It needed to be cooked a minute longer and the hollandaise sauce just tasted like honey mustard. We got our bill and they didn’t even take off the boudin balls. So I asked the waitress to take them off because they weren’t edible and she said she would have to ask the chef. The bill went from $39 to $31 so they didn’t even take off the full price of the boudin. Anyways as expensive as everything is now it is very disappointing to pay for food you didn’t even eat. I was told by many people to try this place out so I know people have had good experiences but mine was very disappointing. I do not believe I would be willing to try it again with the way they handle...

Man, am I happy I stopped here. The food is delicious. For 11 bucks I got a chicken breast on a bed of Cajun pasta, Parmesan covered broccoli, and a piece of toast top mop up every last drop of the sauce. If you can find a better deal for lunch you made it at home.

The flavor was impressive, but more so was the atmosphere. The little train car makes for a unique dining experience and the friendliness of the staff is necessary given the intimate setting. Nona and Jesse were very entertaining and the small talk felt effortlessly natural. After expressing how delicious everything was Jesse told me all about their award winning burgers, and it’s easy to see why. I’m excited to try one on my next visit. I can’t imagine there are any misses on their menu, but the lunch specials will be hard to beat. If you find yourself hungry in Batesville you owe it to yourself to...