The Jambalaya Shoppe — Restaurant in Hammond

I came here with high expectations, only to be very disappointed. I have now come here twice two weeks apart and I feel this is a fair and honest review.

Environment: Very clean and organized, doesn't feel overcrowded. Layout is nice and open, lots of windows and natural light.

Staff: Overall very friendly, can be a little too helpful as they may stand over you waiting for you tray as you take your last bite. They will offer suggestions if you can't make your mind up, or to refill your cup as you eat.

Food: Oh the food.... Well the portions are nice and fair for the price. Some of the items offered on their menu are better than the others. I have tried several menu items and will only review those as it's not fair for me to review what I haven't had.

Jambalaya: The first thing I should note here is my expectation of this is perfection being its literally the name of the shop.... Result... DRY. Both times I have visited, during the lunch rush by the way, the jambalaya was extremely dry. I believe this is due to the excessive amount being cooked at one time and being stored as it is sold. The flavor is more on the bland side as I wasn't nearly as blown away as I expected to be. I would not recommend the jambalaya if you came here to eat.

Pastalaya: Honestly the best thing they have going for them. The pastalaya was tender and the flavor was much better than the jambalaya. The portion given to me was very fair for the price and I was satisfied with this dish the most.

Red Beans: Throw away the recipe now. I don't know what is going on with those red beans but they are awful. I would consider this more of a beans boiled in water dish than anything. No flavor, no consistency, just plain awful. Also this is served with no rice... I don't know why.

Crawfish Etouffee: Mediocre at best. I have had etouffee all over Louisiana and my entire life, not very impressed with it here. Price wise it is one of the more expensive dishes offered, however they give you one of the smallest portions for the price. Flavor is mild but present, consistency is OK. The roux isn't as dark as most etouffee's you'll find. Their is a serious lack of crawfish and too much white rice in my opinion.

On my last visit I made one request. I wanted crawfish etouffee to be put on top of the jambalaya and I wasn't concerned with the cost. They could not make this happen. I asked several times and they just couldn't get it done. So I asked for the crawfish etouffee with no white rice and two sides of jambalaya to do it myself since they were not wanting to do it. The cashier put the order in and then a women from the kitchen came out with an attitude and told the cashier that customers can only have one protein and regular sides.... It was unnecessary especially in front of customers waiting in line. I was disappointed in how this was handled, not because of my request not being filled but because of the treatment of this employee who was trying to fill a customer's request.

Overall I would not recommend the Jambalaya Shoppe as a place to eat. The food quality is bland and not up to par. If you've had Jambalaya & Co a few years back by the college don't get your hopes up, it's nothing...

I got here about quarter past 7 and they close at 8 so I understand it was later in the day but the food quality of a restaurant should not take a dive just because it's later in the shift. I was a little undecided when I got here and was debating getting the seafood gumbo or a couple other of their menu items. I don't know if the lady behind the counter was getting impatient with me or what, but she actually suggested that for some of those particular items I was asking about, that I go to a restaurant down the road called Don's Seafood! I Ordered the Shoppe gumbo. When a restaurant is named "the jambalaya Shoppe", you would think the jambalaya would be spot on, but it was far from it. It came with a lame sized bowl of gumbo with a chicken thigh taking up most of the bowl. the broth was greasy, but had good flavor. It also came with jambalaya that was a huge portion of mostly seasoned rice and dried overcooked chicken pieces throughout. I have had a lot of jambalaya in my life, and can make some pretty good jambalaya myself; but this is some of the worst I have ever had - the rice was sticky but dry and flavorless, except for the seasoning. It literally had no other ingredients in it besides the over cooked dried out chicken. This dish also came with a salad that I had to pick some rotten lettuce out of. The red beans that came with it were okay; I have had worse - but again,...

Just say no.

My partner asked how hot the Jambalaya was and the counter person said not very hot. My partner still had reservations, so the counter person brought us a sample. My partner was pleased that it wasn’t very hot. I figured I would make due by adding hot sauce. The Jambalaya and a roll were only $6.99 so I doubled down and ordered the Seafood Gumbo also.

The Jambalaya was bland with some strange tasting chicken and very little sausage. My partner didn’t even notice the sausage at all. There were no visible onions and certainly no green onions on top. It was the end of the day so I will excuse the sticky rice. I added a bunch of their very mild hot sauce, but it couldn't save the Jambalaya.

If you want 100% better Jambalaya, buy a package of ZATARAIN'S Jambalaya Mix (Spicy variety of you can find it), substitute Shiner Bock Beer for the water, ½ pound of thinly sliced andouille sausage, ½ pound of small chunked chicken tenders. Cook according to directions and top generously with chopped green onions.

The Seafood Gumbo was somewhat better, but the only identifiable seafood was cocktail sized shrimp.

They are a fast food place and don’t have beer. I thought Cajuns drank beer with everything.

This place might pass for decent 500 miles of more from Louisiana, but no where near good enough...