Jubilee Joe's Cajun Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Hoover

I can't say it's the best Cajun restaurant I've ever been to, but it certainly was far from the worst. The vibe of the place definitely reminded of some non-touristy restaurants I've been to in New Orleans proper, for better or worse. It's kind of a small place, cramped and a bit dark... Not really clean, either. Again, just like New Orleans!

My diner partner and I tried the boudin balls appetizer, which was passable. The boudin used is exceptionally creamy and smooth, which was unusual as I've always had more chunky preparations. It was not strongly flavored, so it should be a good dish for picky eaters. A light light hit of red pepper was the most prominent flavor. There was almost no offal taste at all.

For the main event I got the blackened gator poboy with a side of seafood gumbo instead of the default chips. The gator pieces were on the small side but plentiful; the blackening was light, with zero heat but the light flavor actually complemented the gator, which is a bit game-y compared to, say, chicken. The Gambino bread was great.

The seafood gumbo was good standard gumbo: not spicy, not bitter and not too watery. Again, a light pepper was the only source of heat in this bowl. The overall flavor profile reminded me a lot of a gumbo that a friend's New Orleans-born and raised mom made for me. There wasn't much in the way of seafood in it, sadly, except for a crab claw that was all shell and no meat. The rice was also undercooked and hard but not inedible.

The remoulade served with the boudin balls also complimented the gator. It has no kick whatsoever, and is quite thick and creamy, almost the consistency of Zaxy's chicken fingers sauce.

Sweet tea was passable (which is about as good as one can hope for from Louisiana) and service was acceptable if a bit scatterbrained. It was clear that there was too much going on for too few people to handle on the weekend I visited.

My dining partner had one of the seafood pasta specialities that was marked with a "slightly spicy' mark but it was not spicy at all. The cream sauce and tri-color pasta were bland, only the great sausage had any real bite to it.

Overall, a pretty authentic representation of New Orleans' signature style -- Cajun, but more Creole and...

This is one restaurant I had high hopes for. They started out great. The food was so good and staff friendly. So much so, that I asked my friends to go. However, they have significantly fallen off. They made a few mistakes with my food orders a few months ago and I thought no big deal. Yall, I was eating at this place weekly. I decided to take a break after the last incident and due to rudeness of what I suppose is the manager. She was a piece of work. Fast forward, to this weekend I decided to give them another chance because of family wanted to try it. This was my first experience eating inside so I though maybe this will be a better experience than pickup and it's possible they fixed the problem. Whew! The first faux pas was no welcome at the door. Then we were not allowed to sit in booths because they said our party needed to be at least 8 people. I have no idea how 8 people would fit in the booths that varied in size, but okay. We arrived inside of the last two hours of service and there was only one group of 6 people sitting in the practically empty booth section. Noted. We sat outside by the entryway being bumped by some staff that walked by. We did not have many options because some tables were waiting to be cleaned. The only saving grace for this experience is that the chargrilled oysters and drink I ordered was good. The crab legs and shrimp were the worst I have ever seen in a restaurant. They were overcooked and dry with seasoning just dumped on it. How do you dry out boiled or steamed crab legs or shrimp? I'm guessing they were zapped in the microwave. I wish I had taken a picture. Eating inside I found out there was no presentation to the food. I'm going to stop here because I could go on but needless to say, this is my LAST time eating at Jubilee Joe's. On the BRIGHT SIDE, I found some other great cajun and seafood restaurant options during my hiatus from them. VERDICT: They are hit or miss now. May experience...

It was my very first time to eat there also it will be my last! We had two birthdays we were celebrating my niece and my little brother. After much confusion I made reservations online which was inconvenient because you could only reserve for ten guest at a time so I had to make two reservations! My niece had asked while she was dining there and her server told her to just call ahead and tell them your gonna have a large party When she did that the.person who answered the phone told her she should have made a reservation. She explained to him what she was told and he said we would just have to wait! She told him we would probably just go somewhere else he said ok and hung up! When she called me and made we aware of the situation I proceeded to try and help. She told me she had tried to make reservations on line and couldn't .I assume it's because you could only reserve ten guest at a time. We had been planning this for awhile so we did not change restaurants, all 20 people were coming there. As I said I made the reservations and in a little while one of the managers called. She explained to me exactly how it was gonna work! Only 10 people to a table we would not be seated until every one got there. I asked if we could have tables close together and her response was I have other reservations and I also have walk in customers. Sure you do that's a given! When we got there we stood at the hostess stand for a good 10 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us. Our ticket was just under 160.00 for 3 people the food was subpar the waitress tried the manager was not accommodating at all. I give the 1 on...