Let me start by saying I had been a regular customer here since the Tombo's days, and even into the early part of the Charlie's Diner era, this was a hidden gem in Jacksonville of quality country cooking, well-seasoned food and generous portions. Sadly, that era appears to be long gone with the most recent ownership change. Tiny portions of totally unseasoned, bland, industrial Sysco can of sadness fare have become the norm and what I was served today was a pale, pale shadow of the quality that this place used to represent, and this was by a long, LONG way the worst meal I've ever had here, and will almost assuredly be my last until their inevitable and looming closing hopefully brings new ownership that actually cares and wants to return this once bright culinary spot to its former glory.
I ordered a dish I've had here and enjoyed in the past, a simple hamburger steak with onions and gravy with sides of red beans and rice and a side of lima beans.
What I was actually served bore ZERO resemblance to the dish I had before, both in portion and flavor. I was brought a sad little "hamburger steak" that was roughly the size of a Big Mac patty, bland, unseasoned and with a strange, and not in a good way flavor. The onions were grilled onions, ok, but again, lacking seasoning, which was a theme that continued with the gravy, bland, flavorless goop that at least served as lube to get the... "steak" down and somewhat mask its unfortunate flavor, had I not been absolutely famished having skipped breakfast, I would've just sent it back, but managed to power through it after raining DESPERATELY-needed salt and pepper all over it.
The sides were even worse, at this point I should probably mention that I'm Cajun, raised on EPIC red beans & rice every Monday, made by my AWESOME Cajun cook Paw-paw, who had a very successful food truck business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast back in the 80s, long before food trucks became as popular and prolific as they are today. Now I never expected these red beans to compare with his, made with real andouille sausage and tasso ham, but I've had them here before, and they were actually pretty decent, and they even came with smoked sausage in them, not bad at all, but what they brought out to me today was obviously a can of industrial sadness, corporate Sysco kidney beans with no detectable seasoning whatsoever, poured over what tasted like boil in the bag minute rice. Again, NOT good.
If you're picking up on the theme here, the limas were exactly the same, ZERO detectable seasoning or flavor, CLEARLY just warmed up from a can. No meat of any type to help flavor them, no onions I could detect, just beans and bean water. GROSS.
I'm actually seriously saddened to see what has become of one of my former favorite lunch spots in Jacksonville, but THAT garbage was one of the worst meals I've been served at a restaurant in recent memory, and again, a pale, pale shadow of the place it used to be.
To the ownership, if you should happen to read this, I would suggest watching a few episodes of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, where he goes in to try and save failing restaurants and see if the first few minutes remind you of anything, because every single episode starts with EXACTLY what I saw today, a formerly popular, successful restaurant where someone's gone in, went cheap and let their food go to absolute HELL while six elderly customers collect dust waiting for their bland, flavorless, heartless food to arrive. I'm not sure he's still filming that show or I would nominate you for it, you'd be the perfect fit!
Diminishing portions, diminishing flavor = diminishing customer base and profit, EVERY time. All you have to do to fix this is simply go back to what made the old restaurant a success in the first place, and quit being cheap and uncaring about the quality of the food you serve, it really is THAT simple. Otherwise, and I forsee this happening sooner than later, you WILL kill this restaurant and be out of...
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