Jones Creek Cafe & Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Louisiana

Pros:

Our server Sarah was really nice and handled a large party well. We also received assistance from a blonde waitress with green nails, she was awesome too.

Seating was easy to find and the wait was not too long.

Cons: Everything else.

The water served to us tasted heavy of contamination, something that would happen due to rust in/around the faucet.

We attended this location for brunch and after placing our orders the kitchen waits an hour to tell our server that there will be only enough grits for 3 orders. We speak with the manager to get an understanding of why this is happening as we made it 3 hours before brunch ends. She blames a large party that came in earlier...not a great start. She offers to comp replacement meals (and later does not).

Most of our party reorders and we wait another hour without any refills for endless mimosa mixers and also was told moments later that there is no more waffle mix...wow.

An hour later we are finally beginning to receive our starters, and moments later we are finally receiving orders. I ordered a crawfish and sausage omelette which was slightly bland, but nothing salt and pepper couldn't fix.

The numerous orders were not cooked as requested though the tickets turned in have the specifications of the order. Wings with no sauce, Pontchartrain with no sausage, both orders in correct. After this 2 hour experience of disappoinment half the table returned their food and the other half requested checks so we could leave. When the complaint about the wings is voiced 2 servers WHO DID NOT TEND TO OUR TABLE get visibly upset about our displeasure and begin getting hostile and later yelled "bye!" Baiting us to retaliate against the poor service. We receive our checks, thank Sarah, speak with the manager and begin to file out.

Seconds later we are approached an off duty officer about unpaid checks...for food that was returned. Then we're later approached by police...over food that was returned. Fortunately for us the officers sided with us and nothing came of it. This was easily the worst dining experience I've ever had, and I feel bad for the 2 servers who were doing all they could to make it enjoyable. Poor inventory management, a lazy kitchen, and reluctance to remain civil ruined any positive insight I could provide. If you insist on coming to Jones Creek, please visit the alternate location or avoid them...

I visited Jones Creek Cafe yesterday (Sunday approximately 12:30 pm) with my wife, daughter and two grandchildren. Waitress was nice but was slow to attend our table, we were never offered drink refills. We waited at least 20 minutes after were were finished eating before we got our check after having to ask for it. Later found out they were understaffed so not entirely her fault but I still hold the restaurant responsible. I found it odd we had to ask for salt and pepper. None of the tables had any on them, nor the other normal items like sugar, hot sauce, etc.

My wife and I split a soft shell crab po-boy and an order of onion rings. Upon ordering the waitress was told we were going to split the po-boy and it came out on one platter. We asked for an additional plate and waited almost 10 minutes to get it, all the while our food getting cold. I cannot believe they charged $7.99 for 6 onion rings. They used to be piled high on the platter! In addition, the onions used were from the curved end of the onion making them at least an inch wide. I have history making onion rings and those pieces should be put aside for chopping and not used for rings. Someone didn't care. Also, the onion rings used to be battered better and were more crispy. The legs of the soft-shell crab was very hard and not able to be chewed. My daughter didn't like her cheese grits and the hushpuppies were very dense and lacked flavor. It appears Jones Creek Cafe has diminished significantly the last couple of years. It used to have great service and great food. My wife recalled how our previous experience there was not very good either. Before doing this review I tried to pull up their website and the domain expired. Maybe they don't plan to continue with the restaurant much longer, I don't know, but I doubt we will be back after witnessing a steady decline. There was plenty of seating available where normally places will be packed for the after-church crowd. Evidently, others have noticed the...

They guided us to the seating area, and then had us stand there while they finished their argument over which server was working which section.

The decor is cute, in a hunting/fishing camp, LSU sports-memorabilia, wood panel sort of way.

Server didn't know the beer list, and there was no menu. She returned with a hand-written list, mostly mundane macro brews, plus a few Abitas and (I think?) one other local, maybe Tin Roof.

I order the hamburger first thing in 95% of restaurants. Didn't happen here. When asked, the server checked with the kitchen: the hamburger wasn't made in-house, and he'd only cook as low as medium. I was still pondering giving it a shot - after all, if seasonings, toppings, and bun work out okay, it can still be tasty. Thankfully, I saw one pass by to another table; the bun was just a grocery store bun, so between that and the guaranteed overcooked meat, I took a pass.

The spinach and artichoke dip was super good. I like to see lots of artichoke in my dip, and this had huge chunks of creamy artichoke, cooked all the way through. Kudos there.

I had the roast beef poboy. Bread seemed fairly fresh, but both the bread and the well-done meat were seemed strongly Sysco-type quality (delivered by restaurant supply company, not made in-house).

My partner had one of the specials of the day (according to the board): blackened red fish, with vegetables. This was a step better than my roast beef, but still not good. The fish was served super hot; by the time it was cool enough to eat, the pool of oil it was served in started to gel at the edges. I found it salty - and I really like salt.

Overall, I generally think that I'll give a restaurant multiple tries if I think I had a bad experience that could be corrected; here, I think I had an accurate experience: uninspired, cheaply prepared food. Unfortunately the prices were comparable with nearby City Cafe, which blows this joint out of the park on...