J. Gumbo’s

Excellent food. If you like spicy food, the Vodoo Chicken is a must. Not too hot, it guarantees a great lunch. The sweet corn bread is definitely a nice detail

This food is soooo delicious! I have had the bumblebee stew mixed with the drinker chicken as we as the bot on chicken mixed with the chicken zydeco. Both entrées are superb! You must go there

awesome place! great service and truly delicious food.
I had the bumble bee stew and drunken chicken, lots of flavor. A must try in this place!!!
Also had the crawfish dip! yummmy

Reminds me of living in the Big Easy. Great food, great service, jazz, and Zapp’s potato chips (which is the kicker).

Ordered delivery through Unilocal as this restaurant was advertised as delivering to my address. Received email confirmation that the order was received by the restaurant. Waited for an hour and forty five minutes before calling the restaurant to check on the order. The woman said that although she received the order they do not, in fact, deliver to my location. Didn’t call to inform me.
Just a heads up, if ordering delivery online I would follow up with a phone call the confirm.

Just had a wonderful meal with incredible service! They are just great :-) thanks!

First off, great hospitality. My mother went to do the pick up, couldn’t parallel park, and all we had to do was call and they brought it to the car haha. We ended up ordering: red beans and rice, bumble bee stew, jambalaya, voodoo chicken, and the étouffée. We did order cornbread too but it did not end up in the order, sadface. It was a refunded cost at least when asked!
I usually try to avoid writing reviews for chains since they are about speed to me. But this place… Wow. Should have gone here sooner. Do not miss out! My favorite was the bumble bee stew — sweet but also with a kick. It got my tongue doing a happy dance.
**see me eat #LINvFOOD or #lineatingcleveland on IG**

Excellent food. Drunken chicken and bumble bee stew was my choice of meal today. Perfect amount of spice and very flavorful. Rice, chicken, corn all cooked just right. Nice staff, I mentioned it was my first time the guy hooked me up with 4 sample cups to pick my passion. Skip chipoltle you won’t be disappointed.
Priced nicely for the portion size.

As soon as we walked in we were greeted by the friendly lady behind the counter. She asked us our preferred «heat level» and offered us samples of everything. Every sample tasted better then the last! We ended up with the jambalaya and the drunken chicken over white rice, with cornbread on the side. I could write a whole review on just the cornbread it was that good. Definitely will be coming back it was such a good all around experience!

Interesting place. They offer a variety of gumbo, etoufee, and po’ boy sandwiches. With such a large menu, it was a plus when they allowed me to sample a few options. It was not a plus when the didn’t have the gumbo with shrimp. especially when a large part of the menu calls for shrimp.
I will give them another chance to redeem themselves. What I had was that good.
Oh, I forgot… You can skip the cornbread.

I have been to J. Gumbo’s twice. The only negative things I can say is that their hours should be longer and that there should be more shrimp in the etouffe and more crawfish in the etoufee. Prices are great, serving sizes are large, and staff is friendly. The food does have a heat to it but it’s a good thing. As close to real Cajun food as you can get in Ohio.

I don’t know about this place guys, I just don’t know.
I’m settling on 4 stars, but I have so many mixed feelings about this place.
The good: the space and the service are great. The girl at the counter was ever so friendly and eager to offer samples and her recommendations on what she liked. This combined with how quickly the food is ready are largely the reason I’m settling on 4 stars. The space is big enough so that you don’t feel cramped when you stop in here on a weekdays lunch surrounded by business men doing the same. The menu also has useful descriptions for those that are unfamiliar with what to order, which I find really helpful
What confuses me about this restaurant is what they define as a «po-​boy» To me a po-​boy is a sandwich served on a crispy on the outside yet fluffy on the inside baguette topped high with some form of meat along with lettuce, tomato pickles, hot sauce and some cajun mayo. This place defines a po-​boy as any of their soupy mains served atop a generic submarine bun. You can also get it topped with cheddar cheese, sour cream and green onions, and somewhere in the middle of eating it, you realize what was once a sandwich has become something akin to chili floating on top of a bun to sop up the liquid. Now this isn’t a «bad» sandwich by any means, but I have never seen this labeled as a po-​boy; it really is something else entirely.
To sum up: is the food here tasty? Yes. Is the price reasonable? Yes. Is the service friendly and fast? Yes. Is this what I would consider to be authentic Cajun/​Creole cuisine? I don’t think so. That probably wouldn’t stop me from recommending to others, but with the full disclosure not to come here if that’s what you’re seeking out.

I went in again to try the place out again, and am glad I did – it was hasty of me to judge an inland Cajun spot based off their crawfish dish (which you don’t see much of outside of the Deep South). The bourbon chicken was excellent, as were the red beans and rice. The price point was very good too – you’ll get out for about the same price you’d pay at chipotle.
Thank you for bringing a taste of the bayou up to Cleveland!

Came from LA for a business event. Took a few days to explore the city. Stumbled upon this little gem! Dave took great care of us, the place was spotless, and the food was incredible! So much selection, which we were able to sample, and had such a pleasant experience start to finish! I totally recommend this spot for some good’ol Cajun treats with a great price point. The cornbread was off the chain as well. Super moist, great flavor! My husband and I both loved it!

We are from Los Angeles! We know great food! Dave is the Man! Get some amazing food at a great price! Hot Spot for Cleveland! I almost forgot… The Corn Bread was so moist and delicious! For all you Health People they have Gluten Free Too!
Thank you Dave for making my wife and I feel like family!

Had to stop by the J. Gumbo’s as it was one of the favorite Cajun style places we used to go to at OSU.
I think they have several locations in Ohio but not too many anywhere else.
They serve New Orleans style dishes in a fast food kind of atmosphere. The food here is always good and consistent across franchises. This is a hardy meal that will certainly fill you up with rice, bread, your choice of gumbo, jambalaya, dip etc. You also have a good variety of flavors, from spicy to sweet. You can have your food here or you can take it to go.
There is a small outdoor patio area that is just off the sidewalk of Euclid.
Service was friendly.

Well that was a fantastic lunch! I work across the street from the downtown location of J Gumbos and I finally decided to give it a go. I was starving before my meal and luckily the line was not too busy (but filled up after I got in line). The location is right on Euclid, so there isn’t parking per se but is pretty easily walkable if you are anywhere near Public Square. The restaurant itself had a nice modern rustic look on the inside and had enough seating for when I was in there but most likely gets packed at lunch time.
The lady in front of me was also a first timer and when she asked the server about certain dishes he was very friendly and even offered her samples, a very nice touch in my opinion. From reading their menu previously and reading reviews I had already decided what I was getting and didn’t opt to try samples. I went with a half and half dish of the Drunken Chicken and also the Chicken Red Hot which comes over 2 scoops of white rice. I opted for the shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions on top. It also came with a small slice of bread to accompany the dish.
The Drunken Chicken dish was garlicky, Cajun, creamy goodness. The Chicken Red Hot was more of a buffalo wing sauce style that was actually the one I preferred of the two. I enjoyed the heat with my food and to be honest this one was 100% exactly at the right spice level for me. You are left with that bite that lingers in your mouth and the flavor which was fantastic. I must say the chicken in both dishes was melt in your mouth good as well. I very much enjoyed using the bread with dipping and I may try one of their Po’ Boy sandwiches next time.
My only gripes were the container it was served in which was a Styrofoam box, I would have preferred a plastic box instead as the Styrofoam was kind of flimsy. I also wasn’t aware that getting 2 entrees was an upcharge of $ 2.75 (I believe the menu on the wall said $ 2 extra for 2 entrees) which brought my total to $ 10.25 without a drink, kind of a pricy lunch in my opinion. Even with that J Gumbo’s is definitely a spot I’m happy to have now tried. The staff was friendly, the restaurant was clean and all in all the meal was hearty and filling (would be really great on a cold Cleveland day). Get there!

My friends and I may or may not have been *slightly* inebriated whilst hungrily walking to the Cavs playoff game when we stumbled across J. Gumbo’s one fateful early Summer’s night. I dig me some Cajun/​Creole so I had been meaning to check this joint out, with high hopes. And man, they did not dissappoint.
As we walked in, we were happily surprised by all the delicious menu options and had trouble deciding — thankfully the very friendly server offered us all free samples so we could decide. I ended up with the Chicken Zydeco and my friends had the Drunken Chicken and Bourbon Chicken. We all tried each others’ dishes and loved them all. The food was well balanced in both flavor and spice, and each hit the spot — oh, mon chèri, did it hit the spot. All our meals were very proportionate, served with bread, and very economical. A much better quick option than other restaurants in the area and certainly at the Q.
If you’re craving something filling, hearty, flavorful, quick, spicy, cheap, or different (or any of the combination the above) you will be well served with this New Orleans style joint.

If you like cajun/​creole cooking then you’ve found the place!
The chicken red hot and drunken chicken are my go-​to choices. Flavorful and rich sauces with super tender chicken smothering rice in a very large portion size — perfect for the chilly Cleveland weather.
J. Gumbo’s has been my favorite find for 2014.

Spicy, saucy pulled chicken served over rice with cheese on top? Huge, heaping portions of tummy warming goodness? Samples of anything you want – for free? And impeccable, friendly, smiling service?
This is a recipe for a great meal.
The food is delicious. I tried the Chicken Red Hot and the Drunken Chicken over rice – both were spicy, seasoned well and comforting. I think both could have been spicier, but I also understand that they’re catering to a very large crowd of different (and weaker) taste buds. Plus they put hot sauces on each table AND you add jalapenos to your dish. And honestly, everything was perfectly seasoned. The Red Hot Chicken is for those who love spicy, buffalo sauce. The Drunken Chicken is more of a cajun flavor, just as spicy, but not as vinegar-​y.
Besides the food, the service is what really shines. First of all, in the line (which was busy) the guys don’t rush you while you’re trying to choose from all the delicious-​looking items on the menu. They were happy to give samples and even suggest an item that I hadn’t considered after hearing how much I love spicy foods! Then, the gal at the register was sugary sweet – then she was even nicer later on, when she brought us takeout boxes, bags and chatted us up.
The line does get long during lunch, but it moves quickly. So don’t let that defer you – the parking situation on the other hand… now that’s always unforgivable. Ha.