After reading a very favorable review of J Gumbo's new foray into breakfast, my wife and I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, we were quite disappointed. As a matter of fact, it was near disastrous. The Breakfast menu (referred to as Debbie's Diner) is only available at the Crescent Hill location. Based on my experience, it won't be appearing at others any time soon.
We eat out a lot, and as a general rule, going to a restaurant in this city right after a great review is not a good idea. With that said, many of the mishaps were simply inexcusable.
After placing our order it literally took 45 minutes to receive our food. We have a 10 month old son and by this time he was quite cranky and ready to go. The table next to us had a young child and actually left before getting their meal because they simply couldn't wait any longer. This is breakfast...it's supposed to be quick!
Unfortunately the food could not make up for the extremely slow service. I ordered eggs benedict and they did not remember to put the meat on the English muffin. And, of course, my eggs were extremely overcooked. My wife ordered a simple breakfast of eggs, toast, and grits. The eggs were cold, grits were instant and tasteless, and the "toast" was more like soggy bread.
The server was apologetic and even said that a kitchen member quit in the middle of their shift. I have worked in restaurants and I try to be as empathetic as possible, but there was really nothing positive to report about our experience. Well one thing... the beignets were good.
If you are brave and want to try J Gumbo's breakfast despite my report, I would at least wait a month or so to let them get things under control. Either way, you have been warned.
