Big Jones

I had come here for dinner a while ago and although overpriced, I remembered the experience and the food being really good.
This time around though, not so much. I came here for brunch this past Sunday and left a bit disappointed. The service was not very attentive, had to ask twice or the host for certain items, as the server would forget, the restaurant was not even busy.
The food was good but nothing to rave about, grits were rather dry than creamy, everything else was pretty bland. I’d say worth a visit if you’re in the area or live nearby, far better places in the city for a detour, at least for brunch.

The food here is mostly pretty great. It just costs too much. And that’s fine. I’ll pay a little more for really good food, even if I feel like it’s not a good value, because sometimes you gotta treat yo self.
BUT. The service is really inattentive for a «nice» restaurant. Our waiter really couldn’t be bothered to stop by our table even though we were literally his only table. I know folks on Unilocal have a tendency to exaggerate that sort of thing… but at 5 on a Friday… there was us and one other table… and about 4 serves. Throughout the meal… there was an outrageously loud pounding coming from the kitchen. I’m assuming they were prepping something that required it… but it dining while it sounds like someone it building a house is not a very luxurious experience.
At these prices… A meal should feel special. Here… it doesn’t.

I love this place!!! Both for the food and the service.
Service:
We walked in without a reservation, so we sat at the bar. The bar tender was extremely friendly and he made good recommendations for food!
Food:
We ordered fried chicken and corn bread! They are so good!!! The corn bread is really fresh with sweet corn kernels inside. The fried chicken came with a sweet potato side dish which is absolutely delicious.
Will definitely come back again! Maybe to try out their brunch items!

This place has been a Chicago hype machine ever since I moved to the city 7+ years ago. Finally had a chance to come here a few Sunday’s ago for brunch with a friend. The place was packed but we were seated right away with our reservations. The ambiance here is nice. It’s a light, comfortable and upscale southern setting. Unfortunately, that’s where the «good ends.»
We ordered popovers, gumbo, shrimp and grits and some drinks. Typically, a meal at a restaurant, the first thing to arrive are the drinks right? Wrong. Then, your appetizer is the next thing to arrive right? Wrong again. Our gumbo and shrimp and grits were served first. About 5 minutes after they came, our drinks were finally served once we were close to halfway done with our main courses. After we were about ²⁄₃ done with our meal I had to get up and walk over and ask our waiter where our popovers were. He ran back to the kitchen and then came out and said they were not ready and that it would be a few more minutes. By this point, we were finished with our meals and we said forget about it. The waiter did comp our drinks but it was still a very frustrating experience. The service was just off in every way.
In terms of the actual food, the shrimp and grits were below average. Both my friend and I both said that shrimp were very tough. The gumbo was decent but being the hype machine that this place is, I was expecting much much more.
Overall, cool setting, bad service, below average food considering the hype and prices. I for one, will not be coming back to this place.

Came here for dinner because we wanted some southern soul food. Came to find this place was pretty highly rated. So we gave it a try.
The décor was pretty nice look like a pretty fancy place to sit down and eat. Had a decent amount of space. And various tables and hit tops and a bar area.
The service was nice accepted a reservation for 2 half a hour ahead of time during there busy hours. The server was also very nice and patience with us ordering our food and informing us of what the specials are. Difficult part was specials are memorized by the waiters and they spoke really quick so trying to think about ordering that was kinda difficult.
The food was alright. They had there ups and downs such as one of the main entrée attraction was there fried chicken which was well fried with a crispy skin and the mean was moist still. The part that was so good in my mind was there gumbo. Color was off at first look and the taste just didn’t taste the same or even remotely close to what I had at New Orleans.
Overall decent drink list so I’d go for fried chicken but in general the feeling for getting soul food there is alright a bit pricey overall

Went here for brunch on a Sunday morning when family was in town. Seems like it’s a popular spot too, because there was a line when we arrived and I was really glad we’d booked a reservation. The restaurant seems pretty small, and it got a little awkward when I sat down because I felt like I was always in the way when a waiter was trying to move past our table. But all around, the interior is nice and it wasn’t terribly loud for how many people were there.
The food was GREAT. The gluten-​free selection was awesome, and it’s always refreshing when I can go to a brunch place and not have to default to an omelet because I can’t have normal bread. I had some sort of french toast dish, I believe. (Can’t quite remember. I do know that it was something I normally can’t have, and that was reason enough for me to be excited.)
Aside from the tight space, everything else was really pleasant. Our waiter was very friendly, and the owner stopped by our table more than once. Definitely will come back here sometime soon. I’d definitely recommend making a reservation though. The place fills up fast on Sunday morning.

Very tasty food. Great southern fare in small, intimate environment. They also have an awesome bourbon list. We started with drinks… Apparently they were out of all draft beers (???) and only had half a pour of the whiskey I ordered. On the plus side… That pour was on the house.
Getting into the food, we had gumbo to share to start which was a unique form of spicy and really tasty. For entrees I had the fried chicken which was fantastic and the wife had the shrimp and grits which she thoroughly enjoyed. Good place and would go back.

Interesting Southern restaurant in the middle of the Andersonville neighborhood. What’s not to love about a dainty shop with gumbo soup, andouille sausages and free beignets?
Similar to Dove’s Luncheonette, I love the accented blue plates.

My new theory is that I just hate loud restaurants. Even if the food is good, high volume just dulls all your other senses and you might not be able to taste all the subtleties in the food. Of course, sometimes the food just plain sucks, and apparently umami is not effected by this, so… there are probably exceptions.
I’m saying this as a disclaimer because we went to Big Jones when there were two other parties there the entire time we dined, so we had great service, time to chat with our server, and hear each other while we completely were able to taste and appreciate the food, which came very quickly. Looks like this place could get loud though…
We had a really great early dinner/​late lunch here on a weekday. First of all, GREAT coffee. Intelligentsia, but batch machine brewed, but wow, for restaurant coffee it was great, and the bean was actually showcased! Almost never happens.
Of the food, most were delicious. Some concepts didn’t work flavor-​wise for me, but they were definitely distinct and flavorful, and I understand how they could work in my head.
The fried chicken is some of my favorite in the city, along with some kickass collard greens
Hog’s head pâté, really enjoyable and reasonably priced appetizer
Jalapeño cornbread is not to be skipped
The banana buckwheat pancakes may have been a little over the top sweet, but perfect if that’s what you’re looking for.
Overall, I was really surprised that even during the down time hours, it really felt like somebody back there was cooking with care and love, like Southern cooking should be. Everything was executed so well, and very delicious.
Also, they had Krystal as their house hot sauce. So y’know, it’s a credible restaurant.
We are definitely stopping by for dinner some time soon.

Great food!
Only buff is the restaurant called me twice yesterday to confirm a reservation within five minutes, and then when I called back 10 minutes later I was bluntly called out for calling back to confirm a reservation during their dinner rush. I was close to cancelling it after that, but I’m glad I took my friends advice and checked the place out.

Look, I love me some fried chicken. And when I saw that Big Jones offered plates of white meat, dark meat, or a mix of both for under $ 20, you could say it was love at first bite. Crispy, crunchy, flaky, tender, juicy — these are all adequate, hunger-​inducing descriptions of Big Jones’ fried chicken. Not only that, but my order definitely hit the spot after a long morning of exploring the city. My only complaint is that the dish was a little bit on the salty side, but when paired with the voodoo greens that accompany it, everything balanced out.
Also, order the ginger sweet tea. It’s not a real southern meal unless you drink some sweet tea.

There was a lot of hype for this place, but that of course meant I needed to try it! I love brunch, and brunch usually loves me. And with so many amazing reviews of this place, I thought it must love me too!
The décor is great and inviting and homey and they don’t exactly rush you out of here, but they are trying to turn tables to a certain extent at least during their brunch hours which I get. You get some free beignets to start with which are covered in powdered sugar and really say good morning to you! They were very, very good.
But my dish of eggs benedict on popovers didn’t have quite as much flavor as I would have liked and my husband also was luke warm about his catfish dish too. They both just lacked that extra burst of flavor – where I did find that burst of flavor was in that side of cheesy grits my friends ordered! That is what I should have gotten and I should have ordered the shrimp and grits, but I went with the popovers I saw float by me in the restaurant… and it just wasn’t anything that special. Definitely better than your typical english muffin, but I think I may have over hyped it in my head… So really grits and beignets really won me over here. So I am guessing I just ordered wrong, but the popovers were supposed to be a signature dish! So Big Jones, maybe you made me not your best popovers?
I still will think of those cheesy grits… can I have that recipe?

After having eaten at Big Jones a dozen times over a handful of years, I’m downgrading my review. The truth is, I’ve never had a single meal there where everything went as it should.
Consistency is key – and consistent they ain’t. And that’s coming from a southern gal who loves Andersonville and wants to love Big Jones just as much.
We took my parents for breakfast this morning and had a typical Big Jones experience: half of the food was cold, the beignets (which, granted, are free) were tough and old, the orange juice was rancid-​tasting, my step-​dad ordered a «chicken fried pork chop,» which any southerner knows means breaded and fried, and it was just a plain, sauteed pork chop, the biscuits were very dry – either old or overcooked, my wife’s bacon was burnt, my crab cakes were cold. I could go on.
We’ve given Big Jones a million chances, probably cause we wanted to love it. But we won’t give it another one; I’m tired of being disappointed.

I won’t lie about looking forward to trying Big Jones and I finally did tonight, on the last day of Restaurant Week 2016. My friend and I came for our 5:30pm reservations and the place was still empty except for a couple of people sitting at the bar. We were seated right away and water was served once we sat down. Our server was okay, she was pleasant but nothing special about making us feel really «welcome». They only have very few wine selections that they offer per glass, mostly are being sold by the bottle so that’s a minus point for me. Here is a breakdown of what I’ve tried at Big Jones tonight:
CAJUN BOUDIN BALLS– crispy pork liver and rice sausage fritter — -it was like crabcake patties but tasteless
COUSH COUSH– the crispy oysters were bleh and hot water cornbread tasted like plain fried bread
FRIED CHICKEN– it was crunchy, seasoned well… The red beans and collared greens which were served with the chicken were good. This dish was delicious but nothing that I am going to rave about.
ALLIGATOR & ANDOUILLE SAUCE PIQUANT– first time trying gator tail and it was interesting. The meat was very chewy and hard to breakdown. I’ve eaten other animal meat/​parts, but I am not a fan of this gator tail.
JALAPENO PEPPER CORNBREAD– served warm in a hot skillet. Very rich, cheesy, with a little kick from the peppers and a little salty.
GATEAUX NA-​NA — it’s basically a praline pie, nothing much to say about it
CALAS– it’s just like a donut, dusted with powdered sugar. Nothing much to say about it as well.
Overall, it was just an okay dining experience for me. I had a good time with my friend but I would say that I’ve had higher expectations about what Big Jones had to offer. maybe I expected too much. Would I recommend it? Maybe if someone wants to try a gator tail dish, I would tell him/​her about Big Jones because it’s the only place I know that serves alligator meat here… but for an extraordinary dining experience that will challenge your tastebuds, specially on a night that you want to explore new flavors, then I will not recommend the place. Sorry, I’m just being honest.

Oohh this place was pretty delicious. I have never heard of this place, and it has so many reviews!
We got the cornbread ($ 6) and probably the lightest cornbread I’ve had. I really liked it and would get it again.
We also had these cornballs with cheese which was also good. ($ 11?)
Both our entrees were good. Iwould come back!

Someone told me the fried chicken here was awesome… its true!
I came here with a buddy for restaurant week yesterday and I loved every bit of it.
Our server Sharmane was pretty good as she was quite helpful especially when we couldn’t find a particular whiskey on the menu; Clyde Mays. I started out with a sazerac and then a Clyde Mays cocktail that was called the Italian something… I can’t remember but it was good
I instantly knew what I wanted once I looked @ the restaurant week menu. I started out with the pair of Cajun Boudin Balls which were amazing. Crispy pork liver and rice sausage fritter along with cayenne mayo made for a delicious appetizer. I then went with the coveted fried chicken… dark meat! I heard it was fried in leaf lard and butter… quite unique. It came on top of greens and had red beans and rice on the side… very good and filling. I forgot that we were owed a dessert with the setup. I had no choice but to go with the Rum Bread Pudding that was accompanied with sautéed bananas and citron ice cream. That may have been the 2^nd best bread pudding I have ever had and a decent portion meaning not too bid as I was full. Just an FYI, the whiskey list here is serious! Enjoy!!!
The place itself has a nice, casual setting with pretty good lighting on the mellow tip. I am a fan of Big Jones and see myself returning for dinner again as well as brunch.

I am so glad they accept reservations online! When we got to the restaurant on Sunday at noon there was a line and we got in right away!
I started off with a great cup of coffee and had such a hard time choosing a dish from the menu. Everything looked good. I decided on something savory so ordered the mushroom and leek omelet with hash browns and really liked my dish especially the crispy through and through hash browns. I really hate that hash browns have the mushy middle, but they did a great job of making theirs super crispy.
My friend had the best looking breakfast, I didn’t get a taste, but she finished it all, the Big Jones Benedict. I will have to give it a try next time.

My boyfriend and I came here based on a recommendation from a friend. The warm and cozy interior was an immediate relief from the chilly Chicago winter. We came around 9:15am for brunch and were seated right away.
I got the Intelligentsia flying blend coffee (which was delicious) and my bf loved the mocha he got. The complimentary beignets were a nice surprise and went great with the hot drinks as we waited for our main order.
I ordered the mushroom and leek omelette with the potatoes side. Absolutely a must to get! I have never seen a more beautiful omelette – the eggs were cooked perfectly: fluffy and moist, and the clean presentation was appreciated. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and had some chopped green peppers inside which gave it a nice something extra.
My bf got the French Toast which had a nice hint of orange, with homemade whipped cream on top. He enjoyed them a lot.
Unlike other brunches where things can feel super greasy and food seems to be thrown on a plate, rather than placed with care, this place stands on its own.
Overall: HIGHLY RECOMMEND. We had a wonderful experience, from the food to the prompt and careful service; this is the way dining out should be.

Solid.
A friend was visiting from abroad and I wanted to give her a full American experience. So the three of us arrived at 7:30 PM on Sunday for some finger-​licking fried chicken. We were immediately seated even without a reservation.
The fried chicken is an obvious must-​order but we also tried the gumbo ya ya. It is very different from ones I have had before. It was very dark and thick, but flavors were smokey and spicy. I especially liked the mix of andouille sausage, chicken and pork. One order isn’t ideal for sharing among three, unless you only want a taste of it.
I had the fried chicken with dark meat, collard greens, and sweet potato. The breading is very unique and exceptional. It was not heavily salted or breaded, but there was a very good crisp without overdoing it. The meat was kept moist and tender. The collard greens and sweet potato, on the other hand, were complete opposites of each other. The greens were a bit too salty and bitter whereas the sweet potato were very sugary.
Lights are pretty dim in here, but it is generally speak easy. I would most likely return for more fried chicken.

I happened to be in Edgewater on a Sunday afternoon, with a hankering for a waffle. Unilocaled «waffle,» open now, highest rated, within six blocks. «Big Jones it is,» my brain decided, just barely before my legs started legging and my arches started arching.
But a quick scan of the menu on the outside window turned off my Pavlovian glands. Top to bottom, bottom to top: no waffles. But what is this? Popovers?!? One of the big joys in my life when I was small that carried over to today!?! They were there alone in their glory at the top of the menu, and served under benedicts at the bottom. Let me confess; I’m not a huge fan of poached eggs or the benedict sauce, though I’ll take a sip of my friend’s Benedictine after-​dinner drink on occasion. And I certainly wouldn’t sully my popovers with anything but sweet butter.
With popovers accompanying no other meals on the menu, I had to get creative. The O’Brien Potatoes sounded promising, and the Tasso ham simmered in some-guy’s-farm cream sounded decadent. (Really, do diners have a clue about these farms?
«Our ham is from ‘Finca Fingida’ [Bogus Estate].»
«Really!!! Let’s have that, honey!!!») Yes, three sides would be the perfect assortment.
Shortly after I sat down, an amuse bouche was set down to entertain me. Actually, about seven bouche-​fuls. I vaguely remember the Café du Monde beignets in the Crescent City, but I won’t forget these. With a perfect doughy-​ness inside, a crispy outside, I was as high as a crescent moon. Already, Big Jones, throw down!
The potatoes turned out to be perfectly-​cook, shredded-​style hash browns. The ham was thick cut, and classily-​accompanied by the cream sauce. The popovers were as fantastic as mama had taught me to make them; and the high-​quality butter was worthy of them.
As good as the food was, Adolpho was an excellent server: being neighborly, without snooping.
The only «burp» in the experience was the price of the mimosas. Eight dollars, when the cava alone cost $ 7? I’ll get my Vitamin C elsewhere today, thank you.

The Chef Paul Fehribach’s vision is forward-​thinking cuisine grounded in the southern traditions of cuisine with a sustainable desire of good healthy food.
As a good french, I did the Tête de Cochon Cajun-​style, the Ponchartrain Lump Crab Cakes, ca. 1885 but very fresh and yummy. Then Reezy-​Peezy, ca. 1730 (They love to circa dishes there!) which is old-​time Gullah dish reborn absolutely great! A friend tried the Awendaw, some ancestral Native American spoonbread from the country just north of Charleston (I read it in the menu!)
Dessert are the same kind of old american fashioned food: Walnut Sorghum Pie, Gallberry Honey & Benne Cake with this delicious butter roux icing… And other treats like apple streusel!
This is my kind of restaurant!!!