Gumbo's has changed more than location

NNTP-Posting-Date: 3 Dec 1998 22:33:52 GMT
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Last week, a group of us (5 people in all) decided to head over to the new Gumbo's location for dinner.  We found that not only has the restaurant location changed but that the menu and the attitude of the restaurant is different than before.

The first thing that we were told was that the menu had changed because the restaurant had moved "upscale".  They let us look at the menu while we waited for our table.  The first thing we noticed is that the gumbo varieties are no longer available.  The only gumbo that is available is seafood gumbo and that only comes as part of an entree (alternative choices:  red beans and rice or seafood etoufee).  The entree prices now range from $18 to $28.  Many of the items that they used to sell no longer exist on the menu (I used to always order the blackened fish- of-the-day with sauteed shrimp and it was one of the items that has disappeared).

When I first looked into the seating area, I was surprised to see that the dining area isn't much different in size from the previous location. Another change that we quickly discovered was that they would not push tables together to form larger tables.  They were willing to put all 5 of us either at a single table or to split us up at different tables.  We managed to squeeze the 5 of us at a single table but there wasn't any room to spare.  If a group of 6 or more people were to show up, they will end up at separate tables.

After a relatively short wait (15 minutes) we were seated.  When we received the cup of gumbo (that is now a part of the entree) we found that the gumbo now comes in a cup-sized container -- not the small bowl that Gumbo's used to serve it in.  Nor was the gumbo the same:  the seafood gumbo used to be so full of seafood that it was piled high in the bowl.  Now, the gumbo is much more soupy and contains a fraction of the seafood in it.

The portion size of the gumbo wasn't the only thing to shrink.  The entree sizes, in general, seemed to be much smaller than in the past. I used to order a cup of gumbo and the blackened fish and I would leave the restaurant stuffed.  When I was finished with my blackened halibut with crawfish etoufee, I still had plenty of room for dessert (something that almost never happened at the old restaurant).  The pumpkin bread pudding (served on tasted like creme anglais with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream) was tasty and was just as big as it ever was.

The 5 of use ended up with a bill of $137 (before tip).  This included 1 beer, 1 gin & tonic and two desserts.

In summary, those people who go expecting to see the old Gumbo in a new location will be disappointed.  The portion sizes are significantly smaller and many items are no longer on the menu.  Groups larger than 5 people will not be able to sit together at the same table.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Jim Lahue                              | Disclaimer:  All expressed [email removed]                     | views are mine alone and not RS/6000 Division, IBM Corp             | necessarily shared by IBM