My wife and I went to Big Jones - the coastal Southern restaurant in Andersonville - recently (we had lived near Atlanta for seven years, and she is from north Florida), and while there were sparks of excitement, in general the meal was disappointing. The first problem was the service (and especially the kitchen). When we arrived at Big Jones, our table wasn't ready yet (not a problem since we arrive five-ten minutes early), so we sat at the bar and started to order cocktails, but by the time we finished our order, our table was ready and the bartender told us that it would be quicker if we ordered from our server (I didn't understand that logic, since we had just ordered). So we went to our table, and after about ten minutes, our server arrived, and took our order, and then we waited another fifteen minutes for the drinks. Twenty-five minutes from when we started to order drinks. During the whole evening, even after the restaurant cleared out, service was slow. To be fair, our server took 15% off our bill (without us asking) because of the slowness of the service, telling us that the kitchen had been "hit hard" just before we entered. Given that we entered a little after 8:30 on a weekend, this seemed odd in that this would be the time that one would expect people to dine and we weren't standing with a large crowd of diners.
What struck me about the dinner food was how sweet it was. Almost every dish (with the exception of the Shrimp and Grits) was surrounded by syrup or jelly. That was fun at first, but became wearying. (The dessert - Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - was the least sweet of my courses).
I ordered the "Southern Table Menu" - a four course menu (starter, appetizer, main course, and dessert), and my wife ordered an appetizer and main course. Our server promptly noted that the restaurant preferred the whole table to order the table menu, but that we could order as we wished, even though timing might be a problem. Why timing would be a problem I couldn't figure out (this is not Alinea, after all), but she knew her business. My wife's appetizer appeared before my starter. It shouldn't have been that hard to coordinate.
Appetizers (and the starter) were notably superior to the main courses and desserts. I began with a chunk of fried pimento cheese served with a toasted baguette with some sweet and peppy 5-pepper jelly. Not a startling start, but a nice opening. My wife ordered roasted fresh hearts of palm with cane-glazed pineapple, frisee, spiced peanuts with boiled peanut-ginger vinaigrette. The fresh hearts of palm (a specialty at BJ) were excellent, but this dish, as is evident from the description, counts as a "dessert salad." My appetizer was equally sweet: Lamar heirloom watermelon with lime and violet accents (really sugary syrups). But again this was very tasty, and I would have been delighted if it had been my dessert.
We also received light and airy corn muffins (looking like a Wolferman's muffin, but not as dense), served with honey butter and plum jam. Tasty and honeyed.
Main courses were less successful. I ordered Carolina stone bass served with griddled fresh hearts of palm and sweet bell peppers, napped with a citrus gastrique. Putting aside that the peppers didn't add much, the fish was overcooked, losing a good bit of its flavor. Perhaps to balance things, my wife's shrimp and grits (with house tasso gravy) was served with slightly undercooked shrimp. The shrimp did not bother me as I like all food undercooked, but shrimp rarely is served "sashimi-style" (that's an exaggeration, but only a little). Neither of us were impressed by the craftsmanship in the main courses. (Although the spicy ham was fine).
Dessert - peach cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream - had seemingly been sitting out too long. The cobbler was served at room temperate and the ice cream was starting to melt. It was not as lush or as buttery as one expects a deep south dessert to be, but at that point we were grateful that BJ was holding back on the calories.
The price of my four course meal was $29 prix fixe, and even without the 15% deduction the price was reasonable. Yet, despite some ambition on the part of the menu-whisperer and despite their admirable recognition of the timing problem, Big Jones is not a restaurant that I long to try again.
Toast, as every breakfaster knows, isn't really about the quality of the bread or how it's sliced or even the toaster. For man cannot live by toast alone. It's all about the butter. -- Adam Gopnik