I’ve always had plenty of confidence in Jed’s, even before they opened, mostly because of my many visits to their other restaurant, Eliza, also on Jefferson, but a bit further down, between Essen and Drusilla. The owners know exactly what they want to accomplish and always execute top notch food. Doesn’t hurt that they knew enough to open up almost exactly where Joe D’s grocery once stood and served up the best poboys in Baton Rouge. On my very first visit a while back I noticed the grilled shrimp banh mi, the French fry poboy, and the Cuban on the menu and realized Jed’s definition of poboy was anything they could stuff inside a loaf of Leidenheimer French bread. That worked out well with this Reuben. A Reuben is kind of like a muffaletto in that with the sharpness of the sauerkraut and Russian dressing, you have to get the ratio of all the ingredients just right to make the sandwich work. Of course Jed’s pulls it off perfectly, and the French bread is an interesting twist on the rye bread most Reubens are made with. The pressed Reuben is not on the menu, though I suspect it might make it there in the future, but for now, it’s limited to the month of December. Also in December, Jed’s will be at the Mid City Maker’s Market on the 14th with their Grilled Shrimp Banh Mi and Eliza’s Gumbo Ya-Ya. More news, they’ve switched to table service at Jed’s which might alleviate some of the ups and downs of counter service when you go next time. And don’t forget to try the wings. Truly special.
