This is perhaps my fourth visit to Lagniappe and I have to say that if it was my maiden voyage, I, too, would be writing a scathing commentary. However, Geli does bring up a critical point; the owner/chef wasn't there. Virtually nothing I ate yesterday (except the yams) were anywhere close to tasty. Their is no doubt in my mind that the chicken was prepared by her apprentice in a fashion that was miles away from hers. I agree that the dirty rice was (and always is) overcooked and mushy, but I still thought it was quite tasty.
I knew immediately that something was amiss in the kitchen when the gumbo came out at the same time as everything else and was lukewarm. He obviously warmed up the soup first and then left it while the chicken was cooking for several minutes.
Yesterday's lunch was a painful one at Lagniappe because of the excruciatingly slow service as well as mediocre food. But it would be downright wrong not to retry it (if you're willing to drive the hour and a half!) while the owner is present, especially if you thought the food was anywhere near decent.

I think Geli brings up an excellent point. Based on my taste of the old, cold chicken at the Evanston Taste-off (but not anything I had yesterday), I'd be happy to give it another shot when the chef is in the house.

fyi, there is now a coupon on Restaurant.com for Langniappe: $25.00 gift certificate for $10.00, plus for a limited time if you type in 28820 in the coupon spot as you check out, it's an additional 50% off. (Not just for the Langniappe g.c. but any other that you purchase at this time). There is a minimum purchase of $45, but for anyone picking up a big to-go order, it would be worth it.

Geli,

I think you mean gumbo rather than jambalaya, and yes, I heard Gary order the seafood gumbo (and the fried shrimp).

I ordered the Jambalaya of the Day, too, so it looks like they missed something else! Alas! (Although again, it doesn't seem like it was on the bill...)

Next time I go I am definitely phoning ahead, barring any phone trouble...

geli wrote:fyi, there is now a coupon on Restaurant.com for Langniappe: $25.00 gift certificate for $10.00,

hey! i JUST saw that today on restaurant.com and was totally surprised. ditto to Kang Nam. Kang Nam!!! of all places... guess they needed a remodeling loan?

[edit 3 hrs later]
Everyone, do Lagniappe a favor... do NOT visit until the aforementioned proprietor/chef is back. Or heck, Mary, why didn't you just close the shop while you are away taking care of family???

young man (and boy) at the restaurant: I hope you guys kept your day jobs cuz that fried chicken was completely off kilter from what we had 3 days ago...

[/edit]

G Wiv wrote:LTH,

Had a nice group of LTHers yesterday at Lagniappe for lunch yesterday. Unbeknowneth, who nominated Barbara Ann's for a Great Neighborhood Award, and was going to BA's right after Lagniappe as BA's does not open until 2. Evil Ronnie, Flip, Geli, Pigmon, Steve Z and myself.


Seafood gumbo, while pretty good/ok, was a little on the watery side with an ever-so-slight bitter component from overuse, or adding too soon, file' powder. There was also little seafood in evidence. Once again nothing really wrong with the seafood gumbo, it was ok/good.


Frankly I'm more than willing to chalk up yesterdays good/ok lunch to a slightly off day as I have confidence in Trixie-Pea's taste in things culinary and she, along with Pigmon, and others in this thread like c8w, GAF, ab and Erik M very much like Lagniappe.

First, Ive been to Lagniappe only once so far, unfortunately. Which is a pity,
because it was a Saturday - thus they had no boudin (which I asekd for),
or the po-boys (which are a Friday ony item IIRC). And its only one trip, so
too much shouldnt be read into that.

And yet... the gumbo was very good, the day I had it. Unlike many others it
actually did have a kick to it. The seafood in it wasnt an overwhelming
amount, but the taste was very good. The gumbo you have a pic of above
doesnt even look very much like it - the above *looks* watery, the gumbo
I had was definitely not watery at all, it was nice and viscous and
flavourful. I dont know about it being hot or cold - it was probably hot IIRC
(I seem to remember the package being hot), but I drove all the up to the
North Side with 3 or 4 orders of it, and then microwaved it and had it
with friends (so it was hot when *we* ate it - but it suffered not at all
from the microwaving, and was still very good). Thus I do think youre
very likely sufferinng from a bad day there (or rather a bad while-cook-is-
away period - I hope it ends soon, Id still like to try the poboys sometime).

Secondly, BTW, am glad about BA's - theyre still awesome with links and
tips especially (links are always terrific). However, *do* they open only at
2? I seem to recall 12noon - at least a year or so ago. And theyre definitely
open till after midnight on weekends too - dropped by there half past
midnight last Saturday, and they were still open and cooking (the food was
good even then, and I was 3rd in line even at that time IIRC).

c8w

c8w wrote:Secondly, BTW, am glad about BA's - theyre still awesome with links and tips especially (links are always terrific). However, *do* they open only at
2? I seem to recall 12noon - at least a year or so ago. And theyre definitely open till after midnight on weekends too - dropped by there half past midnight last Saturday, and they were still open and cooking (the food was good even then, and I was 3rd in line even at that time IIRC).
c8w

One day in May, around noon, a friend and I decided nothing but BBQ would do for lunch. So we set off for Chatham, with the thought of Lem's slab in our mind. We pulled into the lot around 12:30 and to our dismay, the smoker was cold and there were no ribs to be had, as Lem's doesn't open until 2 or 3.

"No problem," I said, "We can just get some tips and links at Barbara Ann's." We could not, because it was only a quarter to 1 and BA's does not open until 2. If they used to open at 12, this was not the case that day in May

TonyC wrote:Everyone, do Lagniappe a favor... do NOT visit until the aforementioned proprietor/chef is back. Or heck, Mary, why didn't you just close the shop while you are away taking care of family???

A few months ago, when visiting Cajun Charlies in Evanston, the owner provided an anecdote which I keep telling people about:

He used to work at Fannie's Restaurant, which has the spaghetti sauce many have been nostalgic about. On one occasion the spaghetti sauce did not taste as it should. He proposed to Fannie to doctor it up to make it passable. Fannie advised him to toss the entire batch away and begin fresh again. She reasoned by throwing the batch away she knew how much money she lost in labor and ingredients. If it was doctored and served, she could not begin to estimate the lost business by customers spreading their bad experience by word-of-mouth.

If you relate this to what has happened to Lagniappe just this last week, Mary would have been very wise to accept Tony's advice and close shop for the week. Of course, this makes Mary a slave to her business, so ultimately better training her staff may be in order as well. Or if she has some rogue staff, to toss them out the door.

Regards,

I would just like to say to everyone: I had a good time. I enjoyed the food that I had. My brother REALLY enjoyed the take out meal that I brought him, pronouncing the chicken "the best fried chicken [he's] had in Chicago". So please, let's be kind, and take the high road. Maybe Mary should have closed. But before we go and tacitly suggest that the poor guy and his (very) young brother who were minding the shop the day we were there should be let go because of an off day that they were not the ultimate cause of, let's all take a deep breath and realize that it was not a big deal. These things happen. It was not a tragedy. While it was not the great cajun/creole meal that was expected, it was not worth some poor guy (who was very nice, just in over his head) losing his job.

Deep breath.

To quote someone in a movie: "With great power comes great responsibility." We know that Mary of Lagniappe reads or has read this forum. Let's be nice and just say: it was an off day.

I still had a good time and enjoyed my food (and the company, of course!) and I definitely plan on going back.

geli wrote: let's all take a deep breath and realize that it was not a big deal.

Geli,

It was not a big deal and I'd never suggest the young man loose his job over tepid gumbo. I felt the culinary student cook/waiter was trying quite hard and , even if not 100%, managed to keep his head above water. I'm sure in a couple of years he will be quite an accomplished cook and expert multitasker.

I fully intend to go back to Lagniappe and, as I said earlier in the thread, had a very nice lunch at Lagniappe when you factor in the lunch company/conversation aspect.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hello,

Please except my deepest apologizes for the experience that was had at lagniappe! It is not our mission to be subservient, but par excellent. As stated due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend to the restaurant as need, because my mother became critically ill and subsequently passed away.

Perhaps, as suggested things could or should have been handled differently. However, things were handled, as best as they could have been, as I did not have a contingency plan for an unexpected illness and death of my mother. In addition, my culinary students tired in a valiant effort to stand in my shoes to try to keep things going for me. With much gratitude and humility, I thank them for endeavoring to keep this vision going.

Currently, I am back at the helm of things and if you would allow me to make this experience up to you, I will gladly do so at your convenience, as I believe in what I have and what I do.

Thank you for your time and for your constructive criticism, as it only helps bring things to my attention and helps me also reform my business to be reflective of what it was designed to be.

Thanks
Sincerely
Mary Dionne Madison

Thank you, Mary. Based on the graceful way you handled this criticism, I will definitely give your restaurant another try.

Sorry for your family loss.

was just thinking of this restaurant while chowing on Nellie's fried chicken in Oakland... (see here). must visit again soon...

As I'm sure many of you know by now, LTH was featured fairly prominently in this week's Section 2 of The Reader, where the site and its members were cited as a major part of the success of Lagniappe. True or not, here's hoping that Mary Madison's success continues and that I more often make the effort to get down to 79th street.

listerine wrote:As I'm sure many of you know by now, LTH was featured fairly prominently in this week's Section 2 of The Reader, where the site and its members were cited as a major part of the success of Lagniappe. True or not, here's hoping that Mary Madison's success continues and that I more often make the effort to get down to 79th street.

And I think it's important to recognize that Trixie Pea, the starter of this thread, as well as her consort, Pigmon, have blurbs in the same issue. Can you recognize them by their civilian names?

Hammond

Hi,

It would be nice if someone has been to Lagniappe recently to advise their experience. The last posts we have were from the period when Mary was away on family business.

Thanks!

Regards,

Sincy Cathy asked...

I was there this weekend. The food was pretty good...basically made my way through about five different dishes, etouffee, crab cakes, green tomatoes, sweet potatoes, red beans and rice...and I kept waiting for a misstep or the problems cited earlier, and they seem to be resolved. I spoke with Mary and she was in a good mood and workin hard.

I wrote an article for Newcity if you want detail (which also shouts out LTH in case anyone wants to add this to the total media domination thread):

Lagniappe Article

MJN wrote:Sincy Cathy asked...

Thank you, MJN. I guess if one waits long enough, then every question is eventually answered.

I'm glad to hear that service has improved and Mary is back at the helm. I hope to get there one day.

Again, thanks!

Regards,

MJN wrote:Sincy Cathy asked...

I was there this weekend. The food was pretty good...basically made my way through about five different dishes, etouffee, crab cakes, green tomatoes, sweet potatoes, red beans and rice...and I kept waiting for a misstep or the problems cited earlier, and they seem to be resolved. I spoke with Mary and she was in a good mood and workin hard.

I wrote an article for Newcity if you want detail (which also shouts out LTH in case anyone wants to add this to the total media domination thread):

Lagniappe Article

Thanks for the article link - was at Lagniappe myself last weekend, took an
order of gumbo to go, and found it just fine (ie similar to the old days).

However, my question is different - in the article above, mention is made of
a "destination Apple Fritter near 112th and Michigan"... where the place
was closed due to vacation. I presume this is Old Fashioned? If so,
thanks for the tip - and anyone know how long its closed for? Was
planning on making a trip down this weekend, actually, which I presume
is now not a good idea. Will they be back post Labor-Day, however?


c8w

Sorry I couldn't get back sooner...no doubt you've already been. Old Fashioned Donut was just closed that week. It is open now.

I had my first taste of Lagniappe tonight, and I can vouch for the follow-through on Mary's promise. Everything was scrumptious. I'm not sure what her regular traffic is like, but the place was empty when we arrived at around 7:30. Not a good sign to me, but we foraged on...

Ordered the boudin and was stunned at how dark and gamey (in a very good way) it was. Near perfect. It had a rich, liver-y flavor and was heavier on the meat and lighter on the rice than other boudins I've sampled. The casing practically 'snapped', it was so light and edible. A lot of times the casing is steamed to a texture that might rival a Trojan (I can't find the trademark symbol) in its prophylactic rubberiness. I asked our waitress if it was house-made and whether they put liver in it. Yes, it's house-made, and they use spleen. Maybe someone can help me with a quick culinary anatomy lesson...do spleens and liver taste similar? I've never heard of spleen being used in boudin, but it's fine eatin'.

The collard greens were, hands-down, the best I've had in Chicago to date. I've sampled my share in this town, but I usually don't like the texture (either total mush, or with a weird firmness for something supposedly cooked forever) and the watery pot liquor is a turn-off. These greens were texturally-sound and chock-full of smoky strips of hock. The pot liquor was dark and rich--more like a good gumbo roux.

I'm not a big sweet potato/yam eater, but the Creole Candy Sweets were mighty tasty. Best saved 'til last as an appetizer to dessert.

I ordered the RB&R with andouille, and although I wasn't sold completely on the authenticity of this particular andouille, the RB&R were perfectly seasoned and had those nice bits of fall-apart pork throughout.

The co-eater ordered the Cajun Fried Chicken, and after one bite declared that he would like to have a "skin blanket" made like the coating on this chicken so he could wrap himself in it and eat his way out. Enough said?

He also ordered the dirty rice side, which was slightly on the dry side, but again...very well seasoned. Nice liver twang.

This place has been on my To Do list for about a year now, and after punking out of Mardi Gras festivities last night, I had a craving for home food. This most certainly satisfied that craving...and lunch tomorrow with beaucoup leftovers.

crrush wrote:The collard greens were, hands-down, the best I've had in Chicago to date....
The co-eater ordered the Cajun Fried Chicken, and after one bite declared that he would like to have a "skin blanket" made like the coating on this chicken so he could wrap himself in it and eat his way out. Enough said?

Made it to Lagniappe a couple of weeks ago, for a very small "meal" (it was one of 4 food stops for an out-of-town friend and me on a South Sideish food run... Puebla, Lagniappe, D's Irie Kitchen, and Uncle John's .

Had a small little "quarter Cajun fried" chicken sample, which is a silly deal (like 3 bucks or something).. the skin *was* pretty good, and the chicken itself decent (if not quite as great as D's Irie's Jerk Chicken).

In reference to a few comments earlier in this thread.. we had a little snafu with our small order (the guy who took it was just ending his shift, it didnt make its way to the kitchen, took 10-15 minutes before all this was figured out). Lagniappe has taken Cathy's semi-suggestion very much on board, however.. they promptly comp'ed us drinks, and then later (when our meal turned out to be so small, only about 8-10 bucks I guess), they refused to take any money for the meal at all, saying it was an apology for having kept us waiting! A quite terrifically nice way to handle a small problem (my out-of-town friend was especially impressed

Anyway. Ive been to Lagniappe before and always liked it (and shall return many more times).. however, this was the first time I tried a couple of smallish items. One was the bread-pudding for dessert - which was quite excellent (warm, and with syrup on it, not too sweet - absolutely terrific).

And it was the first time I had ever tried Lagniappe's "southern sweet tea". A girl I know from North Carolina has for years told me of the all around greatness of sweet-tea, and Ive always had a sort of tepid "yeah, Iam sure" response (the versions Ive had have never drawn much more than that)... it was only when I took my first sip of Lagniappe's sweet tea that the scales fell from my eyes and it suddenly became clear what she has been talking about for so long. I have little experience in this department, its true, but this was (by several thousand miles) the best sweet-tea Ive ever had in my entire life. I have already promised myself that next summer, when I make regular weekend trips to Hyde Park, I shall always drive on to 79th street and get myself a sweet-tea, it was absolutely awesome.

(For the lemonade fans, my friend had one and raved about it too, claiming it was a "real" lemonade with the appropriate natural flavour and slight tartness, quite a rarity).

c8w

While I've not tried it, Lagniappe apparently has a seasonal quick food concession on the Chicago Riverwalk on the south bank of the river between Dearborn and Clark. I just noticed the sign for it the other day; apparently it was there last summer as well.

After reading Matt's post, I decided to head over to the Riverwalk location. It has a nice view, with around 10 tables spread out along the Clark-Dearborn stretch of the walk. Each group of tables has a giant umbrella for shade, which ensured that the only thing burning was my tongue.

The special of the day was gumbo, though I wasn't sure why since it was on the normal menu. When I asked what type of gumbo it was, the sassy manager/waitress retorted: "gumbo gumbo!" I was convinced. The dark-red gumbo was served in a square plastic container, probably for efficiency. It was great: packed with heat, both temperature- and spice-wise, yet not to the point where I was still feeling it after a quick drink of water. It contained a mound of rice, plenty of mini shrimp and what appeared to be shredded pork, but I wasn't able to get a clear answer from the waitress. On the downside, it was a tad watery, but just a tad, and it still tasted great.

My friend ordered a catfish po'boy, a thick 4-incher served with aggressively-seasoned waffle fries. I was only able to taste the fried catfish, which I thought was on the chewy side.

Due to a twist of fate, we were able to try two desserts: the pecan pie and the beignets. The small single-serving pecan pie was served hot and melted in our mouths. The winner of the day, however, were the beignets. They took me right back to Cafe du Monde: crispy, brown shell, soft inside, and a veritable dumping of powdered sugar. I rued not bringing my camera.

There were a few service hiccups, but more than enough goodness to make up for it. The service can be on the slow side, which is a bad thing for loop lunch spots. We had a long wait before our order was taken, and my tongue-in-cheek "finally!" had a lot more impact than I intended. After our food came, the waitress informed us that the beignets would be taking a little longer than expected. A few minutes later, she came back and apologized, and offered to comp us another choice of dessert (either pecan pie or bread pudding). We went with the pecan pie. After finishing and receiving our check, I asked what the issue with the beignets had been. She told us that their fryer had been lent out to the Taste. At this point, I made a sad face and vowed to come back in two weeks. As we were just about to leave, out comes a piping hot basket of fresh beignets, which were also comped! I was blown away with the level of service. The waitress coyly asked, "How did you get those?" I told her I was wondering that myself. Her response: "Oh, she [the chef]'s got a pot, some oil, and some dough: she can make beignets!"

I can't wait until my next visit.

Do they have carry out at the Riverwalk? I don't have time for sit down service during the workweek, but would love some gumbo to go.

Yes, they indeed do carryout orders.

Great!! That was the answer I was hoping for. Thanks, geno55.

riverwalk location...?

The Llama and I just had a tiny, itsy-bitsy, mincy little meal at Lagniappe. Prices have gone up since 2005 (what hasn't, right?) but meals are still a steal, with entrees ranging from $8-$15. That may sound simply average, but what you don't understand is that the portions are enormous. I thought I'd be ok with a cup of seafood gumbo preceding my sausage jambalaya, but I didn't bet on enough jambalaya to feed 4 with two sides that were nearly meal-sized in themselves and a transcendant corn muffin. The seafood gumbo was pretty good; it doesn't help that seafood wasn't what I wanted, just a substitute for the chicken I asked for and which they were out of - so I might be unfairly critical. The sides I had were red beans and rice and collard greens. The beans and rice were out of this world! Not too salty, smoky, porky, a little spicy, and flavorful. The greens were also excellent. But I have saved the best (on my plate, anyway) for last: sausage jambalaya. The andouille is the real deal; my GOD it is good - addictive! I was served probably 5 pounds of jambalaya (for $12; let me repeat that: twelve dollars) and tried to eat it all, and all because of that mind-boggling sausage.

Llama, however, had the real stand-out. You might say, MincyBits, you're being hyperbolic; I'm just calling 'em as I see 'em. For you see, Llama had the Wangs and Waffles, at 8 wangs and a large, fluffy, crispy, sweet, and fragrant waffle for something significantly under $10 - I want to say $7 or 8. The wings are a flavorful chestnut brown with crisp greasless skin and just the right amount of seasonings. They weren't the meatiest monsters I've ever had; that's fine - they're some of the juiciest. Surprisingly, however, I'd stack the waffle up against any I've had in a restaurant. Truly magnificent. I'd never had the vaunted fried chicken and waffles combination before, and I'm afraid Lagniappe has set the bar prohibitively high - as in, I'm not sure I can go anywhere else after this.

I haven't yet mentioned dessert. The peach cobbler, to which I was looking forward, was a little... goopy. The taste was fine, but the dumping top had fallen apart. The pecan pie, however, had a buttery delicious crust and fantastic - albeit molten - filling.

The final word: go. Get up now and go. Put whatever you were going to have for lunch or dinner in the fridge and go. Lagniappe rests at the sweet spot on the axis of delicious and cheap. Once more, with feeling: GO.