J’Way Cafe

I went for brunch last Sunday. Pretty excited for real soul food. Not sure I would call this real soul food. The food does not appear to be prepared at the café. I think it is prepared somewhere else and then brought to the café where it is reheated.
There was one person manning the register and serving food and she seemed frazzled although there were not many people there.
I asked to dine-​in and I asked for the chicken, mac’n cheese, and rice and beans. After 15 minute wait, the waitress called me up and was already placing my meal in a to-​go plate. Rather than correct her. I just took it.
The meal was okay. Not bad but not that good. I did not like the flavoring of the chicken or the quality of the chicken. The rice and beans were okay. The mac ‘n’ cheese was okay. The cornbread was cold. The entire experience left me underwhelmed.

Intrigued, we tried this on a whim. Its a small café in the basement of the J’Way Bookstore.
We ordered jerk chicken and Tennessee BBQ. The meats were good, but the sides were luke warm and not seasoned well.
We got a relatively small plate of food for the price (~$ 8/​plate). I wouldn’t return.
The ambiance is a little lacking, but there are books and posters (for sale) to peruse while you’re waiting for your food.

These guys have the start of something really good. I hope they can find their own place with a real kitchen. The food (pulled pork, jerk chicken, okra, grits, mac and cheese) was tasty but suffered somewhat from having been cooked earlier and then reheated.
The atmosphere is awfully weird too, in the bottom floor of the bookstore.

Sure, it’s not authentic because not everything is cooked in extreme amounts of butter, lard, or bacon fat. but it’s close enough. This pulled pork sandwich was WAY better than Redbones. They actually give enough sauce that had a nice sweet tang in the aftertaste. The meat isn’t skanky like it’s been sitting in sauce forever which I like.
The place is still a work in progress, but the lady who served me was so incredibly nice. For a few moments, I forgot I was in the cold-​ass north. Oh hospitality, you’re so rare here!
I’m a Tennessean and I approve this message.

I’m pretty much echoing everyone about the sweet potato pie and the sweet as pie service. I had a jerk chicken plate with some very tasty greens and potato salad and a sweet tea to ease the burn a bit. Perfect place to go after a stroll around the pond or shopping at Boomerangs and Goodwill. If you go, go early and bring friends because sometimes they run out of things. I’ll definitely have to come back to see if the cornbread is as good as my old favorite, the Red Herring back in Urbana, IL.

Came here today after a rough night. Love hurts, you know? Anyway I decided to sink my lonely teeth into some of J’way’s sweet potato pie last night while walking home defeated and alone.
The service was terrific. The space seems to be a work in progress, but I was greeted by a super friendly employee who definitely brightened my day. Having traveled quite a bit in the south, I can say she truly embodied the qualities of a true southern experience.
I had a hard time deciding between what I had originally wanted and almost switched to peach cobbler. Then I thought I might as well get both. Hiowever I managed to show a great deal of restraint (who knew??) and decided to come back for the cobbler another time. maybe less alone.
The pie was delicious– similar to pumpkin, but less sweet, all inside a flaky crust. mmmm. I took it home and popped it in the microwave on the advice of my server and topped it with some whipped cream. I would have stayed to eat it, but the Dixie Cups «Going to the Chapel’ came on and given the reason why I was there, I thought it best to have her wrap it up and head for the nearest busy intersection.
One other thing– they have wifi! The sign is very little but they’re going to make it bigger.

While I agree that the food here does not taste exactly ‘authentic’ I think the owners get mayor points from me for being super nice and letting me sample the dishes before I made my choice.
The food was good, but the excellent service in my opinion merits an extra star. I hope to go back. Good lemonade!

We were walking down the street in JP today and we saw a sign promising southern food on the door of the Jamaica Way bookstore. We were both starving, so we decided to take a chance on this place and stop in.
Big mistake… The couple that own the place seemed really nice, so we ordered some food and sat down. The drinks were served in small (jello-​shot sized) paper cups filled to the brim with ice. I probably got about two good swallows of homemade lemonade, which was ok, but not really that much better than Minute Maid.
The so-​called Tennessee-​style pulled pork was drowned a really bland sauce. The meat itself was passable, but the sauce was so blah that it was completely ruined. The slaw, served with my sandwich, did not seem fresh and was not good. The red beans and rice was just bad. I couldn’t even come close to finishing it. I also tasted the greens, which I had high hopes for, but these also just didn’t taste right. The cornbread muffin was a small, dry, tasteless hockey puck that was basically inedible.
J’way Café, I really wanted to like you. I was hoping to discover a hidden gem of a restaurant that I could use to gain street cred by recommending it to my friends. But alas, JC, you had to suck. I will instead be warning my friends to stay away from this place at all costs.
The owners said they’d been open for 14 weekends now. I really think they need to do some serious work on their recipes before they’ll get repeat customers. I’m also very surprised that the other reviews here are so glowing. Maybe we came in on an off day or something, but it’s really hard to imagine that food ever being good.

Wow, kudos for being mentioned on p.120 of the April 2010 «Boston» Magazine… would have been even better if they’d made it to the «cheap eats» article, as they would have been in the right place… i still salivate thinking about the bbq pork sandwich i ate there…

Stopped in Saturday afternoon and as I opened the door to the bookstore I was immediately overcome by the amazing smells of Roselin’s (sp?) food from downstairs. I felt like I was transported down South.
I had the pulled pork with apple & cabbage slaw on top in a roll. Which there appears to be a photo of here. Get it!!! A M A Z I N G. really. The pork was sweet, savory with just the right amount of heat. They also have a variety of wonderful hot sauces available if you want to turn up the heat even further.
For dessert I had the sweet potato pie. I had it warmed up a little to really get the best flavors out of it. The crust was flaky and light and the filling? MMMMmmm-​mmmmmm! Just what you’d expect. Delicious.
I talked with the owner/​chef, Roselin, afterwords-​before the next rush of customers came in-​and she make all the food herself.
Hours are limited to Friday nights, Saturdays 10 am — 9 pm and
Sundays 12 — 6pm.
New hidden gem! I also heard the table next to me Mmm-​mmming over the Gumbo, so that’s on my list this weekend to try…

Small joint in the basement of J’way books right on Centre street. Tried the Louisiana Gumbo, which was reasonably priced at a little under 4 bucks. The serving were smaller than I had really wanted, but the service was very fast and personal. The ambiance was very cool w/​a sort of jazz café feel and it was a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of JP Licks. The gumbo was delicious (and I know my gumbo, lived in Louisiana for 5 months) so I definitely will come back here for my Southern food cravings.