January 2012.

I had heard good things about Jax Kitchen on North Oracle and so, when I received a Groupon offering Lunch for 4, I was reasonably certain I could talk three friends into dining with me.

With me for lunch last week were Ms. Karen, Ms. Sue, and Ms. Marcia. Always pleasant to dine with the ladies. Once seated and our drinks ordered, we had a chance to observe.

In broad daylight, Jax doesn’t look like much. I know that some of the reviews on Yelp and TripAdvsior referred to the interior as “trendy” but Jax is located in a strip mall and appeared to be one step up from the ubiquitous Tucson greasy spoon.

Ms. Marcia said that she had been to Jax for dinner once and the ambiance at night is much nicer: dimmed lights and lots of candles. I could imagine how that could be an improvement. Otherwise the place is fairly sterile. I mean, along North Oracle, there are many fine restaurants, such as Wildflower, with much more interesting interiors. Jax just lacks imagination. An inventive restaurant owner can take a plane open space and turn it into something dazzling, like Elvira’s in Tubac.

It was mid-day, and we all had to get back to work after lunch, so none of us ordered wine. Thus, I cannot vouch for Jax selection.

The young man who served us never mentioned his name, so I assume he didn’t want us to know it. Perchance he is a Super Hero working incognito. He took our hors d’oeuvre order. Some restaurants refer to such as appetizers. Jax has a far more pedestrian designation: Jax Snacks. Apparently they missed an opportunity to use the term: Jax Snax.

Out of three choices we ordered two. Baked Goat Cheese with tomato confit, olive tapenade, served with fresh house bread.

The other was Duck Confit Street Tacos. If any of you know the difference between a regular taco and a “street” taco, please enlighten me.

Jax Snacks arrived  in short order. We dug in. Oh! Aaah! Very good!!!

Our “snacks” didn’t last long and soon it was time to order a real meal. By the speed with which the the ladies devoured the hors d’oeuvres, it was apparent that I was dining with 3 alpha females who had not eaten for at least a week.

Ms. Marcia ordered the Crispy Salmon with mission fig + Madeira sauce, sautéed fingerlings (???) and greens ($14).

Ms. Sue's Chicken Sandwich

Because so many of you have followed my quest for the best burger in town, I felt compelled to order Jax “bbq” burger that comes with barbeque mayo, bacon, smoked cheddar and grilled onion. Could a Jax burger topple the real burger king: Zinburger? We would soon find out.

Our meals were delivered to our table in due time. Being ever the marketing person, Ms. Marcia offered to take photos of each of our plates. As you can see from the out-of-focus pictures, Marcia is near-sighted. But we love her anyway.

The first thing I recall Ms. Sue saying is that the salad dressing was way too vinegary. I looked at my salad. Whomever was in the kitchen had not gone to a lot of trouble. My “greens” could have easily come from a pre-packaged bag at Safeway. No goat cheese, no croutons, no beets, no nada, except a really boring, almost imperceptible vinaigrette dressing.

Jim Jax Burger

At this point it occurred to me that I should have ordered fries with my Jax burger. I had chosen not to because (a)
fries are not on my diet and, (b) an order of Jax fries is $6. In retrospect, I should have ordered them just so I could have told you how good they were … or not.

Ms. Marcia graciously let me sample her salmon with the fig sauce. First, the “crispy” salmon was very good and cooked just right. As to the fig sauce, well that was a, what shall I say? … a novelty. So novel that I had to try one more bite. On second try … very good.

I inquired as to Ms. Karen’s beet + arugula salad + crispy salmon. Salmon good, nicely seared. Beets … not so good.

As to my “bbq” burger with the sharp cheddar and grilled onion. OK, it was good. The “bbq mayo” however, was neither as good as real barbeque sauce nor real mayonnaise.

Ms. Karen's Beet and Arugula Salad

Any one of you who have read my restaurant reviews (Jim’s Picks & Pans) on my website knows that I crowned Zinburger the best in Tucson. Unfortunately, Jax is not a Zin. Maybe as good as a Red Robin burger at the Tucson Mall.

Jax says it serves Modern Comfort Food. There are types of foods that I don’t know as much about as comfort food, particularly if the menu is in French. But I know comfort food. Some of Jax comfort food was good but not great. Some was really very good. Some … not so much. Overall our meals were uneven. And that, plus the fact that our no-name waiter didn’t remove our plates once we had completed our meals for at least 7 minutes, renders Jax lunch a disappointing Three Saguaros. The sad part is our lunch gave us no reason to come back and try a Jax dinner. jg

7286 North Oracle Road  Tucson, AZ 85704-6334
(520) 219-1235

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