Billy Jacks Po'Boys

We've eaten several times now at Billy Jacks Po'Boys and each meal has been excellent.  Located in the west end on Bloor St near Islington Avenue, this restaurant specializes in "Southern Comfort" food, including the Po'Boy sandwich which it is named for.

A Po'Boy is a submarine-styled sandwich that originated from Louisiana.  It usually consists of fresh crispy French bread wrapped around fried, breaded seafood such as oysters, shrimp, catfish or soft-shelled crab, or meats such as roast beef, chicken, pulled pork, and accompanied by lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo.

Billy Jacks offers delicious Po'Boy sandwiches that are generous with its fillings.  Our two favourites are the fried oyster and the blackened catfish.  The oysters are large, plump and juicy with a delicious light coating of what tastes like a cornmeal breading.  The blackened catfish is delightfully spiced and has a kick.  The sandwich comes with a large choice of sides including fries, hush puppies & gravy, gumbo soup, onion rings, coleslaw, rice and the Po' Boy salad.  This is a heaping salad of artisan greens, toasted pecans, raisins tossed with a seasonal vinaigrette.

Unable to decide which sandwich to order, I asked whether I could get the oysters as an appetizer rather than a sandwich, even though this was not on the menu.  Not only was the request accepted, but the oysters came with an amazing dipping sauce.  We have tried are the Acadian perogies–sauteed roasted garlic, mashed potato and cheddar cheese perogies with a Cajun dipping sauce, and the pulled pork mini sliders.  Everything has been delicious.

Another stellar main course option is the Chicken Fried Chicken. This is a breaded chicken schnitzel smothered with an amazing creamy mushroom sauce, served with mash potatoes and the best coleslaw we've ever had.  What put this slaw over the top for us was the light dressing, nuts and raisins which made for a perfect side.

The only course that we found to be just average was the dessert.  The Bananas Foster had a nice flavour, but the graham cracker crust and Chantilly Lace cream topping of the Lemon Icebox Pie was too thick and overwhelmed the lemon filling.

This is now my go-to place to get breaded oysters, which I will never tire of.

Billy Jacks Po' Boys
3369 Bloor St. West
647-352-3369