Gar and Mar Jamaican American Cuisine — Restaurant in Berea

I ordered a large oxtail dinner, 6 jerk wings, mac and cheese, banana bread, and a lemonade.

The oxtail dinner was very good. I find that the cabbage that comes with the meal at other places can oftentimes be bland, but not here. The whole meal was flavorful and absolutely delicious.

I ordered extra crispy jerk wings but I had my husband pick them up for me and we live about 30 minutes away so they were soggy but it wasn't their fault. I HATE soggy wings and let me tell you...I scarfed these down lol They were so good! A perfect blend of sweet and spicy. I'd eat them again soggy or crispy!

I'm keeping my review completely honest here, the mac and cheese was some of the worst I've ever had. It had zero flavor. It wasn't seasoned well, not even with salt. And the only reason I'm including a photo is because it's the only thing I had left to take a picture of lol I was really surprised it wasn't good, given the quality and seasoning of everything else. I'm not taking a star away though because I didn't go there for the mac and cheese.

They were out of banana bread so they called and asked if I'd like corn bread instead and I was fine with that. The cornbread was very good. Wasn't dry at all. It was a huge piece! Would get it again.

The lemonade was also very good!

I will be ordering from here again and telling everyone about how amazing...

Jamaican food in my hometown? Whaaat! I have no words for how excited I was to try Gar and Mar today, and it did not disappoint. I had to err on the mild side of things today for ... reasons ... so I ordered some sides and all the beef patties in the case, then settled in to watch orders come off Gar's efficient line while I chatted with Mar about my Jamaican roots and her and Gar's journey from Westmoreland to our sleepy little town.

Festival bread was perfectly sweet and crispy-chewy; rice and peas were flavorful (thanks for the extra oxtail gravy!); macaroni salad was a nice Tuesday night special; and did I mention I cleared them out of beef patties? I bought em all and they were perfectly crisp and chewy pockets of flavorful beef, sigh.

There's a whole case of American soft drinks but two steps further there's another case full of Jamaican ones ... and that's where you should focus your attentions. Of course they have Ting but they also have almost the entire DG soda and Tropical Rhythms juice lines. I grabbed a ginger beer and a pineapple ginger juice and a promise to be back soon. Mar even gave me a nickname to use if I call in an order, and even used it to introduce me to her uncle. Somehow, on my first visit, I left feeling like a regular. That welcoming vibe might just be the most "authentically Jamaican" aspect of this...

My friend and I ate there last evening. I’d never had Jamaican cuisine before, so I asked our server, Destiny, if she could help me with heat level and explain some of the dishes. She was so delightful and explained it all so well! My friend got the jerk chicken dinner that included provisions and cabbage , with sauce on the side. I got the cabbage vegetarian meal with provisions and plantains. Provisions are steamed dumplings, banana, Yellow and white sweet potato. The dinners also include plantains.

Both entrees were SO flavorful!! I don’t like a lot of heat and the jerk chicken was perfect with the sauce on the side as the sauce is where the heat is. We also got an order of fried green tomatoes and a bread ( I forgot the name). But both were absolutely delish! I love friend green tomatoes and theirs were spot on!

I had their homemade ginger beer and my friend had their lemonade. Both were so refreshing!

I’ll definitely be back. The service was amazing, the food is wonderful,& the ambiance was great and they have a patio too! Also the food is VERY reasonable for all that you get! I took part of mine home as there was so much!

For an appetizer, entree and drink, my total with tax was...