Hartley's Jamaican Restaurant — Restaurant in Brockton

I can still remember when I first heard about them opening. I was beyond excited. Upon entering the vibe? Excellent. Music plays, large screen tvs for dine-in patrons, and impeccably clean. Nine times out of ten, you'd even see the owner cooking up the goodness in the back, while his attentive and friendly servers worked diligently to take care of our needs. Wonderful service, excellent food. Consistency all around.

Jump several months later, and unfortunately, the excitement is gone. Dissapointed has entered the chat.

The first bad experience? I'll even take the fault because I simply didn't pay attention. I got off work and headed in for their breakfast. I was looking forward to some porridge. The woman who assisted me said there wasn't any porridge that day but and different hot cereal I wasn't interested in. I ordered a meal for my wife, a breakfast meal of salt fish, banana and ackee, only 13.99 I saw. Grabbed two beef patties with coco bread and no cheese, and I asked her for another plate of the same as my wife. I received two small containers. One of each. I didn't think anything of it. I also ordered some carrot juice and a soda.....

It was when I got home that I realized it came up to 66 dollars. I went to look at my reciept, and there was no atomization of what I ordered, just the total. Im thinking, 45.00 at best.

Like I said, it was when I got home and seeing as they're a good 25 minutes away. I chalked it up as a loss and moved on.

The next visit, the same woman was serving along with another, the one who took my order last time..

When I ordered my medium goat, I asked how much another scoop would be. The woman serving turned to the other woman who took my order last time. She clearly seemed like she was bothered. Only to see she had an earpod in listening to music. She wasn't like the others whom I'd dealt with previously. She walked over to the computer and after a few moments she said "7.99".

No eye contact whatsoever. I said, "7.99?" I was just asking again to make sure. She said nothing. I said "nevermind, no thank you."

The woman then shrugged her shoulders and walked away...

I came home after spending another 40.00 dollars on my wife and is meals and thought about it.

Im never going back,

What has happened to general consistency? I've loved jamaican food my entire life, been called a "goat head" for my love of it by friends. I've also been a chef well over 30 years and have taken a devoted stand on customer service, no mattet what.

When that leaves the window, so do I.

Hartley, your food is SO good! Continue to keep up the good work. I spoke highly to you one day. Niether here nor there. Just need to let the people know. It's not you. it's who you have out...

My husband (Jamaican) and I (Jamaican by marriage lol) found this gem a few months ago when we were searching for a Jamaican place opened on Sundays. It doesn’t matter that we live 30 minutes away, each weekend either Saturday morning or Sunday morning finds us here eating the best Jamaican food around (apart from my own kitchen!) Chef Hartley in the back and Ms Flore in the front make an excellent team! They have plenty of tables to eat inside and a small parking lot which makes it very convenient and no worries about where to park.

I always start with the porridge, my favorite is the plantain/oats. It’s fragrant with stick cinnamon and star anise! Not overly sweet and a light hand with nutmeg (which bothers my stomach). My favorite breakfast is the liver and it comes with many different options for sides: rice, yellow yam, white yam, boiled banana, fried dumplings (the best!), steam veg (cabbage). I always get the liver with fried dumplings and PLENTY gravy, Flore does it just right and doesn’t raise her eyebrows when I say MORE gravy on the dumplings please.

My husband always gets the ackee and saltfish, ground provisions (yam, boiled banana) with fried dumplings and plantain. We get the in-house made juices, my favorite is their lemonade! If we come in the evening we will get the oxtail with rice and peas. I can admit that Hartley’s oxtail is a very close second to mine, maybe better?!? The portions are HUGE and I love the fresh green beans option instead of cabbage. It is not cheap but oxtail is so expensive at the markets now, that $20 a plate is so worth it. For me, it is 2 portions, I usually take half home. My husband also enjoys their escovitche fish, everything is always so fresh and well seasoned.

Try this gem for the best, freshest, most delicious Jamaican food in the area. We always eat in and take home patties...

When they first opened the restaurant, they were providing generous portions of food. I only ate their breakfast menu which consists of provisions and ackee & saltfish. There is a male employee that works there and he was very rude and obnoxious yelling at me calling me a liar because I told a female worker that she provides the ample amount of servings and he does not. Due to that, I will never go back there. The same male employee was working at another Jamaican restaurant called flames in brockton, Ma. He was rude to me there as well. At the flames restaurant, I ordered two plates of food and asked for some pepper sauce after I paid over $30 and he wanted to charge me. He's insane and wants to nickle and dime everything. Mind u I have been to other flames restaurant in the city of boston and never have been charged for some hot sauce. I would never recommend a friend, family member or anyone to buy food or support the business at Hartley's or Flames because of his mannerism. He may still juggle both locations I'm not sure because after that incident I never went back but now he's at Hartley's so I will never go back there either. He is a problem and should be trained to know how to deal with customers. I don't know his name and I don't need to find out because I'm done. For some reason I don't know how to change the profile picture or name but my name is Maléne Pryor and I'm a female. The...