Ovations Caribbean Grill — Restaurant in Lawrenceville

Google keeps asking me to review, so, here I am. I didn't want to but decided to hoping my review will be seen by their management. Gwinnett NEEDS a reliable and friendly Jamaican restaurant.

I stopped in this new spot for a total of five times as of last week. It's perfectly located in the Kroger shopping center right off of 120 for those of us who live nearby. The ambience of the restaurant is AUTHENTICALLY Jamaican. I walk in and see Jamaican employees, especially the " mothers", an all Jamaican menu and hear & see all Jamaican decor along with the music. Lovely.

Visits 1 & 2 were by myself. The food was excellent. The flavorful and rich tasting food I experienced on Visit 1 was carried through to Visit 2. Fresh, tender meats, well-seasoned and just pleasing in so many ways. The rice is separated so nicely! The sorrel...my goodness. Yum! Jackpot!!!!( Authentic/non- manufactured sorrel is very hard to find here in Gwinnett.) Two consecutive visits and the food, customer service and vibe were consistent!!! The "mothers" temperament and customer service makes you want to come back.

Visit 3: Time to introduce this restaurant to my family. I raved and raved about this spot to my husband and the kids. I get our orders together, stop by after grocery shopping, get in the oddly short line for a Friday afternoon and I hear the young female employee announce to customers ahead of me that they are out of all curry meats and waiting on the jerk chicken to finish cooking. Huh? I left empty handed. Personally, I'm thinking, ok, they're a new spot. They're still getting their bearings together. I told the hubby we could go on a less busier day on one of his days off from work. Kids got pizza. Easy fix.

Visit 4: I go back by myself for a late lunch on a Thursday. They were closed. I thought maybe they ran out of food again. Slightly annoyed but still willing to go back. Made a mental note to return on a Friday and bring my hubby, who has yet to try the food.

Visit 5: We make it back on a Friday. They are open but I don't see the "mothers" as I walk in. The young " daughters" are running the shop. I am a very patient and forgiving person...I just need to say that. But this visit was probably my last. The line wasn't pulled together. The first item on the line that all customers see is the cabbage. This should be an appealing dish for us customers as it's the first thing we see. This day the cabbage was shriveled up and lacked appeal to enjoy. I knew husband wasn't pleased but I still tried to be positive and thought, I'd mix my anticipated gravy in with my cabbage. It sort of went downhill after that. No one said they were out of meats but it was clear they had been and was trying to get it right. But what was being served was representative of what Ovations served when they initially opened it's doors. What leads me to that conclusion is the final product of jerk and curry chicken that we received. Tough. Low flavor. Stringy. What we expected, as we have had at this location before, was moist, easy to chew, well flavored, and just appealing to the eye entrees. The peas & rice tasted watered down in taste that day and somewhat "overcooked". Not mushy...just overcooked. Our oxtail gravies were more grease than gravy. Sugar!!!....!!!sugar!!! has been added to the hot spicy sauce. My first two visits definitely got my attention but the last three... The sorrel also changed. Prep was not with how prep has shown me to be.

I want to add that the customer in front of me had to wait a good bit of time. He had two meats...not sure of both but one was curry goat. The young employee actually dropped some of his cabbage out of the tray onto the line, then proceeded to pick up the dropped cabbage and put it back in his tray. Secondly, after seeing his goat put into his tray, a fly came around and landed on the serving spoon. I actually said something to the young lady moments later in a private way and she said thank you. She left the spoon on the line anyway. :(

Not a bad restaurant. Just need across the...

Update: coworkers went and I was like “hey why not give it a shot” and they are back to normal delicious food! Hopefully whatever was happening to them when they got the new place has been worked out because their food is back on point and absolutely delicious like it used to be (and cabbage and plantains are back to normal, thankfully!!). Updated back to 5 stars!

Horribly disappointed, and actually threw away an entire dish of curry chicken. For context, I’ve been coming to Ovations at least once a week (haha who am I kidding usually twice a week) for years as it’s right near my work, and have made regulars of my coworkers and friends - it’s been one of my all time favorite restaurants in the area. Simply put, I loved this place. The new location, however, is a disaster in terms of food and quality. I could not be more disappointed. The chicken curry was absolutely disgusting - the wonderful spices and flavor is gone and replaced with some bland chicken with a soup-like runny gravy. It was so bad that I threw the entire order out. Perhaps the worst thing was that it was visibly different while ordering but I trusted that they wouldn’t serve bad food. I was wrong.

Do note: the oxtails themselves were still good, but again their recipe has changed for the worse and the gravy is now like a soupy runny midspiced excuse of a dish. I was hoping it was just an off day, but anyone in the kitchen who would have tasted the chicken curry would have known, definitively, that it was terrible, and should never have served it. Additionally, the serving size is about 20% smaller for both chicken curry and oxtails, and they are charging an additional 3.5% service fee on every order. Sadly, plantains were not available (supposedly temporarily) but they sure are still charging the same price, with the additional service fee, for less food.

New location, however, is clean and looks great in the old Sonic building. Line seems more streamlined, and overall it’s quite pretty with the new menus and signs.

Too bad they’ve decided to serve bad tasting food, reduced the serving size and omitted the sides while maintaining the price, and have included the silly fees.

I’m genuinely sad that this has happened....

Usually I do not do this, but today I felt completely embarassed, harassed and offended as a customer. While sitting and having lunch with my coworker, I was approached by the manager of the restaurant, who stated that she was informed by her staff that I was telling customers to not to purchase the pineapple ginger juice. After making my purchase, I took a sip of the pineapple ginger juice, while waiting for my co-worker. It was a very watered down so I asked the cashier if the drink was an infused water or juice. She stated it was juice. I told her it was a bit watery, but it's ok. I did not make a fuss. I went back to eat and continued waiting for my coworker, who was already in line and ordered her food. She then met me at the table and asked how the juice was. I told her it was very watery, but it's ok. That was the end if our discussion. While talking, I saw the chef and the 2 ladies at the front watching me, while talking. I assumed he was going to come over to ask how the food was. He did not. I then stepped outside to take a private call regarding my stolen car. I stepped back in the building to eat a little more before heading back to work, while still on hold with the agent. A few moments later, I was approached by the manager regarding this issue. As a paying customer, the manager's passive aggressive approach was very unprofessional, unsettling and lack luster. I felt absolutely disrespected considering the statement was not just untrue, but I was sitting enjoying my lunch and drank the juice more than half way. What could have been a wonderful experience became absolutely upsetting to me. It was very inappropriate to do to anyone, especially a paying customer. Not to mention the additional stress after having my car stolen did not help any. Neither of us plan to return there. Not because of the food. Just the experience. If this is anything, please let this be a learning experience for the manager and her staff so that she may work on her approach, be opened to constructive criticism as well as the...