Jamaican Dave's — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

✅ IF YOU WANT AN HONEST REVIEW READ ON BELOW! 👇🏽

Here are my exact reasons why I DIDN'T award this establishment 5 STARS ACROSS THE BOARD!

I visited on Wednesday May 7th, 2025 around dinner time.

1. Upon entering, the restaurant was stifling HOT 🥵 and the sun was beaming inside of the restaurant. The restaurant DIDN'T have air conditioning or central air which made it very uncomfortable.

2. Jamaican Dave and His son are NOT friendly at all, and his broken English was difficult to understand. I tried to make small talk, but neither one of them bothered to smile or even thank us for visiting their restaurant. The demeanor I felt from Jamaican Dave and his son was that we should be privileged to visit their restaurant and not the other way around!

3. The decor of the restaurant was VERY GHETTO and the MENU that was on the wall was written almost like chicken scratch with a Sharpie on a white board. Moreover, I could tell that the restaurant was NOT swept, and I almost didn't order any food due to the fact that I felt that the owners were unsanitary based on the decor alone. The restaurant itself is located in a decent building, but the decor is subpar at best!

4. The restaurant did not have a typical cash register and the owners didn't keep the area behind the front desk where they accepted money neat and clean.

5. I ordered the Jerk Chicken and Oxtails. The Jerk Chicken was OVERCOOKED and too spicy. The Oxtails were absolutely amazing and cooked to perfection! Moreover, the beans, rice, and fried cornbread were also amazing WHICH IS WHY I AWARD 3 STARS FOR THE FOOD.

WOULD I RETURN TO THIS RESTAURANT???...probably not, however, the Oxtails and fried cornbread is what I would order "if" I chose to visit Jamaican Dave's again.

✅ IF YOU ARE A NEAT FREAK OR A GERMAPHOBE, STAY OUT OF THIS RESTAURANT!!!

IF YOU READ THIS REVIEW JAMAICAN DAVE, PLEASE CLEAN UP YOUR RESTAURANT AND PUT UP A PROFESSIONAL MENU INSTEAD OF ONE WRITTEN BY HAND. LASTLY, PUT IN CENTRAL AIR ON WARMER DAYS SO THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS CAN BE COMFORTABLE WHILE THEY WAIT ON...

Walking in the place looks abandoned and sketch. The atmosphere alone was a turn off and made me want to walk out. I wasn't even sure if anyone was there as it was so quiet, no customers, and no workers around. I stood at the counter for 5 mins before an old Jamaican guy said "what can I get you".

I couldn't see him at first and didn't know where he was. He eventually came around the corner. I asked if there was a menu, he pointed to the board, I asked how many oxtail you get and he said he couldn't tell me because some are big and some are small, and he just couldn't answer anything.

I eventually just ordered the Oxtail plate. Didn't care for the plantains, the cornbread roll was good, the oxtails were good, the rice and beans were ok. Needed salt but it was ok. It wouldn't be my first choice of Jamaican eateries as there is a place in Ann Arbor that's better and actually cooks the food fresh. But it's the only place in Grand Rapids that...

A friend and I ate lunch here and it was a great deal. We both ordered the jerk chicken, and it’s a lot of food for a decent price. There were four pieces of chicken that was wonderfully flavored and practically fell off the bone. The salad was refreshing and the plantains were delicious. The fritter was lightly spiced and really appealed to me. Then, underneath the chicken, there was a thick layer of rice and beans in addition to everything else. I wasn’t able to finish it all, but it was a great meal. The owner seemed friendly and had a fun personality. The interior is fairly basic, but the food more than makes up for it. I’m glad there’s at least one good Jamaican restaurant in GR, and I’ll...