Caribbean Jerk Palace — Restaurant in Houston

Best thing about the establishment was the DJ. My family of four did a reservation, got there on time, for our reservation at 6pm, and were told our wait was 30 minutes. No worries- we were seen in earlier than expected (host time- not reservation time) and was seated. Music was great, and we were waited to be seen… and waited:… and waited some more. After being seated for 30 minutes with a room temperature picture of water- (Not sure if Ellis is a GM or just a host), Came over and asked if we have been seen/seating long. We told him yes to both- he apologized for the wait and told he would get us a waiter “right now”. He left and we didn’t get serviced for another 15/20 minutes. As a matter of fact- a group of young ladies who came in about 30 minutes after us was waited on before us. My SIL went to speak to the host and we were told we would be serviced soon.

We ordered and had to wait another 30 minutes for our drinks- we ordered three different drinks. My wife liked her drink (mojito), I liked mine as well and ordered two rum punches, my sister ordered a coke (which came in a can THAT WAS ROOM TEMPERATURE $3 for a warm can of coke.. my SIL ordered a side car and felt that it was not worth the high price.

Amber our waiter was very sweet- but food and wait time was absolutely not acceptable. I am married to someone who is from Saint Lucia (Caribbean Country) and was so excited to see festivals on the menu and couldn’t wait to have some- that was short lived when they came (see photos) I don’t know what the hell the bread was, but it was not Festival bread. They were fried pockets of air and disappointment. The cabbage and jerk chicken egg rolls were AMAZING and well cooked. I didn’t care too much for the oxtail egg rolls, as I found them a bit greasy and wasn’t as full as the chicken ones.my quartered jerk chicken was flavorless and dry.. like TURKEY dry. Plantains not cooked well, and rice and peas- unseasoned. The portions were a great size, just not well cooked and took so long to even get- bout time we got our food, we were all so irritated we asked for our checks, and asked to get food taken off. My wife was so disappointed about the food, as she was so excited to enjoy the goat curry. We are just passing through Houston, and love supporting Black businesses, so this was a very disappointing experience for us.

We were not even offered a comp on anything, an apology and hopes that we come back to try them again. I don’t think I’d take another chance. Food and service overly priced for the experience. If asked if I’d recommend this establishment to family and friends? Negative...

I really wanted to be able to give this place five stars, but I just can not. The service started well but dwindled fast. I received my food at a minimum of 10 minutes before my cousin. The food, however, was delicious. I ordered the lamb chops, which came with plaintains and rice and peas. I got to choose 1 additional side with my entree. I chose the yams, which was amazing, and I had to try the collard greens, too, but they were the only item that was subpar. Upon closing out our bill, the waiter disappeared. She scanned my card but didn't tell us she included the gratuity. She didn't even give us a receipt. She said she would be right back with one and never returned. She stated that it was $113 and some change. My cousin and I both were trying to figure out what in the world we had that cost that much. We had to ask another attendant to help us, and she had to walk around for a while looking for our waiter. My cousin started to worry that my credit card would be compromised. The attendant who stepped in to assist finally went to the. register to print out our ticket as she never found our waitress. She bought us the receipt and that's when we found out that we were also charged a gratuity smh we set waiting all this time for our bill so that we could leave a tip and she already included it. I didn't see anything that said gratuity would be automatically included for a party of two. That just ruined my whole experience as I felt it was shady to handle it that way. Even if it was the restaurant's policy had she at least returned with a receipt, as she should have, we would have been able to ask questions and make sure that we understood their policy. Both my cousin and I pride ourselves on being very good tippers. We had $24 waiting to tip her, which, once we added it up, she only received like a $16 tip. Had they just allowed us the courtesy to tip ourselves, she would have received more. I can't say that I won't try this place again as I always do my best to support small local black businesses, but I do hope my candid review will assist them...

Where do I start. This was the worse experience I have ever had with any restaurant business. First, we entered at 4:00pm on a Saturday, today, 01/15,2025. We were seated quickly which was a plus. At 4:07pm we ordered our food: two orders of egg rolls one with oaxtails the other with jerk chicken we came prepared on what it was that we wanted to order. We were a party of 3. Next, we asked for a red strip beer which came 10mins after being seated along with three waters. At 4:44pm we still sat patiently with no appetizers or anyone coming to explain how much longer we would have to wait. At 5:15pm we received the jerk chicken egg rolls as our appetizer ( they were not that good. The sauce that came with them saved it as it lacked flavor) and was told everything else was coming yet again. We sat there growing frustrated as we explained to the waiter who was such a sweetheart that we didn’t appreciate the wait with no update what so ever. She continued to question the kitchen as to where our order was multiple times, she was told it’s coming. The waiter apologized repeatedly we told her we understood it wasn’t her fault. At 5:40pm we called her over and ask to cancel our order we were tired of waiting and would be leaving and that we would also leave her a tip as we understood it wasn’t her fault. She then went into the kitchen and came back out with part of our order (fried rice and macaroni) and stated not to worry about it. Th that we did receive was terrible lacking flavor on the jerk chicken and the Mac and cheese was sweet like they put sugar in it. I was highly disappointed in this place and would never recommend it to anyone. I have never had an experience like this! Now it is 10mins from 6:00pm basically 2 hours from the time we ordered we had fried rice, Mac and cheese, and a order of jerk chicken egg rolls (3 egg rolls cut in half). Why didn’t the owner or anyone of management team check on their guests? Why were they so much more interested in the guests getting drunk and partying? Where was the service? I DO...