Elsa's Place — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Pound for pound, this is the best food in all of Jacksonville. I've lived here for over 10 years now. I've eaten at dozens of places, and reviewed many of them, and Elsa's takes the crown without question. That mythical "dingy hole in the wall with incredible food" that everyone refers to in any city you go? This is the one. It's a small little dimly lit old building in the center of old school downtown Jville. It doesn't look very pretty, but letting that deter you from ordering here would be a miscalculation of the highest order. What you will find inside is a small family owned restaurant run by an older lady named Elsa from Trinidad and her sons. The food they cook is prepared with the heart and soul that you will only find in a restaurant like this. Every order is gigantic, and reasonably priced. The rice is to die for, the collard greens will likely be the best you've ever had, the jerk chicken is spicy and full of layers of flavor cooked to perfection, the mac and cheese as a side can't be beaten, I cant imagine a better side of mac and cheese. Fried and smothered pork chops are both excellent. You can also find classic Caribbean favorites here like curry goat (only on certain days) and oxtail, beef patties, fried plantains, cocoa bread, Jamaican ginger beer etc. I've never tried anything here that wasn't incredible. The ONLY downside is that they've recently been working a shorter week and are generally closed a few days a week, so check before you plan to order. Other than that, if you are coming even anywhere close to Jacksonville you owe it to yourself to give this...

Okay this place was the biggest and most exciting surprise. We were headed to another place when we smelled the most delicious scent coming from Elsa's place and they were just opening so we gave it a shot. I could not have been happier with that decision.

I got the jerk chicken which was absolutely phenomenal. The two people with me got the fried pork chops which I got to try and they were also incredible. The fries they served were fried to absolute perfection. My collards and fried zucchini, I just couldn't get enough of. Oh! Definitely try the Jamaican soda. I tried the cream soda and it was probably the best I ever had.

Every single person in that building was so friendly, helpful, and attentive. I never had to wonder about anything. They knew what was in the food, which is great for someone with food allergies. They were willing to help us out at any point. They checked on us often to assure our satisfaction.

Seriously don't skip on this place. You'll be seriously missing out.

I've added the menu that they gave us when we left so it's recent!

Editing to add: we cannot stop going here when we get the chance. This last time we got the pork chops and oxtail. I have yet to get anything I didn't like. The service is ALWAYS top notch. Don't sleep on...

This place is BOMB. So good. It's looks like a run down hole in the wall, has weird clown funeral paintings, and they are rockin' Christmas decor in March. But I'm tellin' ya, the food is SOO good that it suddenly becomes really easy to look past the funky atmosphere. The oxtail was perfect. Collards were excellent. I also definitely recommend the baked mac' n cheese side. Pictures don't do the food justice. There is just so much flavor in everything. I'd venture to say this is one of the most delicious restaurants in Jacksonville. Plus Elsa actually works there and you get the joy of supporting a local business. The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the amount of sugar in the lemonade, but I assume that's just me and my personal preference. I also got a Chicken sandwich with fries. Chicken sandwich was delicious and comes with fixins like mayo, texas Pete sauce, katchup. Also came with fries that were perfect and I think seasoned with Old Bay seasoning. I'm on vacation here and have eaten at most of the restaurant with reviews over 4 stars on Google. Elsa's was miles better than the rest. If I lived here I'd be obese because I would eat at...