Randevou Caribbean Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Jacksonville

This is a decent Haitian restaurant. The staff was very friendly, and the restaurant is clean. I went in a Friday at 6 and it wasn’t busy at all. As a frequent Haitian restaurant customer, I was very impressed by the speed my order was done. I placed my order, was told 20 minutes, and they called me at 30 minutes to let me know my food was ready (they most like had it done by the time they said and were making sure I was still coming to get my food)! This is huge! I’m used to ordering my food, getting to the restaurant, and still having to wait another 15-20 minutes! I also like that you have the option to get the regular fried plantains, or the ripe sweet plantains. Usually it’s just one option. The rice and beans are not really the classic ones you get at other places but was decent. They only serve Legume on Saturdays is what I was told so maybe I’ll try that another time if I’m visiting again. They didn’t have sos pwa (a bean sauce) for their white rice when I went (not sure if that is a regular thing or just when I went). They also didn’t have tasso kabrit (fried goat). So I purchased the stewed goat since I don’t do pork even though I really wanted some fried food. It tasted pretty good. They added just the right amount of spice to it. They give a lot more meat than rice which was nice for a change. Definitely a nice restaurant with areas for improvement. Check them out if you are craving...

Now, as a person from the Caribbean, I was very surprised at how terrible everything was at this place. My family and I get there, and I immediately notice, the table isn't wiped down while the waitress is at the bar sitting down, but I didn't make a scene because that wasn't too serious to raise sand. Secondly, the waitress comes over and attempts to take our order without pen and pad...FAILED! She didn't ask everything she needed to because she kept coming back asking questions. Now, the wait time was extra ridiculous!!! I'm 8 months pregnant, starving with a two year old girl toddler at the table. Luckily, I brought some ritz crackers to sustain me til the meal came. A good waitress would see that I'm pregnant and ensure I get my food in a timely manner. That didn't happen. We ordered BBQ wings with fries as our appetizer, and that didn't come until last. The fries were cooked in oil that wasn't fresh. My two year old didn't even eat them, and she eats everything! The fritters were over fried as they were dumb hard! The rice and peas didn't taste freshly made for the day, but my husband's meal was cooked ok ! He had the red snapper in which I've definitely had better. The waitress did not once come check up on us after we got our meal, but when we went to pay the check, which I didn't receive, she came rushing out thinking a tip was gonna be there...NO MA'AM!! NOT ONE CENT!...

I wanted to give them some grace since I ordered 2 weeks ago a to go order and the griot was cut so big that it was hard to chew and allow any seasoning to come through it. W went here yesterday for lunch and the service was horrible along with the food. I ordered griot again and it was the same issue I had before. Griot cut in big chunks no flavor, thank God for the pikils (which I had to request another) cause without I wouldn't have been able to eat the meat. person with me ordered the cabrit and it was as if he was eating leather it honestly wasn't edible. the server had to be called for us to ask her if we could get something to eat after ordering our meals. we asked to dine in and yet our food was served in to go containers. again server had to be called to our table in order for us to pay. she came by and saw that any of the food had barely been eaten and all she could say was sorry nothing was discounted or removed. I truly love that my haitan people are out here doing business but if you are in the food industry the quality of the food is very important and so is customer service. please yall do better. train your people in the front of the house and in the back. we as customers shouldn't be able to hear your employees arguing and some caribbean music playing in haitian restaurant would be nice...