Caribella - Caribbean Restaurant & Brunch Cafe — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

The food options were nice, coffees and Caribbean dishes were fine. We went on a busy Sunday morning and it's understandable that service would be slow specially when there were maybe 2 servers at most and a host. What is lacking is the customer service. There needs to be a "Get with The Times" mentality. They need to be accommodating and meet every request with a "Yes I can" or a "Let me find out for you" or a "Here's what I can do" attitude. Every single question or request was met with a "No" or "No we can't do that" and after having to explain things or request certain things then they would say "Well... let me find out from my manager" and then they do it. First we get there and our group of 8 is almost all together, 6 of us. We had previously come in a few minutes before and let them know we would have a group of 8 so that they can be ready, in case of table rearrangements. We came in and were told that we couldn't sit until all 8 were in. We did confirm the other 2 would be coming and that they were almost here and that we can even order their food for them and they had to go and ask their manager for permissionto sit us, even though no one was waiting to be seated. Another instance, we asked for sugar and the hostess was the nearest one, since the server and coffee runner were scrambling. She went and caught the server instead of going and getting the sugar herself and not only that, they only brought 2 packets. They should bring a whole container of sugar, anticipate needs, be efficient or just have a container at each table, were they afraid of bringing up cost? Anyway, the server was very nice and had a kind demeanor. She was just busy. The server had asked what kind of toast we would like for a dish my sister had ordered and when the toast didn't arrive and we brought it up to the host again (when we were not able to make eye contact with the server) the host again was quick to say the item doesn't come with a side. Anyway, there were no other issues that would warrant a 3 star review, which I would give but I'm going to be nice and give 4. The host was never rude, she was nice too, but if there had been a better overall approach to things, this would've been an easy 4 or 5 stars. I would just suggest some empowerment...

My review is based on just trying to get a table and not the food since I did not get the chance to try it. I walked in and placed my name on the list and let the young boy that was working in the front that we could go get coffee while we waited. He said about 20 minutes which was totally fine. However, as we were sitting across the street I saw a few parties get sat when there were only 2 people ahead of us on the list. Mind you it’s been 30 minutes at this point and still no call. I call to check the status just because they do close at 3 so I wanted to be considerate about timing, he answered and he said my name wasn’t on the list. I told him I was the girl who was going to go across and gave him my number. Then he said well there’s a 20 minute wait. I told him we’ve been waiting for 30 but fine It can be an hour but just wanted to reassure about timing since they close at 3. He then said if we didn’t want to eat at the restaurant to go somewhere else. I told him no I want to eat there I was just asking since we got different time waits and now 20 minutes is turning into an hour. He said again, you can go to another restaurant then or wait and I’ll call you. I said it’s fine just call me when my table is ready. It’s now 2:15, still no call and I doubt I’ll get one. I have been a server for 7 years and understand wait times and the stress but the response of this kid was so unprofessional and rude I’m still in shock. I won’t even bother coming back because I’ve never experienced that. Just a terrible customer...

I want to apologize before this review because the people working here seemed nice and I don’t want to harm a local business with a review but the existing 4.6 rating is not right. They do not deserve that high of a rating.

This place is not good. Chicken and waffles had frozen chicken fingers that came out of a box. Really low-effort, over-processed sugary food. The coquito latte is sickeningly sweet and basically undrinkable. There were so many people in the kitchen and the food took forever. They also charge extra for ice because they don’t have an ice machine. Not good enough to be a restaurant in an extremely competitive place like Chicago.

I got reminded of this place via a Facebook post today. Don’t go here, we shouldn’t encourage mediocrity and this place is at best mediocre.

Things that could change my rating:

Take extra steps like breading chicken, dialing in seasoning, balancing sweetness for drinks

getting an ice machine and stop charging extra for iced drinks (this is not normal in my experience)

fix their HVAC issues: you have to walk under a scary looking window unit to get in the restaurant and it is the only AC in the building. You will sweat if you go on a hot day. The ac is not enough to cool down a modest apartment much less a full restaurant with a kitchen.

Again sorry but you have to compete to have a restaurant in Chicago and this place is...