Skyvibe Restaurant and Lounge — Restaurant in Laurel

I won the Chimaeats Instagram contest and received a $100 gift certificate to try this restaurant. After several attempts to visit, I finally made it on New Year's Eve. I made a reservation, as I expected the restaurant to be busy due to the holiday, but to my surprise, it wasn't crowded at all. We were seated immediately.

We began with drinks and appetizers, ordering the beef sliders. I had expected the sliders to be on bread, but instead, they were thinly sliced strips of beef with raw red onions on top, accompanied by a side of seasoning. The beef itself was flavorful, though the dish wasn’t what I had anticipated based on the menu description. It was spicy, but manageable. We also ordered the shrimp spring rolls, only to be told after placing our order that they were unavailable and could only be made with chicken. This was disappointing.

The chicken sliders were delicious, but our service was incredibly slow—despite the restaurant being nearly empty. Even our drinks took much longer than expected.

For the main course, I ordered the seafood okra soup with pounded yam, as suggested by my waiter. The soup contained baby shrimp, two crab claws, and a large piece of fish, which was filled with large bones. I’m not a fan of fish with bones, especially in a soup, but that wasn’t my main issue. The soup was so overwhelmingly spicy that I couldn’t enjoy it. I appreciate spicy food when it has flavor, but this dish lacked depth and was just pure heat. I spent a long time removing the bones, only to be unable to finish the soup due to the excessive spice. I ended up taking it to go, but ultimately had to discard it the next day.

My husband ordered the lamb chops with jollof rice and plantains. He said the dish was good overall, though one of the lamb chops was raw in the middle. He didn’t want to make a fuss, so we didn’t address it with the staff, but it was still concerning.

Overall, my experience was disappointing, especially given the high cost of the meal and the 40-minute drive I made to visit. The service was lacking, as we were not offered water, and I had to ask for a bag to take my leftovers. A manager did offer a bag when she saw the containers sitting on our table, which was appreciated, but the service overall felt disorganized. There was also a mix-up with the $100 gift card, but the manager resolved it without issue.

Ultimately, I don’t think I’ll return. The food and service didn’t justify the price, and the experience fell short of what I had seen on their Instagram. I had hoped for a better experience, but unfortunately, it didn’t meet my...

Now this was my first time visiting this establishment. I wanted to dance sweat and drink. I wanted to hear some good 🇬🇾 island music. And if everything went well I would then eat. They don't have any vegan meals. You have to piece something together. I arrived at 11 left at 2. The DJ 👎🏽👎🏽 he was enjoying his music more than everyone else was. I guess the hookah and liquor had him right. It was a semi packed young crowd and a sprinkle of 40 pluses in their my group. I wanted to leave but it took me 36 minutes to get there unfamiliar with the area and it's already 12:00. I got tired of watching him being the only one turned up by his music so I went and asked him. Hey Hun do you think you can slide in Any Other Day by wyclef and Norah Jones? The look he gave was I'm not feeling that, or I don't know what that is. I smile and said thank you walked away knowing I wasn't going to hear it. There was a couple sitting beside me and the young lady when and greeted and talked to the DJ for a hot minute. When she came back to her table the next three songs the DJ played he looked over at them. And the man yelled out and said now you're cooking! I need something small to put in my stomach $9 fries and $56 for a double shot of Tito's and lemon juice👎🏽👎🏽. Now the staff was very pleasant and the atmosphere was cool, the restroom could have been better. The reason for me patronizing this establishment failed me terribly. From the self-absorbed got to be family or friends only DJ and the overpriced alcohol. I am never going back and I will never recommend it. As I was sitting in my car while it was heating up. A couple of doors down there was this establishment and maybe about three people in there and then the DJ and his plus one. It was empty I thought they were closed but the music and the energy coming from out of there. The DJ was dancing and vibing with the people. I turned my car off and I went in and stood by the door and danced and smiled for about 5 minutes. As I was walking out a gentleman came behind me and stopped me and told me to come back on sunday. He's trying to close and if he don't turn off the music they won't leave ☺️. We talked about business, family and life. Come to find out he was the owner and his wife is 🇬🇾 too. I told him about my experience at Skyvibe. He told me to come back and the DJ will play my song. I am going to...

Updated review: The food and menu has drastically changed, but not for the better! The wings were good. The suya didn't taste the same and it was cut up smaller maybe to mask how tough the pieces were... The salmon was just dry, not seasoned the same (as pictured). The grilled chicken entree consisted of a drumstick and a wing which was too hard to eat so it was sent back. The lambchops were totally different and just wasn't prepared the same and apparently they ran out... The okra dish was removed from the menu which was such a disappointment to remove classic African dishes. The food was slow to come out. I received cake after the appetizers and before the entree. The music is still good... However, I wont be coming back to this location and I'll just have to go back to DC to experience African restaurants.

Previously posted a month ago:

Love, love, love the concept of going to a nice, vibrant establishment with good food without having to drive into DC!! Definitely check the place out!

The absolute best dish are the lamb chops! They are so good, moist, tender with good flavor. On my second visit here they didn't have lamb chops which was disappointing because that was the main reason for my return. I came an hour after they opened on a Thursday so I was surprised they just didn't have them. But the establishment is newly opened so hopefully availability improves over time. The second best dish was the salmon which was cooked perfectly! The suya is good as well but there's a mixture of tender and tough/chewy pieces of meat but the flavors are on point, so it's worth trying. Love the African dishes, like okra but wished you could choose shrimp or chicken versus just boney fish. Also wished there were hot veggies (cabbage, broccoli, spinach, etc) as sides versus all carbs as sides. Oh and Alexander makes the best drinks and he is really nice!

The ambiance is the best! The music levels are perfect on each floor. The decor is nice. And I like the outdoor first floor, which would be nice when the weather cooperates. The "rooftop" is a back deck area and if there's isnt many people back there it...