Cool Runnings Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Michigan City

A friend from California was staying with me as she interviewed at schools in Manhattan - on her last night here, we decided on seafood to celebrate her end-of-interviews. She'd gone to the MoMA before we met up, so we decided to meet up in LES and look for dinner from there. After arriving in St. Mark's Place, we did a quick Yelp search and Upstate came up as #1. It was early on in the evening (5:30 on a week night) and we were hoping for not too bad of a line , even with the sparkling reviews on Yelp!

It happened to be just opening, plus happy hour as we walked in (cha-ching!) but we were still not early enough to get a seat immediately. The nice host took our number down, and told us it would be about a half hour wait. It was cold, so we went to the McDonalds across the street to sit around and talk as we waited. We waited actually about exactly half an hour, and we were seated right at the half hour point at one of the high side tables near the wall. The happy hour was still going on, but neither of us were feeling oysters or beer so we forewent the happy hour and got dinner food instead - her the fettuccine with clams ($15), myself the cioppino ($17, perfect for the chilly night!). It was a really nice ambiance, albeit small restaurant - it was rather dimly lit, the restaurant full but surprisingly not too loud so we were able to carry on conversation without yelling across the table. Our waiter wasn't too attentive, but the basics were met (water filled, checked in on us a couple of times throughout our meal). Our food took ~20 minutes, not bad since they brought us freshly toasted bread with dipping olive oil in the meantime. The cioppino was solid - the seafood (scallops, fish of the day, clams, mussels - they didn't skimp!) was fresh, the tomato based soup/sauce going perfectly with the bread we hadn't finished. But I gotta hand it to them about the fettuccine my friend got - That stuff was so, so good! It was the perfect medley of cheese (parmesan? couldn't tell), olive oil, garlic, a light white cream sauce and steamed clams. I would go back for that fettuccine alone. The dish ware was unique too, with our meals being served in metal bowls. At the end of our meal, our check was brought to us with a small slice of rum-infused pound cake on the house, which was surprisingly strong. It was overall a nice, comfortable meal - nothing fancy, but we left with warm bellies and warm hearts. A perfect, casual date night spot I'd be happy to...

This place is a problem.

All i wanna do is eat here. I like this food better than most of my friends and definetly more than my family. Im choosing this place over my people.

I'm a carnivore. So then how is it that this place has me over excited about rice and beans and mac and cheese. Thats some island majic right there. I never get excited about my sides.

Let's talk about the shrimp. Perfect. Tasty, great portions, well seasoned. I always get the jerk shrimp. I got jerk tacos and while they're the best tacos ive ever had, i still like the jerk shrimp best. I think i summed it up best ehen i told my friend, "it makes me sweat just the right amount."

Remember when i said this place was a problem? I'm gaining weight. I can't stop going here a few times/week. I dont even live in this town. Fatty got a fit bit to work on my heart palpatations and respiratory health wouldnt you know my heart rate increases when i walk up to this place. It excited me the way a fast woman does. This is food addiction and i dont wanna fix it.

I'm a white guy and i cannot get enough bob marley murals, jamaican companionship, and food that makes me wanna take a vacation down south. I sneak into here for lunch while I'm on the clock but let's be honest if it came down to my job or this place i pick cool runnings

The building is awesome. The bar is somewhere id frequent even if they didnt serve food. The servers are all sassy and i love that they call me pet names.

Sugar, sweety, honey, darlin', just to make a few. They're not hitting on me the way i eat food like an animal in there would repulse any man ir woman but the girls in there make me feel special.

I freaking love this place and...

I was very excited to finally try Jamaican food, especially a local, family owned restaurant. I went with my wife on Sunday around noon. Only a couple was there watching the Bears game. The server came to our table and was complaining about something. She never introduced herself and when I told her this was our first time she didn’t recommend anything. She gave us ratty, torn menus & walked away. Moments later, an older man with a ponytail and a torn, worn out Harley Davidson shirt gave us water and then stared at my wife in a creepy way as he walked away. I’m used to eating at places less developed than this place so I kept an open mind. We ordered our food. Before our food came, our server brought some square pastry thing. She didn’t tell us what it was. Sadly, I can’t process beef or pork (cruel curse for a foodie) otherwise I get violently ill. I had to ask our server what it was. As far as the food, I will start with the negative and end on a positive note. The shrimp tacos were bland, tasteless and sprinkled with shredded cheese. Luckily I ordered jerk wings and had left over sauce. I used the sauce to add flavor to the shrimp after I took off the cheese. The coconut shrimp were frozen store bought and not Jamaican at all. Now for the positive. The plantains were FANTASTIC! The jerk wings were so tasty and flavorful that I licked the plate clean. If I were to come back, it will be for take out and just come for the plantains...