Lee's Kitchen

So I am a first generation born in the US Jamaican and I grew up eating most of the food they serve here. I've also been back to the island several times and have family there. Here are a few things you need to know before you decide to mess with this place:

• The staff will only be friendly until THEY feel like you're being excessive/difficult. That threshold varies by person by day by time so tread lightly.
• If you've never had Jamaican food, this is American-ized Jamaican food, meaning the flavors are a bit dulled for the bland American pallet. You won't get as much heat or flavor spice as you would with real Jamaican food. Conversely, if the chef isn't feeling it that day, he might over-season the food and mess you up with some scotch bonnet peppers (think 10% hotter than a habañero pepper). Tread lightly with spicy dishes (curry/jerk).
• This place is wildly over priced for most of the Jamaican food they server. Chicken, the patties, and the Jamaican sides are ridiculously marked up. Reason: you really don't have many options for this type of cuisine in Raleigh so they price gouge with like many other kinds of ethinic foods. Count on 1 dinner plate running you close to $15 and that's if you don't change your side items that it comes with. That's an upcharge. -They do NOT respect the idea of efficiency here. Count on waiting at least 10-15 minutes for food that is already cooked and waiting to be put in a plate. Reason: Cashier will make you wait while they take several call-in orders that they don't even fill until the person shows up. They also only move as fast as they want to. Rushing them will get you attitude. Ridiculous for a hot line setup like that. Don't quarrel about your wait. You won't get anything free from them. They believe they have the market cornered so they don't care if you leave. -I can't speak to the "southern" cuisine because I can make ALL of that at home for much much MUCH cheaper. This side of the menu has also been expanding while the Jamaican side has shrank a little bit. -The only Jamaican dishes I can remotely see myself spending this kind of money on are the Ox Tail, Curry Goat, and the Red Snapper because they are not the easiest to get right but they do an okay job at it.
• If they run out of something you wanted, don't expect them to go out of their way for you. They will tell you to get your money back, making you stand in line AGAIN. Like I said before, they think they have the market cornered so they don't care if you get mad and leave. Their idea of customer service I guess. -$3.00 for a side of plantains? Fresh Market up the road will sell you a whole yellow plantain (roughly 10 pieces of what they have on the hot line) for like $0.69 - Don't do it. -Rice is a hit or miss with this place.
• The patties are not flaky or crispy like you'd expect. They're almost never hot like they're supposed to be served and pretty bland. The cocoa bread is microwaved and not warmed in the oven so they can be rubbery. Tread lightly.

The customer experiences I've described to you are not typical in places where there's a larger Jamaican population to keep these places in check such as the Northeast (NYC, Brooklyn, Hartford, NJ, etc). This is the typical RALEIGH experience with a lot of these restaurants.

Other than that, it's not the worst. They've just gotten too cocky and I can't spend $9 and change on 2 patties and a cocoa bread NO DRINK ever again.

-insert mic drop-