Island Grill & Pub — Restaurant in Rock Hill

As evident from the restaurant’s response, I must have been imagining things when I thought an employee explicitly stated that the ginger lemonade was missing an ingredient. I had an edible that day, so I'll let it go and assume it didn’t actually suck.

However, proper trimming of oxtail is essential. I wasn't dreaming, see the pictures. While I don’t dispute that the flavor was on point, no one wants to eat flavored tallow. Let's hope they up their trim game.

Flavor does not mean spice. The chicken lacked flavor(.)—24-hour marination or not. No flavor. I suggest incorporating a natural enzyme to help that marinade penetrate, maybe even some ginger from the lemonade.

Now I visited this restaurant based on a glowing review, from someone I trusts. So clearly there are inconsistencies in preparation and cooking. Unfortunately, during MY visit, it didn't slap. And it's all ❤️

I visited Island Grill on February 7, 2025, around 2:30 PM. First, I want to say that the restaurant has a charming atmosphere. It’s clean, offers plenty of seating, and plays good music.

My friend and I ordered two large oxtail plates, a side of jerk chicken, cocoa bread, a chicken patty, and two ginger lemonades. The first issue arose with the drinks—our ginger lemonades had no lemonade. They tasted like pure ginger and sugar water. When we asked about it, a staff member explained that an ingredient was missing, and since the owner was in Jamaica, they couldn’t figure out the correct recipe. We sampled the other drinks, but they all tasted like flavored sugar water. I’m not sure if that’s how they’re supposed to be, but either way, they weren’t appetizing.

The wait for our food was another disappointment—it took about 40 minutes. This was surprising because most of what we ordered should have just been plated from a pot.

The jerk chicken was also underwhelming. The only seasoning was on the skin, and the meat itself had no flavor. It clearly hadn’t been marinated, leaving it bland. I enjoyed the cabbage and rice and peas, but the oxtails were extremely undercooked.

The oxtails were not properly trimmed, which raised concerns about whether they were cleaned thoroughly. Even if a chef prefers to leave some fat, it needs to be cooked long enough to render down properly. Instead, all of my oxtails had thick layers of hard fat, making them unpleasant to eat. It was disappointing to see such an essential part of the dish improperly prepared.

Overall, while the ambiance was nice, the food and drinks did not meet expectations. I hope they can improve their preparation and consistency. This place was recommended by a friend who loves it, but MY experience was so...

I have had two bad experiences here this year. The first was at the beginning of the year, we ordered food and arrived about 10 minutes after it was supposed to be ready. We then had to wait 20+ minutes because the jerk chicken wings we ordered were not ready. While we waited there were all of these passive aggressive signs saying you better check your food or you’re out of luck.

Well when we got our food it has been over an hour since we placed the order and I figured we had waited for the chicken wings they must be in there. We went home, and shockingly (sarcasm) they weren’t. Okay, I had seen their sign and took personal responsibility for not checking my bag. That wasn’t the restaurants fault. The food was good, but I would probably give it a 4-4.5. I can make jerk chicken wings myself at home for cheaper (not that I ever had theirs).

I waited about 6-8 months and decided to give this place a second chance because it does have good reviews. I ordered online again and about 15 minutes later I look at. Y phone and I have a missed call from 2 minutes ago and a voicemail saying they don’t have the barbecue chicken that my husband wanted. I try to call back and their phone is set up to an automated message saying to order online. It’s over an hour before they close at this point. I try calling 3 times and then since we live 5 minutes away I decided we would just go there and get it straightened out.

When I arrive I speak to the person at the cash register and explain I got their message but their phone is not accepting calls and I was not able to call back to order something else. This lady obviously doesn’t care and nobody working seemed to want to be there, she didn’t ask if we want a replacement meal (which we wanted and 100% understood we would be paying for). It almost felt like it was my fault that they didn’t have the food I ordered. At that point I just asked for a refund and they were great about giving us the refund and providing proof when I asked for it so I do appreciate that. As we’re leaving there is some guy tearing apart his bag of take out from them on the trunk of his car - probably because he wants to make sure he has everything due to the passive aggressive signs. (To be honest I didn’t even check if they were still there).

I wouldn’t eat here again even if I believed all the other reviews that it’s 5 star+ food. I don’t think the customer is always right at all but I think they should rethink their approach. At the end of the day this is just my opinion and maybe I wasn’t the most gracious the second time around due to my previous experience. It is possible I just unluckily struck out two times but I’m not willing to let...

My wife wanted some Jerked chicken wings so I decided to take her to this specific restaurant for some. Before we got there we kept calling and calling and calling to place an order and to our surprise no answer. Being only 7 minutes from the restaurant we just said, ok maybe they are busy and went on to the place. Upon arrival the parking lot was so empty that we thought the restaurant was not open. Go inside and I asked the lady did they not answer their phones, she never acknowledged me, but herself as well as another employee were just up at the registers on their personal phones. We weren't greeted upon entering either. Next my wife started ordering her food and was told she couldn't get all flats for the chicken, that was a little understandable but not really because usually people can pay for what they want. She tried ordering some plantains and was told she couldn't and that it only comes with plates. We left and will not be going back. If you all want some true, real, authentic Jamaican food please go to Cravin Carribbean in Charlotte and your plates are huge in size. You can definitely order side dishes of plantains without being forced to buy a whole plate of food. Not sure who owns this restaurant located in RH but you all definitely need...