Karibu Restaurant — Restaurant in Waltham

"Karibu" means "welcome," and that's exactly how you feel here.

Wandering in through the unassuming entrance on a Saturday night, the two of us were the only non-Africans in the surprisingly large joint. That must mean the food's legit! The environment is lively, with tables of friends laughing and hanging out here seemingly for hours. There's a group of men lined up watching television and families as well. Everyone is happy, comfortable, welcome.

Our server (and I believe the cook as well), showed us to a booth and later came with a pitcher of water on a tray (no other drinks were offered, so I'm assuming there's no liquor license) and set the table for us while chatting. This treatment evoked feelings of being house guests rather than restaurant customers.

We'd never tried West African food, and our server could surely tell how out of our element we were, so she explained what they currently had in the kitchen. No menus, no pricing information. All the focus is on the food. To start, she recommends the samosas (beef or veggie). Each $4 order comes with 2 flaky pastries encasing deliciously seasoned meat. These are a must. As for our entrees, after listing all the options, and seeing our overwhelmed expressions, she suggested that she just bring a bit of many things. I'm always down for a sampler!

On her return, she presented us each with a heaping plate with mashed plantains, peanut sauce with mushrooms, rice pillao with beef, spinach, and a separate bowl with chicken stew. SO MUCH FOOD. Especially after the samosa appetizers. We could have split just one of these and still come away stuffed. But oh man, was it delicious. We went to town mixing the sauces and enjoying the unique flavors each combination created.

At the end of our meal, after showing some mock disapproval that we couldn't clean our plates of food, our waitress asked "which one we loved most." The chicken stew was unreal. And I could have happily chowed down on samosas all night. But really, everything mixing together made the meal for me. Asking for the bill pulled me from the dinner party feeling back to a business transaction. Especially since we had no idea what all of this food was going to cost us. So when the paper came, we were surprised to see it was just $12 for each entree (which also provided some delicious leftovers).

From this experience, we found that West African food is a combination of cultures that come together in a unique way to create something utterly fantastic. Eat samosas so different than Indian, peanut sauce not even close to Thai, tortillas that aren't from Central America, plantains and rice but don't think Caribbean. It's all West African. All made from scratch and with care, so that you truly...

I went in with my girlfriend a little more than an hour before close. We did not understand how to order, when an old soft spoken lady came up to us. I thought she was a customer, but she was a server. She explained they were out of most foods because it's later, but they still had beef and rice. We told her it was fine and she told us to make ourselves comfortable.

There were some loud men, tough looking men at different tables speaking different languages. It was a bit off putting at first, but after we were there a few minutes we started to get smiles and greetings. It seemed they were just taken aback by us because we were different than everyone else. Everyone I interacted with was very friendly, and it felt safe.

It felt like I was being served by the sweet mother of a good friend. We were brought bowls of beef soup and large plates of rice. As we ate, she continued to bring out food. More beef broth, more beef, a vegetable salad. She would bring out the food, tell us what it was and make sure she got some approval before setting it down.

We got up to smoke at one point. She rushed over to cover our food with plates. I was very impressed by the attention to food safety they had, especially for a small resturant.

The food was delicious. The beef still had bone on it and had a pot roast texture to it. The rice had a chinese food fried rice taste to it, but all of the food had a blend of spices I had never tried before. It was not very spicy, but it was good enough it did not need to be.

I was wondering if I was going to get stuck with a big bill and the end as I had not inquired about the prices. The bill was just over $40 with two bottles waters. My girlfriend and I are big eaters, but we both ate as much as we could, had left over later that night and then for lunch the next day. The price for the portions was definitely good.

I haven't written many reviews, but this place...

There is so much to say about this place I would give it all zeros for everything. The food was ok wasn't bad but wasn't good either. The food was cold and underwhelming. I wouldn't go back if the food was free. I paid 29 dollars for a water in a bowl with of a few pieces of beef and bone. With some cold rice. No ambiance no one checking on you. I had to ask several times for basic utensils to eat. I have never been to such a restaurant in my entire life. I have traveled to different countries and had to eat on an old bench with splinters. And had a better experience. The person serving us didn't pay me any attention I had to ask what was each item. There is no menu and for a person with allergies this is a crazy thing. No menu no prices no signs on the food being served. The women had no enthusiasm lack luster everything in this place. I can't call it bad service it was no service. In the bathroom no paper towels. Then there was a sink in the dining room with paper towels and no water in the sink. It made no sense it seemed like their were more employees than patrons in that place. I don't care if there is nothing else to eat in the city of Waltham I will never go to this place again. Zero stars zero service they had an empty tip jar for...