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    Avas Caribbean Restaurant

    3.1 (84 reviews)
    ModerateCaribbean
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Avas Caribbean Restaurant Photos

    AVAS CARIBBEAN RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

    More like Avas Caribbean Restaurant

    Recommended Reviews - Avas Caribbean Restaurant

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    Jerk chicken, oxtail, rice & peas, cabbage, and plantains
    Thao T.

    I've always wanted to try Jamaican food and I'm so glad Ava's was my first taste. It was so delicious and the portions were huge. Meats were cooked to just the right tenderness and the rice was onolicious. I'm not from around this area but so glad we found this gem. The restaurant was clean and the girl that took our order was very nice and explained how the menu worked. Must try!

    Catfish & plantain over a bed of rice, with cabbage on the side.
    Kelvin H.

    I just had the catfish, cabbage & plantain for lunch. Great food at a great price! I even ordered an extra side of plantain, it's that good! They are coronavirus aware; Order ahead, then drive up to grab & go.

    Oxtails....I guess they no longer put the gravy on oxtails?
    Dana S.

    I spent $44 in here the plantains in all 3 dishes were hard as rocks.. there was no gravy or any juice on the oxtails or brown chicken stew. How is that? The good thing is I have eaten here for years and this is the first time it's been messed up.

    Jerk chicken

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Ordered a large oxtail and a small oxtail. Got two small oxtails. No plaintain in the large. Rice and peas was very salt. Don't recommend.

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Place a order and receive have the food, so I call them to let them know about my order, and was told we can't do anything for you

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    This place is fantastic!! The food is delicious, and the people are lovely! Definitely will be going back!

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    3 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    5 years ago

    They don't have the prices written down anywhere this means they normally change the prices and over charge people

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    8 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    No one there when it was supposed to be open then pre- order wasn't even started when it was time to pick it up.

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    11 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

    The food was delicious and the portions were very generous. This is a spot we would most definitely come to often if we lived in the area!

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Avas Caribbean Restaurant

    Jamaica Nyammingz Restaurant - Jerk Chicken Wings

    Jamaica Nyammingz Restaurant

    4.5(40 reviews)
    3.5 mi

    Come through Killeen! Who would've thought I would find GOOD…read more Caribbean food here. The guy at the front was ok. The restaurant was clean, staff was cleaning while we we there. I got the oxtails dinner plate. Everything was good. Rice and peas tasted of coconut, oxtails was savory and meaty, plantains were sweet. I can't wait to go back.

    Tried this Jamaican spot recently after hearing some great things, and while it didn't all hit the…read moremark for me, there were definitely some standout moments worth sharing. I ordered the oxtails with cabbage, rice and peas, and a side of macaroni and cheese. Let me start with the oxtails, they were super tender and cooked well, but honestly, they didn't taste like traditional Jamaican oxtails. I was missing that signature depth of flavor as there was no noticeable allspice, thyme, or scotch bonnet heat. It reminded me more of a good, comforting brown gravy dish my mom would make, not bad at all, just not what I expected from a Jamaican kitchen. The rice and peas were a bit underwhelming. Not much flavor and the rice was a bit overcooked. The cabbage also had a strange taste I couldn't quite place, definitely not the usual Jamaican seasoned style I'm used to. Now let me give props where it's due: the macaroni and cheese was off the chain! Cheesy, creamy, and packed with flavor. Honestly, I'd come back just for that. My son had the jerk chicken with rice and peas and cabbage. Same thoughts on the sides, but he said the jerk chicken was seasoned to perfection. He also got a beef patty (no pic of that), and I tried a bite, very flavorful, not spicy, and the crust was flaky and delicious. The atmosphere was quiet with plenty of seating, and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful in guiding us through the menu. They also had a great selection of desserts and Jamaican drinks, which I'll definitely check out next time. All in all, it wasn't a perfect experience flavor wise, but I can see why people like this place. Friendly service, good portions, and some definite hits like the mac and cheese and jerk chicken. I'd say it's worth trying.

    Photos
    Jamaica Nyammingz Restaurant - Weekend special and Bible verses

    Weekend special and Bible verses

    Jamaica Nyammingz Restaurant - Large Oxtail order

    Large Oxtail order

    Jamaica Nyammingz Restaurant - Jerk Pork with Oxtail Combo

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    Jerk Pork with Oxtail Combo

    Puerto Rican & Caribbean Grocery Store - Merenguitos, meringue (in the refrigerated section of the grocery side)

    Puerto Rican & Caribbean Grocery Store

    4.0(37 reviews)
    3.5 mi
    $$

    Pasteles! Pernil! Everything you need for Puerto Rican dishes (and they even sometimes have mavi…read morebark, quenepas, pastel and pastelillo de guayaba, turron, and morcillas)! If you can't find what you're looking for, just ask one of the employees. This grocery store is THE "go to" tiendita for all Boricuas and NewYoricans in Bell County.

    Because my "second family" is Cuban and I have a great affinity for all things Cuban (not just the…read morecigars and the rums) I always have a complex about non-Cubans preparing Cuban like things. There is even a Seinfeld episode on point about this with the Dominicans rolling the crepes. If you don't believe me compare a Romeo y Julieta (DR) to a real one, or any of the other cigar companies that have a DR factory with non-Cuban torcedores to one from the motherland. With the limited reviews of this joint on yelp I was having to read between the lines that the ladies preparing the food were probably not authentic Cubans. But based on the very favorable four to five star reviews of the Cuban sandwich from other yelpers, they seemed to know how to put in work on the gentlesir's favourite panini type class of sandwich so I was sold on giving it the olde "college try" since the prices seemed quite reasonable and I needed to submit receipts for travel reimbursement to my organization that were not handwritten. Just a note for yelpers - the "grocery store" part of the business is actually called Killeen Nutritional Center which has a separate yelp business page and this is the page for the to-go restaurant portion of the biz. I wandered around there for several minutes trying to find the sammich counter until I realized I was at the deli (in the grocery store) and the girl behind the deli counter was actively ignoring me. So I spotted the door behind the registers the other way and walked into the sammich place I wanted to be in. They could really use a sign or something, or workers that will acknowledge your existence and direct you appropriately. I actually know some spanglish so I know enough to be helpful asking where ya boy can obtain his emparedado. There is "prepared food" cafeteria style that most people dining in seemed to be getting so there is a line for that. However if you are gentlesir in for a sammich then you go straight to the register to order it there, pay for it, then you go wait for it to come out. There are also people buying the pastries out of the case at the register which are neither sammiches nor prepared cafeteria style take out, so there is some light confusion and at one time there appeared to be three separate lines of people trying to get it in at the one girl working the one register at the counter. The Cuban comes with Swiss cheese, pork, ham, mustard, pickle, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo. Or if you are bi-curious: el cubano (es una balleza tambien) tiene queso suizo, pernil, jamon, mostaza, pepinillo, lechuga, tomate, cebolla, y mayonesa. Homey costs $3.35. You read that right. This is not the best Cuban I have ever had if we are being honest. It was not prepared by authentic Cubans, but they never represented that they were authentic Cubans so we have to temper expectations accordingly and especially at this price point. I have to review the sammich in accord with Antone's last non-chain outpost in the Med Centre who also was not Cuban, but they mastered the non-Cuban art of making Cuban food. I am pretty sure my order ticket they put in to the kitchen said something along the lines of me being a gringo, possibly a puta also but I will never know even though I always assume this is being said behind my back and the main reason why I learned spanglish. This thing came with a Shania Twain sized heaping of mayo. So much mayo. Goddammit I don't even like mayo, that racist stereotype has to end. Meanwhile I love mustard and that was nearly nonexistent. I also love pickles and there was little pickle to speak of. If I knew they were going to go HAM on the mayo I would have just told them to hold it entirely and slide some pickle magic into the sammich in its place - but I would have to be careful that nothing got lost in translation since sliding a pickle into something is a double entendre which we snuck past the censors, just like that lemon party joke. So that is my most useful tip I can give you for your visit, tell them to hold the mayo unless you want six pounds of it on your sammich just ruining everything and your good time. THAT IS NOT HOW A CUBANO IS SUPPOSED TO GO. The meats were extremely dry and I suppose the giant dosing of mayo was an effort to mask that desert dryness, which was exquisitely unsuccessful on me but may have worked its charm better on other diners. I put the sammich on par with Subway quality at best (especially the underwhelming tomato and lettuce quality) but not customizable at your own instruction as Subway is, so you don't need to take any responsibility for the creation of this monstrosity. This was my worst meal on my road trip through this area. However, I am still rewarding them with a three star yelp review (an #upgrayedd of stars taking into account the totality of the circumstances beyond the disappointing sammich) since unlike KMB they printed me a proper receipt I could actually use for reimbursement from my organization.

    Photos
    Puerto Rican & Caribbean Grocery Store - The cubano in all his glory. If he was a cigar I would smoke him but he is a sammich so I will eat him. Many ways to live your best life.

    The cubano in all his glory. If he was a cigar I would smoke him but he is a sammich so I will eat him. Many ways to live your best life.

    Puerto Rican & Caribbean Grocery Store - Got that sammich in my hands

    Got that sammich in my hands

    Puerto Rican & Caribbean Grocery Store - Waiting for my order at the table nearest the register. If you aren't getting food from the hoppers at back you just order at the register

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    Waiting for my order at the table nearest the register. If you aren't getting food from the hoppers at back you just order at the register

    Avas Caribbean Restaurant - caribbean - Updated May 2026

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