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    Irie Jamaican Kitchen

    3.8 (74 reviews)

    Irie Jamaican Kitchen Photos

    Business Info

    IRIE JAMAICAN KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Irie Jamaican Kitchen

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    Jerk Chicken box, find the chicken

    The protein portions keep getting smaller. My jerk chicken box came with a 1/2 cup dry measuring of jerk chicken. Kinda disappointed for the price .

    Bowl
    Colleen A.

    Everything about this place is awesome. From the second you pull up to the restaurant, you know it's going to be a good time. The vibe, the decor, the flavor, the service-- all stellar. My husband got a "box" and I got a "bowl". The difference being portion size and amount of items. I HIGHLY recommend the stewed chicken, mango salsa, and cilantro sauce. The corn muffins are like a vanilla corn cupcake. We had a blast and loved every bite. Hopeful to be able to come back if we are ever in town again!

    Jerk Chicken Box
    Kelly W.

    Everytime I order form here it's amazing. Tried the rum cake for the first time today. Loveee it!

    Cool artwork!
    Lisa C.

    We had fun eating here! Food is seasoned well and leaves a taste explosion in the mouth, mon! Go for the jerk wings! Very tender & flavorful. Loved them! My family enjoyed their meals too. Nice relaxing atmosphere. If you've never been here before, you order at the counter, by selecting proteins and veggies. You basically build your own meal by letting the employees know what you want in your box or bowl. The person working was super friendly and helpful. They did a great job answering our questions.

    1/2 Oxtail & 1/2 Jerk chicken w/ 4 oz Cabbage, Side of Plantains, Side of Cucumber Salad, CHEF OMAR'S RUM CAKE, SINGLE PIECE, and Cornbread
    Emma N.

    Fabulous food and wonderful customer service! Desiree let us sample the chicken (most popular) and happily guided us through the menu. We loved the music and will definitely be back!

    Royal boxes, two Jamaican jerk and one Buddha veg with mango. Very flavorful!!
    Stephanie L.

    This was my second visit, and I was even happier with the food than on my first! They've changed some things, I felt like I had more options, and they gave me more of a variety of things in my box. I like that I got to try more sides and sauces. It was about $12 for the "box", and I got two proteins, two bases, and a variety of toppings and sauces. Everything was delicious and flavorful! Will be back soon!

    Chicken curry with plantains and cabbage.
    Edie S.

    How to distribute salt: HIGH and WIDE. Whew. The plain rice was so salty, which makes no sense if the cook tastes what they make. The bowls are more than 50% rice. So, clearly the rice has meaning. My plantains were burnt as you can see in the picture (burnt vs caramelized). It was a below average experience. I gave 2 stars for my two awesome previous visits. Additionally, other businesses on the same strip were BUSY and sadly Irie is empty. I want y'all to do well and survive in Highland Square. Yet it appears that quality control has become lax. You can do this!

    Stewed Chicken after I pulled out all the plastic string things
    Brit B.

    We ordered the brown stew chicken and jerk chicken box with a side order of brown stew chicken....i noticed small clear hair like fibers in the side order so I started digging through the chicken in my box and also found the same thing.....We were not able to eat the chicken or feed it to our child, due to there being plastic fiber like strings in our food.. they almost remind you of the grill brush bristles you would use to wipe the sauce on grilled foods... The strings are clear and you cant break them in half or bite through them..... it also looks and feels like plastic string. We ended up not eating it and just getting food from somewhere else, Which sucked because I was really excited about this place. I tried to call the location and get a refund or maybe try something else, but no one is answering the phone. I rinsed off the plastic strings I found in my food and put them aside to bring up there later and show the manger or at least try to find out what these are. This is not good at all.

    20 minutes on hold and no one has checked back yet.

    Buddha vegetables did not come saucy like they did last time. Really dry. I hope these are vegan. Not listed on menu

    Kay K.

    If you're in the area you definitely need to stop in and get yourself some awesome Jamaican food!! This is a chipotle-style restaurant where you can go down the line and craft your own bowl or box of deliciousness! The jerk chicken is super good, I also loved the rice and cabbage and all of their sauces!

    View of line queue from other side of restaurant
    Siroda D.

    My husband and I had to go to downtown Akron and decided to check out this location of Irie. We have only been to the original E. 185th location previously, a number of times. We were so excited to get some Irie as we're about 30 minutes from this location and 45 or so from the Cleveland one. The actual dining space is really nice. It's large and bright, though it seems more like a tourist spot than anything authentically Jamaican. Not really a negative just an opinion. We were able to each order our boxes with what we normally get. We were both fairly disappointed. They only had curry chicken patties and no beef. The chicken that we got, and even the cabbage, tasted completely different that what we've had from Cleveland. The jerk was quite mild as opposed to deliciously spicy. We ordered banana pudding. I wish there were more wafers as it really was just pudding with some plantain in the bottom. I wasn't a fan of the flavor of the pudding and I had a nice sized hair in it. We didn't end up telling the young lady working with the pink braids. She had enough going on and what could really be done at that point anyway. We love Irie and are happy to support, but aren't likely to come back to this location.

    Yum yum food

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The food here was really good. But only two people working made service really slow. I would go back.

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    3 years ago

    First time visiting. The staff was so welcoming and helpful, the food was amazing, and the vibe was so fun!

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    3 years ago

    Very good jerk chicken. Place was very clean. People were very nice and I might add meat. Pies were pretty good.

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Place is amazing great quality I love the jerk chicken I will continue to eat here!!!

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Fantastic food and the owners are so nice! They have a good selection and you definitely won't go home hungry!

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    3 years ago

    Great food fast. Good service. Nice clean facility and cool decors. Plenty of parking. I am strongly recommended.

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Just like Chipotle but with traditional Jamaican cuisine! 10/10, would recommend, although the line can be long some times.

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    Ask the Community - Irie Jamaican Kitchen

    Crave Cantina - Trio of salsa with chips

    Crave Cantina

    3.3(216 reviews)
    4.1 mi
    $$

    I've come back here a couple of times since my previous review, including a recent visit. Friends…read morewanted to go out for a last minute dinner, and I wanted to be able to make a reservation. Crave Cantina had openings, and booking online was easy. I was a little surprised to see how empty the restaurant was on a Saturday night at 7 pm. The bar was totally empty and maybe half of the tables were occupied. One big difference I noticed was that the drink menu was significantly reduced and a lot less interesting. However, the margarita and sangria I had were both good. We started with a large order of chips, the salsa trio, and a plain guacamole. This was outstanding. Everything tasted so fresh, and I appreciated that the salsas actually tasted different (a red smooth salsa; a chunky, black bean salsa; and a salsa verde). I was feeling pretty basic and ordered a quesadilla with steak and a side of refried beans. The quesadilla was what I wanted, the steak was tender, and it had great flavor from the chimichurri marinade. The beans were not good. They were made with meat and there were tons of stringy pieces of beef. Dry and not creamy. The quesadilla was so filling, though, that I actually didn't care. My biggest complaint this time around isn't related to anything that happened during our meal. I find it kind of off-putting that the taco menu just . . . doesn't change. While I appreciate that now you can get burritos or the aforementioned quesadilla, I wish there were more appealing choices. I'm from Louisiana and I'm just never going to order an alligator taco. Some of the combinations (like that one) seem wacky for the sake of it, and I feel that choice--while trend driven for sure--is feeling a bit dated in 2023. I will say, though, that I appreciate the amount of veg and vegan options. This most recent meal was probably the best over-all experience I've had at the cantina. Service had been an issue here before, but our server was great. The right balance of attentive but not smothering us (we enjoyed appetizers and drinks before ordering). This isn't my favorite restaurant, but we had a great experience, and that merits a new, better rating.

    As crave cantina we used to visit a few times a month. It was great for tacos, margaritas, and my…read morefavorites the Paloma. This place was actually becoming a regular occurrence for us and where we'd suggest family and friends visit. Saturday Date night we visited after traveling the past few months and we were so disappointed we got up and walked out. What was once a local cantina with great food and drinks is now another restaurant with an identity crisis. Service was good as always but what was a one page menu and a few specials is now a front ad back, beer menu, cocktails menu, and nothing looked good. We went for tacos and margs and left after seeing all the menus and identity crisis. We will not be back

    Photos
    Crave Cantina - Beer on tap

    Beer on tap

    Crave Cantina - Left to Right: Great Lakes beer battered Walleye taco, Flank Steak Banh Mi taco, Shrimp taco

    Left to Right: Great Lakes beer battered Walleye taco, Flank Steak Banh Mi taco, Shrimp taco

    Crave Cantina - Disgusting used glass not washed properly (or at all.)

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    Disgusting used glass not washed properly (or at all.)

    The Beachcomber Truck - Parmesan truffle tots

    The Beachcomber Truck

    4.3(8 reviews)
    9.2 mi

    Stopped by Walnut Wednesday in downtown Cleveland and walked past 16 food trucks. At the 17th…read moretruck, I decided to order. I saw a Cuban sandwich on the menu, which piqued my interest. So that's what I ordered, along with some Brussels sprouts. There are a lot of new food trucks in CLE and this one wasn't on yelp prior to me adding it. Welcome to yelp, Beachcomber! May your food be tasty and your reviews positive! My Cuban sandwich was very tasty, but I found myself wanting more filling. It was low on meat, but delicious. As for the Brussels sprouts - they were amazing! They had bacon and other yummy stuff that made me want more. They were sliced and fried so they cooked quickly. I would definitely recommend these. I'll be back to taste some tater tots. Recommend.

    Came to this food truck on Walnut Wednesday. They stood out from the other food trucks based on…read moretheir tropical inspired menu (hence the name "beach"comber). They had shrimp tacos, jerk chicken over coconut rice, ahi tuna salad, ahi tuna tacos, buffalo chicken pierogies and parmesan tater tots. Trying to keep it on the healthier side, I ordered the ahi tuna salad. The tuna was well prepared, pink in the center with a subtle peppery crust and thinly sliced over a variety of greens. I could eat tuna like this everyday and I'm not a big seafood person. They use a ginger citrus soy based dressing which was bright and refreshing. My only disappointment was not having enough of the dressing. Even after mixing thoroughly, many of my greens remained sad and dry. At $11, it is pricey but very tasty. Would have again but will probably try a different truck every Wednesday!

    Photos
    The Beachcomber Truck - Quinoa bowl with chicken

    Quinoa bowl with chicken

    The Beachcomber Truck
    The Beachcomber Truck - Quinoa salad with jerk chicken. Yum! 10$

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    Quinoa salad with jerk chicken. Yum! 10$

    Irie Jamaican Kitchen - caribbean - Updated May 2026

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