Garifuna Flava

Based upon the reviews, I decided to drag my little cousin along for a cultural dish. Overall, I love the food. It was the first time I ever try Belize meal and they make for great leftovers. It’s really not that different from Jamaican and Haitian meals. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the cabbage and potatoes salad. Yet, I will come back.

I am not use to this type of food but I definitely enjoyed the conch fritters. It was so good. The service is like your at home having a meal with family. Not your family, a Belize family that can cook!

Great food here. The lunch specials are a great deal. We had the stewed Chicken and Beef. We also enjoyed the conch fritter appetizers. But… best of all was the desert. We had the pound cake. The pound cake has a subtle orange flavor with a fabulous caramel frosting. Bit of an edge neighborhood, but they have a dedicated parking lot.

These wonderful folks catered our work lunch today and it was a scrum amongst us all for seconds and thirds. MAN was it delicious! Stew & jerk chicken were fall-​off-​the-​bone good, plantains were perfect, and rice and beans excellent. Really wonderful stuff.

Had the Jerk chicken with rice and beans… phenomenal. Good amount of spice on the chicken, and an awesome little plantain that comes with it.

Great Caribbean food! The chicken was just right and the rice perfect. The drinks and the desserts go well with the meal. You have to try and be Irie as I was. Glad my coworker turned me onto this slice of paradise.

The food was amazing. I took the family and we had stewed ox tails, jerk chicken, king fish and a number of appetizers (panades, conch frittes and plantain chips). The cabbage was the best I’ve had in a long time. Tons of flavor, great service and decent price. The server even memorized our order and it was 6 of us, with very different meals. We will be back!

Garifuna is fantastic. There are some dishes which are outstanding, and some which are ‘merely’ good.
Outstanding list:
5: that stew-​oxtail. «Our meats are marinated with bell pepper, onions, vinegar, paprika & black pepper, then slow stewed and baked to perfection. Very tender and packed with flavor. All entrees are served with choice rice & beans, stew beans or split peas, fried ripe plantains and choice salad.» KILLER. I can’t phrase it better than them.
Good list:
4: Appetizer 331 platter. Those wings were killer, probably better than Nandos in seasoning and tenderness. I straight recommend getting just the wings over this, because the other 2 elements were just a-​ok.
4: Conch soup and Hudut Baruru I recommend as well.
4: Red Snapper «This very popular white fish is delicate to the core. Served whole, it is deep fried & garnished in a sweet pepper, tomato, purple onion & garlic based creole sauce.»
Whoaw. Extremely fresh and well cooked, still lacking the extra oomph to reach oxtail level.
2: Pigtail, it’s an acquired taste.
We were too full to try dessert, especially after the coconut-​rice, stew beans, and fried plantains.
WOW.

Ohhhhh this food is so good I came long distances to eat it again lol. The jerk chicken gives Jamaica competition, their stew chicken gives my moms Trinidad stew chicken good rivalry, the rice and beans r never dry, so moist and tasty, speaking of tasty, the sauces!!! Anything dat has a sauce is sooo good and compliments the food sublimely. The panades are so tiny n tasty it’s a blissful surprise and the lil accompaniment with it was perfect. They have parking which is good, the place is clean cool n fresh, rastaman is usually dere n he is very nice, good service! Even if u r a foodie or not u jus need this food in ur life

Really solid food at a great price range. I really enjoyed the stewed oxtail and the red snapper was magnificent (a little pricey at $ 18… though). Also, their jerk chicken was phenomenal — very tender. The rice with mashed peas was really tasty. The service was lovely too… It’s quite a hidden gem :).
Check in on Unilocal for a 10% discount!

Great flavors on the brown stew chicken and the conch fritters were flavorful but over fried which had a lil burn taste to them… will try again!

I’ve been dying to try this place.
I figured today was a good day, because I came into the city to see the STANLEY CUP! !
Ok. so they were 7 minutes late in opening.
The front window is cracked, with some old, nasty tape holding it together. .
They really should fix it, for curb appeal. .
I ordered the panadas, which are served with a mild & a spicy cabbage sauce. They were good… don’t know if I’d order them again.
I had the BEEF STEW lunch special. .with rice & beans, and the Belize potato salad. .
Two chunks of meat in a bowl??! And… I think a. plantain on the plate… which was old & cold tasting.
The beef was fantastic. .as was the rice n beans.
All of a sudden the music was all bass, and hurting my ears! It was vibrating in my chest…
It was making it hard to enjoy my meal.

First off let’s address the location. Sure it’s not like some neighborhoods in the city. It has diversity, culture, people outside of their homes. In no way does that translate to me feeling unsafe at.all. On a Friday night there were several families in the place and even if I was by myself would have felt right at home.
The staff was very friendly and worked their tail off to bus, seat and serve all customers.
We ordered the conch fritters and panades which were both amazing. I think I preferred the fritters but you can’t go wrong with either. For our main dishes we had the jerk chicken and the king fish. The chicken was amazing, smoked and seasoned perfectly. The fish was solid, a bit over cooked, but the sauce was very good and cabbage and rice and beans that came with it were
.
If you are looking for a great atmosphere and food that is not your «usual» cuisine please give this place a try.

They came to my job today, and after reading such great reviews, i was eager to try it. I had the following:
Stew Chicken: I really loved the stew chicken. Extremely flavorful and the meat would fall right off of the bone. Will definitely be my ‘go to’ dish when i visit their actual restaurant. I’ve never liked stew chicken from other restaurants i’ve tried, but they hit it right on the nail with how they prepare it.
Jerk Chicken: It wasn’t bad, but i’ve had better in Chicago. As mentioned in a previous review, the jerk chicken isn’t spicy at all and almost tasted like normal bbq chicken… but what made me like it, is when i dipped the chicken in the side of green sauce they give you. Once i did that, then the jerk chicken had a chance.
Rice and Beans: Extremely good, great texture, and especially loved the gravy that they pour on top of it. Was the best rice and beans i’ve ever had. Would definitely order this again.
Cabbage: The cabbage was good, it had a hint of spiciness to it which i loved about it. No complaints here and would order this side again.
Overall the food was great. I almost feel like i was charged a premium for the fact they were bringing the food to my company vs. me picking the food up at their actual restaurant. Paid $ 25 for all of the food above, and each were in very small containers. Hope when i visit the restaurant the portions are a bit bigger for the cost, but overall good! It was great to see a restaurant thats located on the south side of chicago, come downtown to participate in the FOODA program. Keep up the hard work!

Garifuna Flava has pretty good food and I’m glad it is in the location that it is in. Growing up in Englewood, I was always disappointed in the lack of food options. How many times can one eat from the same Chinese restaurant, really? I still have family in the area, so today on a visit I decided to try out this restaurant.
There were two other people ordering with me and we placed a pretty large carry out order. We were told 20 minutes, and when we arrived it was all ready to go. We ordered the panades, conch fritters, conch soup, plantain chips and guacamole, and the Jamaican jerk and Belizean stew chicken lunch specials. I was so surprised when the total was less than 45 bucks!
Now onto the food: the panades had a good flavor, but I would have preferred a bit more filling. The plantain chips and guacamole were delicious and the portion size was great. The conch fritters were huge and were so delicious-​definitely my favorite out of what we tried. They could have been a tad less greasy, though. The side conch soup was actually huge and full of veggies and seafood.
The lunch specials came with some side choices and we chose rice and beans, garden salad, potato salad, and stewed cabbage so we could try it all. The chicken in both lunch specials was flavorful and not dry. The jerk sauce was good too. Out of our sides, the cabbage was definitely the best. My husband enjoyed the potato salad, but he was literally given a tablespoon’s worth. That was truly the only bummer out of our experience.
If you’re in the area, definitely try this place out. I also read that there will be a buffet and drink specials for the upcoming Mayweather-​Pacquiao fight so it might be a good time to dine in!

Soooooo I plan on going to the actual restaurant location very very soon. For those that work downtown definitely take advantage of Nosh Market at Block 37 (extended through March). I stumbled upon Garifuna and ordered the jerk chicken plate (jerk chicken, red rice and beans, and plantains) Every item was delicious. The jerk chicken was flavorful and whatever green sauce that was on the side was good! I like the red rice and beans had a spicy kick to them. The plantains were sweet and not overdone. I cannot wait to bring my mom to the actual location. That caramel pound cake is calling my name!

I went with my regular brunch crew and I must say we were not disappointed.
We saw the place on DDV and got to meet the owner. Really cool guy.
We basically ordered every appetizer and they were all delicious. My favorite was the chicken tamale.
It took a little long to get everything, but we could tell it was all made with love by the owner’s mom! (Yes his mom is the chef!!!)

Ordered takeout here. Pretty good Caribbean food. However this wouldn’t be my choice of foods to eat, however we wanted something different. Anyways, I tried the sautéed shrimp, jerk chicken, plantains, beans and rice and some panades.
Shrimp were good, but, not that much included in a dinner order. The jerk chicken was good. And you get a whole half chicken.
Panades were good as well. Never had them, but I enjoyed.
The plantains were OK, but I’m not a fan of them overall. Rice and beans were really good. I liked how it was seasoned.
Definitely a good place to try and they’ve been featured on check please. Plus they aren’t too far from my house. I might check them out again.

Found this place on Unilocal and dropped by a few hours before closing time on a Saturday night. Was greeted warmly by who I assume to be either the owner or the owner’s son. Definitely a family owned and run restaurant.
Despite the kitchen nightmare esque décor, the food was great. On second thought, the homely look was a perfect match for the «home-​cooked» style of the food. We ordered the panades, conch fritters, Jamaican jerk chicken (came with a side of rice and cabbage), oxtail stew, and an extra side of plantains. Both the panades and conch fritters were excellent, especially with the cabbage sauce it came with.
All in all, the appetizers and sides seemed to shine more than the main dishes, but it was still all very delicious. Will definitely come again! Don’t forget the Unilocal check-​in for 10% off!

«Woohoo, as good as it gets» is right! I honestly wasn’t expecting this place to be as good as it was!
The plantain chips were enormously addictive. I didn’t think they were anything special after the first bite, but a few chips later, I was hooked! The jerk chicken appetizer was just the right amount of spicy.
The main dishes were where the meal really shined. My friend got the dish with the fish in a coconut broth, and oh my god was the broth the best fish broth I’ve ever tasted. I had no idea such a flavor combination existed! I got the conch soup which was also really good and incredibly hearty. I couldn’t even finish half of it, I was so full by that point.
This restaurant is a real gem! Somewhat of a hole in the wall place, but it’s a place that puts all the letters (and an exclamation mark or two) in flavor. SOOO GOOD.