Ocho Rios Grill

To my surprise, the food was AMAZING!!! From the oxtail to the jerk chicken to the plantains and everything in between was seasoned to the tee. BUT, be careful the jerk chicken is VERY SPICEY, but DELICIOUS!!!

I’m torn between giving 3 and 4 stars. While house hunting in the area, I decided to get Jamaican food. Unilocaled this place, saw good reviews, and decided to order. I was bummed because they don’t have curry shrimp so I went with the jerk shrimp plate.
First off, I will give 5 stars for customer service. The chef was super friendly. I asked about the ginger beer in a bottle and he suggested tasting the homemade pineapple ginger drink. Loved it and bought a cup to go! We continued our conversation about my visits to Jamaica, their Christmas traditions, and family life. Good vibes…
Secondly, 5 stars for the location/​restaurant. I like this little quaint, quiet place. It was clean inside. There are a few intimate tables, a TV, and it’s well organized.
As for food… I give 3.5−4 stars. I’ve had better at other Jamaican restaurants and the best hands down, has been in Jamaica! The jerk shrimp was SUPER spicy! I eat a lot of spicy foods, but this was spicy crazy! After a few forks full of shrimp, I had to set the plate aside. My mouth was on fire. I tried mixing the jerk sauce with the peas and rice so it wouldn’t seem as spicy. That didn’t work. Peas and rice were fresh, but a bit bland. Then again, they usually are at most restaurants. The cabbage was softer and greasier than how I like mine. Despite being heavy on salt, the flavor was on point. If you suffer from high blood pressure, this plate is off limits. Plantain were meaty with just the right amount of sweetness. Festival bread was just okay. It had a good sweetness and unusual consistency. When you bite into the bread ball, it is crispy and flaky on the outside with a thick donut-​like texture inside. Weird and very greasy. I could see and feel the grease on my fingers. Maybe draining the bread on a towel before serving might help. If you have high cholesterol, sorry… skip this item. The to-​go container was full and portions were hearty, so that is a plus.
Prices…once again, I’m torn. For now, I give ONE star! I’m STILL trying to figure out what in the you-​know-​what I paid $ 33 for! I ordered jerk shrimp ($ 15), a side of plantain (?), a side of festival bread (?), and the pineapple-​ginger drink ($ 3.50). And of course, I got no receipt and prices of side items is not on the menu. Hmm… according to the menu, shrimp and the drink alone were $ 19. That means the 2 side orders totaled $ 14!!! Wow! I definitely am not on the cheap side and don’t mind paying for good food. My total just seemed to be stretched.
Though I’ve had better Jamaican food and my order and prices weren’t 5 stars, I’m glad I’m open to being fair on Unilocal reviews. I don’t mind giving this place another try if I am in the area. Next time, there will be less laughing and talking and more paying attention to my bill! Lol

Authentic Jamaican food. The jerk Chicken is my favorite however the oxtail is also very good. You will also not want to forget the beef patty. They’re also really good

The Oxtails are good

So happy we found this place! Moved from NY recently and was looking for a good Jamaican restaurant. Amazingly flavorful food, generous portions, friendly staff and chef. We tried the goat curry and jerk chicken large portions. The veggies and rice alone was so good! The meats were tender and full of flavor. Will definitely continue to patronize this friendly restaurant!

This has to be the best Jamaican food in Los Angeles County. I call it Carribean soul food, because that’s what it taste like. I tried almost every dish including, oxtails, jerk chicken, rice and peas, stewed chicken and more. You can literally taste the flavors in the food, plus it’s served hot. I recommend everyone to try Ochos Rios because it’s as authentic as it gets. It’s rare you find mom and pop places that actually taste like home.

Wow. Had dinner with a friend and it was absolutely fabulous. Tried both the jerk chicken and curry goat both of which were wonderful. The sides were great too– plantains and especially the cabbage. The girl waitressing was friendly and attentive.

Unilocal this place and we weren’t disappointed. Ordered the jerk chicken and the oxtail it with was sooooo good !
We ordered the cabbage which was to die for… I mean it’s cabbage how can cabbage be that good, but it was. Ordered the ginger pinapple drink was also delicious. My friend and I never had Jamaica food before so we decided to try it. To bad there’s no Jamaican food in Orange County :(

Finally made my way back to this place. Ordered from the lunch menu & still got a very big portion. Got the oxtail plate with rice, cabbage, plantains & festival bread. It also comes with a free soda. Also ordered the spinach patty. All for $ 12.50. Good prices, big portions, amazing service, & delicious food.

Oh my goodness… I was in LA/​South Bay last night (picking up a friend from LAX), and I couldn’t help but to stop by Ocho Rios Grill… Had the RED SNAPPER DINNER and my buddy had OX TAIL & CURRY GOAT… unbelievable!!! This place is AWESOME. And you must try the pineapple-​ginger juice… wow, wow, wow!

I’ve been looking for a place to get some good home authentic jamaican food and I’ve found a gem! I was craving some Ackee and salt fish for breakfast so I decided to give this place a try. The food was made to order, not sure if this is typical or if it was because it was first thing in the morning, but either way the food was worth the 35 minute wait.
The portion size was huge! I got Ackee and salt fish, rice and peas and steamed dumpling and the to-​go container was almost spilling over with food. Definitely no complaints here. The food was so tasty and perfectly cooked. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. Thank you chef Devon.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I didn’t dine in and get the full experience with their service. The restaurant us small and quaint, clean, cool and comfortable. I would definitely come back to dine in.
Highly recommend the Ackee and salt fish. Next time I’ll try their porridge too. Looking forward to trying out their dinner options! ENJOY! I sure did :-)

I have to give a special shout out to my fellow Unilocaler Sheala P. who read my disappointing review of Lee’s Caribbean Restaurant and felt my pain. She recommended Ocho Rios to me, said she had been a few times, and food and service was great. So I was finally able to give them a try and she was spot on with this place. As soon as we walked in the lady greeted us with island smiles. Her and the chef were very helpful at helping me decide what to order. There is decent amount of seating, they have speciality market items for purchase, and they really make you feel at home. I had the jerk chicken, very spicy, plantain was very good, rice and peas perfect, round festival bread delicious, cabbage not overcooked, and chicken patty was pretty good, not the best I have had though, and champagne cola to top it off. She said make sure we return, and we definitely will. So for those of you out there like me that do not want to endure bad customer service while spending your money, give these guys a try. And FYI their parking lot is not surrounded with sketchy people like you see at Lee’s so your safe.

Stopped in for lunch as I was in the area for work. The curry goat with some scotch pepper sauce was good. The pattie was okay but I prefer a crispier outside. The owner is a sweetheart and worth coming by again as she makes you feel as your in her home for a meal. Come by if your in the area and enjoy Jamaican food.

Now I’m not Jamaican, but I consider myself a sort of Jamaican food connoisseur.
Since being introduced to it by my brother-​in-​law who is from Jamaica, I’ve tried many different spots. Hands-​down the best I’ve tried was in Jamaica itself! Having said that Ocho Rios Grill is very authentic!
My wife had the curry goat and I had the oxtail plate, both were very good. We got the large which is about 15 each. The curry goat was 100% on par, the oxtail was amazing as well, the meat melted right off the bone, however it wasn’t the best oxtail I’ve ever tasted. It was missing some of the spice that I’m used. Having said that, they are a great option, an they seem to have a good selection. If you know Jamaican, they don’t always have what’s on the menu. :)

I gave this restaurant a three because of one out of three dishes was so good! I had jerk chicken and shrimp. It was way to spicy, so spicy I couldn’t enjoy the flavor at all extremely over powering spice! The goat curry was the star and meat was tender and well seasoned it is the reason I give it any stars at all! The cabbage is yummy as well!

I love this place. The staff is very nice and friendly. The food is good. You have to try the fried chicken. It comes with a sweet and spicy sauce that is so awesome. I recently used their catering services for a friend’s bridal shower and it was a hit. I wish I had their business cards to hand out. Speaking from a person who actually is Jamaican, their cuisine is authentic. I posted pics also.

First thing I felt when I walked in were great vibes =) They had Barrington Levy playing on the stereo which took me back to good times. Something I definitely needed that day. The chef was surprised I knew who Levy was haha. He was really nice and friendly. I ordered the small curry goat dinner plate. A bit too salty for my taste but nonetheless, still very good. The goat was very tender and delicious! The portion was huge! I can only image what the large looks like! He put it in a to-​go box but he let me eat there which was perfect since I couldn’t finish it all. I wanted to dine in to just get lost in the music – a great past-​time.
Will be back! Thank you Chef!

I’ve eaten here a few times! Ima curry type of girl! the curry chicken is great although like someone mentioned I could stand for the curry to be a bit more strong but it’s still greeeat! I’ve also had the curry shrimp they were cooked to perfection and also great!
now for my latest visit I tried the jerk chicken. it was extremely hot like way beyond spicy and that says a lot because I loooove spicy/​hot food! the first bite lit the interior of my throat on fire!!! But I count stop eating it!!! which is ironic I know! but also says a lot about how good it was! I picked it up very close to closing so it’s very possible that all the spices settled to the bottom of the pot throughout the day and I got the remaining of what was in the pot! so I will definitely never go that late ever again!
as for pricing it was just as much as any other Jamaican restaurant ive ever been to, I go in expecting to spend $ 12-​$ 16 for a meal! & to be honest, it’s worth it because the portions are so big! and it’s fresh home cooked quality food! So yea hope this helps!
Also very clean! including the bathroom! I judge restaurants on the cleanliness of their bathroom for sure!

Five damn stars people…
I wasn’t immediately greeted when I walked in but when I was, it was with a warm smile. Looking through the window to the kitchen i was pleased to see black people cooking the food. (No offense to anyone) Once i ordered my food the wait was abt 15min which wasn’t bad… Now on to the foooood, boy was it yummy, my ackee and saltfish was tastey but the ackee was so blended in with the saltfish that i couldn’t tell the two apart but it was yummy.
The rice and peas were just like moms, the curry goat was tender and spicy but lacked the strong curry flavor i was looking for but delicious none the less. The festival bread was so good, a nice crunchy exterior and a sweet moist interior… I will be back!!!

I had purchased two Groupons for this place recently and so was able to try out this Jamaican eatery.
I’ve been enamored with Caribbean cuisine and Cuban food is always something I’ve enjoyed. I’ve since tried Belizean and Puerto Rican and enjoy trying some of the specialties from all these respective countries.
They normally serve the staples of the rice, black beans and plantains but there is always something unique.
Eating here, they have the jerk chicken as the Jamaican specialty but I had the oxtail stew plate. It came with the rice with beans, steamed cabbage, plantains and something called festival bread which were slightly similar to donuts except denser. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be dense and maybe it was just stale but I wasn’t sure.
The oxtail was decent, although I’ve had better. It had a bit of a kick to it but I was disappointed that I seemed to had gotten the broken bits and pieces of the oxtail instead of the entire oxtail itself. I’ll have to remember to ask for that next time if I go back which I will because I thought the food was alright.
It is a bit pricy given the ambiance and the location but it didn’t seem very crowded on the two occasions I ate here so that could be why.
They’re located in a strip mall in Hawthorne and the owner lady is really friendly and accommodating. Although I’ve had better quality food of this cuisine elsewhere, Ocho Rios is still decent enough to say that I’d be back sometime again.