Belizean Paradise

Paradise is right. I could take a bath in their chicken stew. Part mole/​part vindaloo/​part Jamaican jerk yet not really any of these. Or the soursap juice whose haunting perfumey passion fruit/​guava/​cherimoya (again, not any of these) flavor is like an emotional experience.
Okay — so the juice was a little sweet.
The plantains were a little dry. The rice and beans were not as ambrosial as I was expecting for being cooked in coconut milk.
The atmosphere feels you wandered into your neighbor’s living room: little girl doing jumping jacks in the corner, Lakers on the muted T.V.
But the warm and welcoming owners, the overall sensuousness of the food, the crazy cheap prices ($ 3.99 for an a la carte serving of chicken) make this place as close to paradise as you’ll find in mid-​city L.A. As for Belize — I don’t even know exactly where that is. But please take me there.

I really wanted too to live is place but I have it 3 stars because the host was very nice. I order the rice and beans with stew chicken to go. I live in the area but I have my two favorites Belizean restaurants to go with are Mars in Gardena and Tracy’s off of western. The stew chicken was rubbery like it was sitting a pot abs heated up several times. That was disappointing. The rice and beans abs potato salad was good. I asked for onion sauce and hot sauce and told I can only have one or the other. I looked at the gentleman and said I’ll put some on then I looked and there was no hot sauce on the table. For hot sauce and onion sauce to be such staples in Belizeans I find dumb paying .25cents for it. Do yourself the favor and go to Tracy’s or Mars.

Hello Belize.
Continuing on our Central American adventure the Belizean Paradise was our stop for Belizean food.
My favorite was the Garnaches. Cheesy. Beany. Crunchy. Yummy.
The Rice and Bean Beef Stew was also excellent. I wish more places serve plantains as it is the perfect sweet starchy side item.
The service was very fast and although we arrived about 10 minutes before they closed, they still served us and we did not feel rushed to leave. The people who work are really nice, and I really enjoyed watching the basketball game while munching down on my Garnaches.
Thanks BP!

Have been here twice recently– can’t get enough and keep craving it. Just like the food you’ve eaten in Belize. Stewed chicken is delicious, food is reasonably priced, everything is so good! And, the best part, is that street parking is free & abundant right in front.

Had the chicken curry plate to go– so much flavor and great portions. The food was super delicious and everyone was really nice as always (I even ordered the wrong juice and they didn’t give me a hard time about changing it). I just wish there was more places as good, chill and fun as this.

Lovedddddd this place. Small and with so much flavor.
We were 4. Two new to Belizean food, and two that ate Caribbean food on the regular. Staff was friendly and knows their food.
Bare with me it’s November and I went to L.A. in July.
Soooo mucchhhh food. It was all so delicious. I won’t even sit here and try to remember what I had. But we all ate off each others plate.
Lots was left over, so dinner it was.

I don’t give out a lot of 5 star reviews but this is the best food I’ve had in a while.
Chicken was tender, succulent. Plaintains cooked just right. The price was right.
It’s amazing what happens when overrated hipsters AREN’T cooking your food!
I plan on eating my way through this entire menu.

I absolutely loved this place. It’s a small mom and pops restaurant and the food tasted very authentic. Everything from the drinks to the desserts were Belizean.
I ordered the rice and beans and chicken stew plate which also came with plantains and potatoe salad, but let me tell you about the chicken. Usually, I’m a white meat kind of girl but the dark meat was so good, flavored and fell right of the bone. Then the stew that the meat was cooked in was served with the chicken, which for me was finger licking good. I drizzled the stew on my beans and rice and on my plantain. Since every flavor complimented one another, I found myself putting a small amount of each item on my fork all at once to eat (Don’t judge me I love good food).
I do highly recommend this place for anyone wishing to try something new and enjoy the experience.

Thinking about dinner, I was a little sad that this place was empty when I walked in. When I did a search for Belizean food, there are only four in Los Angeles that popped up. I’ve had Belizean food before, but it’s been 15 years or so. I remember loving it, but for some reason over the years a return visit wasn’t at the top of my list.
Service wasn’t bad and it wasn’t memorable. You walk in and grab a seat. They’ll promptly take your order, but probably won’t be back until they bring you the check. For this type of restaurant, my expectations were set low already so that didn’t bother me. I didn’t expect perky and obtrusive service.
They recommended the chicken stew. I read it is their house specialty. It’s a dark, almost dark brown to black soup that was complex in flavors for me to want to savor every bite. The plantains and potato salad are simple dishes, but probably some of the best I have tasted. Sour sap is my favorite tropical juices, so I was pleased to see it on the menu.
There were so many dishes I need to come back and try either here or the other three Belizean restaurants.
Belizean Paradise is located in an interesting location. It’s at the front of a dingy motel along La Brea. A place I probably would stay at if only if it was the only option on a road trip. There’s a motel parking lot where you can park.
To me, finding these kind of the restaurants brings me the most joy of dining in Los Angeles.

The food and drinks are the Truth!!! Great service. Will be back for more. Loved the Soursop juice haven’t had it, since I been back to the Caribbean. «Big Up B.P.»

This has been our staple for lunch for years. A real gem of a place in this area. Everything they make is really good and we get excited about going there every time. And that $ 5 lunch special is just a crazy deal.

My bf and I started coming here before they changed their name. we pretty much only come for the lunch specials, which are AMAZING. $ 7 for a super filling, delicious meal? Oh hell yes.
I always get the tilapia, which is always fried to perfection. The skin is so crispy and salty. I always crave it. My bf says the beef is always good (though he always ends up stealing half of my fish). Definitely recommend. Service is always friendly and food is prompt.
Also, the chips and bean sauce they bring out is so damn addicting. I could eat that shit for dayyyyyzzzz

Love coming here & their food is so delicious !!! Would recommend this place to anyone who wants to experience great Belizean food.

@BelizeanParadise on LaBrea. 5 service and taste. #Oxtails #currychicken #riceandbeans #sampleplate #potatosalad

This place hit the spot for me. I haven’t had Belizean food in a while. Unfortunately I don’t know of any places in Sacramento. I had stew chicken and sides and I enjoyed every bite.

The service was fast and friendly.
I had the famed stewed chicken with rice and beans accompanied by a fried plantain. First off the rice was delicious and grainy very well seasoned. I could have had it alone with the meat sauce.
The chicken in and of itself was well seasoned. It was a bit tough on one side and the meat didn’t fall off the bone as I had read but good non the less for 5 dollars one couldn’t as for more. Good serving size and well seasoned food.
I was curious and ordered a Panade with Tuna fish which came with a drawing of pickled onions and habanero to give it a kick. All in all I am definitely coming back to try out the oxtail and the curry chicken.

The staff were very friendly and greeted me as soon as I came in. Even the gentleman who picked up the phone order was helpful and took my order fast and precise.
I had the ox tail dinner and my father had the the tilapia plate. The food was presented well. The ox tail and fish were seasoned well to mu taste very flavorful. The rice and beans was not dry or sticky. The Potatoe salad was simply amazing and nothing like store bought crap.
A+ on the food!
This was a great experience, which brought back nostalgic feelings with my Belizean culture!

This place was so good I can’t promise that I won’t wake up tomorrow and go back again. I’m not even kidding. It was delicious. Everyone in there cleaned their plate and damn near sucked the meat off the bones.
For starters they have a $ 5 lunch special. That’s five dollars in case you missed it. It’s stewed chicken, rice & beans, plantain and potato salad. More than enough food for FIVE DOLLARS.
Next lets just discuss the delicious factor. Chicken so tender it’s falling off the bone. Everything seasoned to perfection.
Next we will talk about this side of oxtails I’m not even big on oxtails however, when I tell you they were stewed to perfection in a rich gravy so good, I wanted to slurp it out of the bowl.
The best part is that I was able to share these two items with my friend for lunch for under $ 15 including tip. You can’t beat that with a stick. The owner even let me sample some traditional Belizian beverage and was very nice to us.
Sure. The service may have been slow, but who cares. Work it out. Take some deep breaths and work on your patience blood food for five dollars leave NO room for complaints. Take all of that jazz above Wilshire. We are chilling down here.

The food here is so good. Now they need to work on their hostess service, which is why I gave them a four instead of a 5. The food takes a while to prepare, but it is worth the wait.
We had the whole fried fish, sampler plate – I like everything on it except the empanadas, the chicken tamale, the beans and chips they serve while you are waiting is AWESOME! We had the fillet fried tilapia, and the potato salad is the best, the garnaches, oh wow, now the milk cake was not moist enough, dam the dessert, the food was good. Now use the bathroom before you get there, it is connected to the motel, and you use their public bathroom, which was disgusting, if it was their’s I would not have eaten there.
It is a small place so get their early ro get a good place to sit, or wait around for someone to get up. It will be our new Saturday & Sunday, hangout.
Owner work on your hostess service, and collaborate with the motel to keep those bathrooms cleaned.

Very satisfying. Potato salad excellent, plantains perfect. Sampler platter on point. Good value.

So for starters, I’m Belizean and absolutely loveeee Belizean food! After hearing about Belizean Paradise from a co-​worker, my family and I decided to drive 5 miles last Sunday morning to try their Belizean food, only to be upset by the service at this business and ended up not being able try any of the food at all!
Once we walked into the restaurant, no one greeted me or asked if I needed help. Instead, I had to stand at the counter and wait for one of the waitresses to let her know that I’d like a table (even though they both saw us walk in). My party was pretty small (two kids and myself). No booths were available but smaller tables that seated smaller groups were available at the time, so we sat at one, which only had two chairs. I asked one of the waitresses if she can bring one more chair to our table so that my son can sit down. She said that would be fine but never brought the chair and my son sat on my lap the entire time. Sunday mornings seem pretty busy at this place so, I waited patiently for the waitress to come and take our order and bring the extra chair. After about 15 – 20 minutes no one even offered to bring us cups of water or bothered to say, «well be right with you in a moment».
Instead a larger party was seated and their orders were taken before ours. Even though my party was much smaller and we were already seated at a table before the other family. After waiting over 15 minutes I asked one of the waitresses, «are you getting us another chair or a bigger table that will seat my child»? She responded very rudely by saying, «What table? No tables are available»! I became so upset and got up and left the restaurant. All I needed was an extra chair for my child and for them to place our food order. I wasted gas on a five mile drive coming to this place, waited 20 minutes for service only to be treated rudely, and lost my appetite!!!