Jamaican cuisine is easy to come by in Houston, Texas. With so many restaurants to choose from, which is the best Jamaican restaurant in Houston? It’s hard to pick just one, especially because some people prefer smaller, quieter venues over lively joints.
Thus, we have compiled a list of the seven best Jamaican restaurants in Houston based on customer ratings and quality of food. While many have a lively atmosphere, others are smaller locations where you can enjoy a quieter meal. Many of the restaurants on this list also offer take-out, deliver, and catering.
1. Cool Runnings Jamaican Bar & Grill
Featuring a lively atmosphere and high ratings, Cool Runnings Jamaican Bar & Grill is one of the best Jamaican restaurants in Houston. Popular items on their menu include jerk chicken, jerk fries, and oxtail. They offer an all-you-can-eat buffet. The restaurant also has a takeout line, so you can order food to-go. For dessert, their rum cake is a hit.
Cool Runnings Jamaican Bar & Grill provides catering services for events of all sizes, even those involving over 1,000 guests. They use fresh ingredients to cook their food. As expected of a Jamaican restaurant, other items on their menu include patties, curried goat, and brown stew chicken. Beverages available at Cool Runnings Jamaican Bar & Grill include Jamaican sodas, sorrel, coconut water, and calypso flavored lemonades.
Address: 8270 W Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77071.
2. Reggae Hut Cafe
Reggae Hut Cafe is a Jamaican restaurant in Houston with great food and friendly staff. Well-loved items on their menu are jerk chicken, oxtails, jerk shrimp, and garlic shrimp. Other Jamaican food they serve are brown stew chicken, curry chicken, curry goat, patties, and the jerk chicken salad sandwich.
Reggae Hut Cafe makes sorrel and ginger beer, two popular Jamaican drinks, from scratch. Additional beverages on the menu are homemade lemonade, bottled Caribbean beverages, and homemade sweet tea.
Address: 4814 Almeda Rd, Houston, TX 77004.
3. Caribbean Hot Pot Restaurant
Caribbean Hot Pot Restaurant is a no-frills Jamaican restaurant in Houston with excellent food. It has a colorful interior featuring the colors of the Jamaican flag. Jamaican cuisine on the menu includes patties, jerk chicken, curry goat, ackee and salt fish, oxtails, and plantains. Caribbean Hot Pot Restaurant offers homemade juices, such as pineapple, carrot, sorrel, and Irish moss.
Other beverages you could order are peppermint tea, carasee tea, coffee, hot cocoa, iced tea, and lemonade. Like many Jamaican restaurants in Houston, Caribbean Hot Pot Restaurant provides catering services. They can specialize in various Caribbean themes for events. You can hold your event either on-site or off-site. And they cater for events of all sizes.
Address: 954 Cypress Creek Pkwy A, Houston, TX 77090.
4. Island Sizzler Jamaican Rum Bar & Grill
Island Sizzler Jamaican Rum Bar & Grill is a Jamaican restaurant in Houston that features weekend bands and DJs. It’s perfect for those who like a lively atmosphere. Popular menu items include patties, jerk chicken, oxtails, and curry goat. Other good items on the menu are coco bread, fried plantains, brown stew chicken, jerk chicken sandwich, and jerk burger.
Types of juices served by Island Sizzler Jamaican Rum Bar & Grill are pineapple, orange, and cranberry. You can also order Jamaican soda or iced tea. As many Jamaican restaurants in Houston, they offer rum cake for dessert. This restaurant also offers catering, take-out, and delivery.
Address: 2114 Holly Hall St, Houston, TX 77054.
5. Caribbean Cuisine
You can enjoy jerk chicken, plantains, curry goat, and other Jamaican food at Caribbean Cuisine. It’s one of the oldest Jamaican restaurants in Houston. Caribbean Cuisine was founded in 1984. The restaurant has a family setting and features home-style service. Additional items on the menu you can order are oxtails, curry shrimp, escoveitch fish, and ackee and salt fish. On Fridays, they have an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Caribbean Cuisine offers delivery as well. Delivery is free for orders over $20 within five miles of the restaurant. If you live more than five miles from the restaurant, then they charge a $5 delivery fee. Caribbean Cuisine offers catering services for events and parties. You only have to give them one day notice for their catering services.
Address: 7433 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX 77074.
6. Island Spice Bar and Grill
This Jamaican restaurant in Houston has a fun Caribbean atmosphere, as you would expect from the name. Island Spice Bar and Grill prepares authentic Jamaican cuisine and cocktails. Popular items on the menu are patties, oxtails, jerk chicken, ackee and salt fish, jerk pork, and curry goat.
Island Spice Bar and Grill offers a variety of tropical cocktails. Other types of drinks they serve are beer, wine, and spirits. They have a mixture of domestic and imported beer as well as Red Stripe beer, which is popular among Jamaicans. The restaurant sometimes offers drink specials.
Address: 17802 W Little York, Houston, TX 77084.
7. Caribbean Jerk Cuisine
Although this Jamaican restaurant in Houston has a similar name to Caribbean Cuisine, they are two different eateries. Caribbean Jerk Cuisine serves authentic Jamaican food like jerk chicken, oxtails, brown stew chicken, ackee and salt fish, curry goat, and escoveitch. Unique items on the menu are jerk pasta, roti, and callaloo.
They strive to deliver good customer service and maintain a welcoming atmosphere. The chefs cook with fresh ingredients to prepare quality food. Caribbean Jerk Cuisine has a wide variety of beverages, such as Jamaican soda, sorrel, vita malt, sprite, homemade herbal teas, and Red Stripe beer.
Address: 9334 Richmond Ave, Houston, TX 77063.
Final Thoughts
Houston has a great selection of Jamaican restaurants. The seven restaurants listed above are among the highest rated. These restaurants are also known for having good Jamaican cuisine. Unlike Jamaican restaurants in other cities, most of the ones on this list offer catering services. Whether you’re hosting a small party or a large-scale event, you can order delicious Jamaican cuisine for the event.
Have you eaten at a Jamaican restaurant in Houston? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.