Kingston Grill

Everytime I come to this Jamaican spot, the food is always delicious. The service is well and the environment is also pleasing. Whenever you are in Evanston and looking for Jamaican food, stop by Kingston Grill!

Service is meh but damn they make some good oxtail. I’ve been here twice and each time I’ve licked my plate clean.
It’s not quite a hole in the wall but it isn’t the nicest place either. The interior is pretty bare in terms of decoration but they have reggae music playing in the background which is cool.
You order up front at a register with the menu written in chalk in the background. The dinners come in small and large sizes which are each portioned generously. Price difference is $ 3 between sizes. Expect the service to be somewhat dry and to the point.
I ordered a Jamaican beef patty & large oxtail dinner. The patty was great but spicy which I wasn’t expecting.
The dinners come with rice & beans, cabbage, and 2 sweet plantains. The oxtail dinner is delicious and very juicy. The plantains could be sweeter but they’re still pretty darn good. Also if you get the oxtail dinner, hope you like sauce because your meal will be drenched in it. It’s a good thing though, I promise.
The only weak point for me is the cabbage. I’m really not a fan to begin with but it was warm and not very crispy.

If you’re interested in a small, not so fancy place but Great authentic Jamaican food while listening to some reggae music. Go to Kingston grill ;)

Blink, and you’ll miss this authentically epic Jamaican potluck tucked away like a meat patty in an obscure Evanston strip mall close to Northwestern University.
The spotless restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, Irie vibes, and a crazy cool menu stuffed with an array of amazing chow… and EVERYTHING I wanted was available!!! LOL
My family got two meals for a steal, and I’m definitely recommending this gem to family and friends wanting a TRUE Caribbean feast.

The food had potential, but was dry and not worth the drive, nor money. Our food was late and the service could have been a lot better. They also did not include our plantain. Just overall a very bad experience. Don’t waste your time and resources.

Welp! I’m definitely a fan of Caribbean cuisine, however, their food is the the complete opposite. I went today and ordered the jerk chicken with rice and peas, cabbage. and plantain. The rice and peas were hard and DRYYYYYYY, the chicken was DRYYYYYY, the plantain was SUPPPPERRRRR DRYYYYYY, and the poor cabbage was so bland I read about in history class sophomore year in high school. The chicken didn’t have any authentic flavor to it. It tasted like it was baked, and the sauce definitely wasn’t jerk sauce. The food came so quick, I swear they gave me someone’s uneaten sloppy seconds. I got the food quicker than a McDonald’s drive thru. Long story short, the paper towel I have at home weren’t as dry as that meal. I couldn’t even cut the plantain with my fork. 100 percent dissatisfaction. Will never go back.

Everything is FRESH. Unfortunately that means you have to wait for some items so if you are in any kind of hurry, order ahead. Mind you it is worth the wait. The jerk is spicy and good. The fries are seasoned and also delicious. The cabbage, rice and plantain sides areyummy. I highly recommend it.

I haven’t yet found a Caribbean food place in Chicago that can compare, so this is where I go when I want that type of cuisine despite it being a bit of a drive for me.
I can’t say I’ve tried everything from the menu, but everything i tried was excellent. The food is fresh, plentiful, and spicy if you want it to be.
Normally I order for takeout, but I’ve eaten there a few times and love the atmosphere. Simple and clean – exactly what a restaurant should be. There are always a few regulars there, and the fact they’re Jamaican helps the restaurant’s reputation as an authentic place.
The service is always friendly but not overbearing if you eat there.

My favorite Jamaican spot

This place is a gem! Discovered it by accident and glad I did. Delicious, plentiful, well-​priced food, super friendly and comfortable atmosphere. Addictively good jerk sauce.

Delicious family run Jamaican restaurant. Jerk chicken, ox tail, and Ting. Byob or take out.

I haven’t had a Pattie since I was 10 years old in the Cayman Islands, but this place brought me right back there. I only had a pattie, but it was phenomenal. My colleagues rave about their jerk chicken and I will be back to try it, but it’s rare to find a place that serves good patties in Chicago and they are as good as it gets here.

Great jerk chicken and curried goat. The jerk sauce was clearly house-​made and had whole cloves in it. I had more food than I could eat for $ 10, including tip — home cooking at fast food prices. The best deals are platters to split with friends.
The atmosphere was great, and 80% of the dine-​in clientele appeared to be Jamaican. This was probably the best dining experience I’ve ever had in a strip mall, and I’m definitely going back.

Beef patties, jerk chicken, rice & peas (beans), & chef special coconut pastries all rocked. Authentic, no nonsense, good price, great food. Went w/​my sister for quick bite. Will bring hubby & kids next time. As for the unfriendly service comments — why do ppl need strangers to be their friends?! Maybe its the NJ in me but i just don’t get why anyone would need their butt kissed when ordering food at a counter. Anyway, real deal. One caveat: roast chicken on one occasion was almost inedibly dry, maybe isolated incident bc otherwise great food.

This is the most Authentic Jamaican food period. It may take awhile but its worth the wait. Chef prepares the food right in front of you no joke !
The festival platter with any Jerk meat is the way to go :)

I will never go here again.
I went with some friends during the dinner hour. We were the only customers in the place and we were dining-​in, not ordering out. We must have waited for 10 or 15 minutes before someone came to take our orders.
When our waitress finally came to take our orders, she informed me that I couldn’t order the entrée I wanted from the menu because they’d «have to make it». So… I chose a different entrée and she again said that they’d «have to make it» and that I couldn’t have that choice.
Secretly, I am irritated because yes, don’t restaurants have to MAKE food? But outwardly, I am really nice and I ask what on the menu is available to order. She tells me in an impatient and unkind way. So I just order the first entrée she mentioned with a side of mac and cheese.
After about 20 – 30 mins, I end up receiving an ENTIRE Kraft box of mac and cheese, poorly heated, and NOTHING else.
I kid you not. I still can’t believe it.

Definitely some tasty chicken, and the prices aren’t bad. I got the all-​white meat dinner, which ended up costing me just under $ 8. The rice and beans could have used a bit more seasoning, but mixing them with the juices from the chicken worked well. I ordered the chicken mild, and it was flavorful and tender.
I’ll agree that the people aren’t overly-​friendly, but there’s nothing rude about the service, either. I said «Thank you,» and the counter girl responded with «You’re welcome,» and everybody went on with their day. A nice change of pace from the typical and infrequent dining options west of downtown, most of which are fast food or hot dog/​beef/​burger places.

First off let me say that I am a «Yankee» as they would say in Jamaica. I can’t say I’m a true expert on Jamaican food because I have not been eating it my whole life. I do have a lot of Jamaican friends that I grew up with and that I work with. I have had a lot of Jamaican food and I can say that the Kingston Grill is the best I have had!
My favorite is the Jerk Chicken. The prices are a little high but the portions I usually receive are huge. I usually get white meat chicken with the stew peas. Also the plantains are excellent!
I have also tried the beef and chicken patties and they were really good. My favorite patties come from the Caribbean bakery on Howard street but these are really close.
I just met a Jamaican man and his wife the other day that moved from Canada to Evanston. He said he missed Caribbean food and I recommended the Kingston Grill. I saw him a couple of days later and he said he loved it!

«Oh yeah.» That’s what went through my mind when I had my first bite of their jerk chicken… until I realized almost half of the «meat» was really fat and bone, but still tasty as hell. Fantastic seasoning and cooked perfectly tender… not too tender, just right. The beef patty was okay, but the jerk chicken is where it’s at.
Don’t mess it up by getting white meat, though. Gotta go with the dark meat!
They also had some dishes (like cowfoot soup) that let you know it’s fairly authentic. You can’t go wrong here if you’re looking for a quick Jamaican fix.

Having come here by whim, I was pleasantly surprised, although I made a few mistakes in what I ordered.
Curried chicken was awesome, great curry, and the rice that went with it was a ridiculously large helping. You really do get your money’s worth here — enough to almost break the container the food came in.
what I neglected, however, was that all the curried chicken was just cut up chicken, so there were a ton of bones still in it — huge bones, which pretty much made it impossible to eat a lot of this. I’m also not a big fan of skin, which this chicken still had on it. That of course, is my personal preference though.
Overall, I will have to check this place out again — it’s nice to have Jamaican options in Evanston.