The Bay Area’s Caribbean food scene is more vibrant than you may know! With brick and mortar restaurants, trucks, and caterers, it’s only growing across the region. Below, you’ll find ten of our favorite local stops for enjoying classic dishes and fresh, California-influenced takes on food from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and more. Bonus: All ten food creators can be booked for your next event with Off the Grid.
AlaMar Dominican Kitchen
Top Chef alum Nelson German grew up in the Washington Heights area of New York City, and he channels the hometown vibe into his beautiful Oakland restaurant. AlaMar is a wonderful place to share a family-style meal with dishes like his mother’s braised oxtail “Encendido,” slow-roasted pork in sofrito garlic butter or a smothered whole crispy branzino. About seven blocks away, you’ll find German’s tapas spot, Sobre Mesa (1618 Franklin Street, Oakland), which is another great option for exploring his Dominican roots. 100 Grand Avenue, Oakland
Back A Yard
With a 20-year history and locations in Menlo Park, San Jose and Campbell, Back A Yard is one of the most prominent Caribbean food businesses in the Bay Area. Chef/owner Robert Simpson hails from Kingston, Jamaica, and his specialties include a famous jerk chicken and beef oxtail plate, curried goat and even a vegetarian jerk tofu. Note that the North San Jose and Campbell locations are takeout only, while Simpson’s other locations are dine-in restaurants. 1189 Willow Road, Menlo Park; 457 E. San Carlos Street, San Jose; 1011 E. Capitol Expressway, San Jose; 638 N. 13th Street, San Jose; 1740 S. Winchester Boulevard, Campbell
Caribbean Spices
Caribbean Spices began as a food truck and then owner Frantz Felix expanded by opening a brick and mortar restaurant in San Rafael in 2019. Besides his new Oakland restaurant T’chaka, it’s one of the only places in Northern California with Haitian staples such as griot (fried pork), Haitian spaghetti with chicken and hot dog and ackee fruit with salted codfish. 819 Fourth Street, San Rafael
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Calabash
A world-wise collaboration between Kingston-born Nigel Jones and Hanif Sadr, who is the founder of the Northern Iranian restaurant group Komaaj, Calabash offers a creative cocktail menu as well as brunch and midday bites including jerk chicken, curry goat, roasted lamb leg salad, and a 10-hour braised short rib sandwich. Jones’ former Oakland restaurant Kingston 11 is now operating as a catering and special events company. 2300 Valdez Street, Oakland
Fiya Spice
A restaurant and food truck that specializes in Jamaican jerk chicken, oxtails, fried escovitch fish, rasta pasta and the fried dumplings called festivals, which are hard to find in the Bay Area, Fiya Spice is a good choice for catering corporate or personal events in the Bay Area. If you can handle the heat, the Fiya Spice hot sauce is bottled for your home use (or to keep in your bag at all times, no judgment here). 1343 Buchanan Road, Pittsburg.
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Peaches Patties
Shani Jones and her Jamaican delights from Peaches Patties is another smart choice for catering or lunch. Jones’ mom is from Kingston, Jamaica, while her dad is from New Orleans, so she grew up with home cooking that was a beautiful blend of both cuisines. Try her savory, hand-held Jamaican pastries (patties), vegetarian Rasta Stew, jerk chicken, freshly brewed ginger beer and more at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. One Ferry Building, San Francisco
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Spicy Roy’s Grill
Those in the know in San Jose make it a happy habit to visit Fitz, short for Fitzroy (or Spicy Roy), when they need some beautiful Jamaican cooking — in a nod to his Bay Area surroundings, you can get jerk chicken or curry goat, but you can also order vegan jerk or curry tofu in a plate or in a burrito, plus patties and a fun dessert menu with chocolate plantain turnovers, coconut custard cake and more. 856 N. 13th Street, San Jose
Sol Food
Sol Food has served as the brightest Puerto Rican restaurant in the Bay Area since opening in San Rafael in 2004. Not only does it mean sun in Spanish and serve as a play on the phrase soul food, it’s also named for the chef and owner, Marisol Hernandez. People come for big plates of rotisserie meats, sandwiches and hot and cold salads, but there’s also a “not-so-secret” taco and burrito menu that reflects Bay Area tastes. Sol Food also has locations in Mill Valley and Petaluma, and the restaurant’s famous pique hot sauce and lemon-garlic dressing are sold online if you want to upgrade your pantry. 901 Lincoln Avenue, San Rafael; 401 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, 151 Petaluma Boulevard South, Petaluma
Sweet Fingers
The East Bay’s OG Jamaican restaurant and club, Sweet Fingers offers live music and vibes from Kingston native, Chef Clive (who doesn’t need a last name). Stop by for Jamaican patties, jerk chicken, whole snapper fish and fiery Spanish Town Scotch bonnet shrimp. There’s also a sweet VIP suite for private parties that has a high-quality sound and video system. 5859 Foothill Boulevard, Suite 1, Oakland
T’chaka
Caribbean Spices owner Frantz Felix opened T’chaka, the first Haitian restaurant in Oakland, in the former Miss Ollie’s restaurant space in September 2023. Serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, popular dishes include jerk chicken and Creole oxtails with plantains. There are also traditional Haitian specials on Fridays and Saturdays that are hard to find in the Bay Area: ackee and codfish and Haitian conch (lambi), which, heads up, is said to be an aphrodisiac. 901 Washington Street, Oakland
All of these creators (and hundreds more) are available to you with OTG catering. Get your authentic Caribbean experience here.
