They are now hit or miss... fell off since being on Lyell. My boyfriend and I ordered food from there recently; we both got a side of beef. My beef was so dried out, as if it was old or from the day before, while his beef was good and tender. The service is always wonderful; everyone we've dealt with is sweet. read more

I ordered the jollof rice and two drumsticks today for lunch. It tasted ok and I noticed it was extremely greasy . After about 30 minutes I felt like it just sat on my chest like a ton of bricks. I eventually vomited it all up while at work. I should have listened to my co-worker who made comment to never patronize them. I called and the woman on the phone didn't careless of the entire situation, but I've learned my lesson!Actually I'm afraid to ever eat there again . read more

I love all different types of food despite me being vegetarian. If I could give them a zero I would. When I walked in I told the gentleman I was vegetarian and asked if they could do a veggie platter (side of fufu, cassava, rice, cabbage- something like so). He said I can choose anything on the menu without meat- so basically no. All the dishes were stews assuming they were cooked in meat. He lied and said they cook the meat separate. Not true! He was so rude and unfriendly. He finally recommended fufu with "gravy"- onions tomatoes peppers in a sauce. When I got home the "gravy" spilled all inside my bag and consisted of nothing but a can of oil and some fried onions. They also charged me $15! I was so angry I called and told them that my food spilled bc instead of putting it in a sealed container, they put it in a to go box and it was nothing but oil. He was rude and said bring it back and hung up. I think people forget if you want a successful local business, it comes with good customer service. Do not recommend! read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - The $7 gravy for my fufu - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

The goat pepper soup & fufu and oxtail and rice were incredible. I live 20minutes away and the food was worth the drive. read more

I ordered the Jollof Rice with Chicken via Uber Eats for lunch and it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. The chicken is so juicy and flavorful (two drumsticks) and sits on a HUGE portion of jollof rice. Jollof rice is absolutely amazing and I highly recommend everyone try it. I'm no expert on West African cuisine, but the flavors were rich and hearty. I'd imagine this is pretty authentic cooking. I had a great meal for a pretty good price, considering how huge the portion is (definitely enough for 2 meals). I look forward to ordering more from their menu! read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - Jollof rice with chicken - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

Western African joint in over the bridge near the corn hill neighborhood district. I don't know of another one as of now. I've always had Eastern African food (Ethiopian) and thus was excited to try a different cuisine. The owner was very nice and let us sample a little bit of everything before we ordered. There's an underlying pop-corny kind of taste to everything and everything goes well with rice of foo-foo which is a pounded mash into a mash cake. The most surprising dish they had was this peanut butter dish that didn't taste like peanuts at all but a smooth a delicious stew. They also had good greens- a little oily and brown and overstepped for those who are expecting verdant green saag found in Indian food/gomen in Ethiopian food. There is the signature Joloff rice that one should also order if it's your first time having Western African food. Can't go wrong with anything here; the only thing I'll say is that portions are huge and will last you for days. The food is on the saltier end and reminds me of boxes of sauces and stew that go over rice/fufu for days. You may consider making additional rice to finish off some of the saltier dishes. Food is also oily from the underlying palm oil used and there's a pop corny kind of taste that I still don't know where it's coming from (maybe the egusi or palm oil?) read more

Had dinner here tonight after seeing an instagram post by @rocfoodies showing an immense 'sampler' platter they ordered at a recent visit. In the post they also mentioned that the owners are Liberian, and that particularly piqued our interest, as my husband spent over 20 yrs in Liberia in the 70s and 80s. That post basically convinced us to ditch our other dinner plans and go straight there after work. My husband is extremely fond of Liberian food, and a dish called "palm butter" specifically, having grown up with all the various soups and rice dishes as staple foods while living in the capital city Monrovia. As for me, I spent 3 years living in Sierra Leone, the country just north of Liberia. Sierra Leonean 'chop' shares a lot in common - soups (cassava and potato leaves), stews (okra and peanut), rice dishes (jollof), fried plantains, dried fish, hot pepper, fufu, palm oil, etc and I equally love it. So tonight we were basically transported back to our lives in West Africa via our taste buds. We ordered the palm butter and the potato leaves, and both were almost exactly as we remembered. Both come with either rice (our choice) or fufu, and the portions are easily enough for two people to share. I would guess we each received 2 to 3 CUPS of cooked white rice plus our respective bowls of soup. Back in WA, we would usually only eat once a day, so that huge portion was breakfast, lunch and dinner; here, I would say this is your meal and an equal portion of left overs for another day! You might be wondering exactly what is in the soup? Lots of bones (mainly from turkey, which is affordable for them to buy in bulk, but which is not found at all in WA and thus is not typical), plus some dried fish, palm butter (a thick red oil), hot pepper, onions, and then depending on what you order, there might also be black eyed peas or chopped greens (potato leaves are from the sweet potato plant) or eggplant or more veggies. This is not vegetarian, but neither is there a lot of actual meat - more like the meat and bones are all boiled together to make the stew, and the 'goodness' is really the flavor of everything cooked together. In Sierra Leone, we called all these various soups and stews 'plasas' short for 'palava sauce' - where the 'palava' or 'argument' is between all the ingredients that don't seem to go together, but make a unique and tasty final dish. This is definitely authentic West African cooking and flavors, even if they are improvising some of the main ingredients. (Usually the primary meat would be beef, goat or chicken.) The location of this small place is on South Plymouth, in a strip mall that also houses an East African market, a meat shop, a nail salon, and an Islamic center. There was plenty of parking in the plaza lot. When you enter the restaurant, you order at the counter and they bring the food out as it is ready. We were there from around 6:30-7:30 pm and it took approx. 20 min to get served our food. Inside there is seating for maybe 10-12 people, though most of the folks we saw were getting take out The folks working inside were friendly, the place was clean, and tables were covered in brightly covered cotton fabric. Loud dancehall music was playing and we just felt totally 'at home' as if we were in our fave chop house in Freetown. We will definitely be back and are looking forward to trying more of their menu. We highly recommend you give this small local family-run business a try. If you want to start 'easy' go for the jollof (spelled 'jellof' here) rice - a tomato-based rice dish similar to paella or jambalaya though spiced differently, or the peanut soup, which will be reminiscent of peanut-based thai dishes you may know. Fried plantains are another 'can't go wrong' choice. If you want to go full on African, try one of the leaf-stews (cassava leaves or potato leaves) with fufu or, order my hubby's fave, palm butter! read more

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I had the potato leaves and rice with chicken and it was absolutely delicious. The restaurant itself is darkly lit and has a relaxed atmosphere, and the service was prompt. This is one of the three best restaurants I've eaten at in the Rochester area. read more

I have not been back since I found a huge piece of plastic baggie in my goat pepper soup which sucks because I used to love this place :(

We were searching for some authentic African food and found this place on Google & Grubhub. If you see them on GH with a Plymouth address, ignore it. They are located on Lyell Ave, across from where the Diplomat was. We both ordered the Jolof rice, mine with chicken and my friend's with red snapper. When we picked up our order, it smelled SO fragrant. My mouth was watering the entire car ride home. I even decided to try the homemade ginger juice for an extra bit of razzle dazzle on my taste buds (mistakes were made ). When I opened my meal, I saw that I received a hefty portion of both chicken and rice. I thought to myself "Im going to be here a while" and I loved every second of it. The spices and herbs used in the marinades and seasonings were a great blend of heat and flavor. The food was delicious. I looked over at my friend's red snapper dish and I was a little freaked out, the head, eyes, and teeth were still on the fish. This was my first experience with African cuisine so it threw me off a bit. About those mistakes from earlier? The ginger juice was extremely ginger-y. It would hit the tongue sweet as candy, and then hit the throat with a burn that would make Tequila jealous. All in all. I would recommend grabbing takeout from Kamara's. I look forward to them reopening in-person dining in the future. I hope this helps! read more

Yummy Their Fufu is pretty good and the lamb pepper soup was flavorful I wish it was spicier even the ghost pepper's on the side were not that spicy for some reason but near perfect otherwise :) read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - two bowls of food - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

Good was amazing made me feel like I back home in my fathers kitchen I asked for them to make it spicy and they definitely made it spicy for me read more

This might be the best meal I've had in months; it's a rare Actual Five-Star rather than a Rochester-inflated five-star. A strip mall hole in the wall with just a single table, this is a Liberian place with a very friendly owner, and incredible food. We had jollof rice, goat pepper soup, egusi, and fufu. Both the goat pepper soup and egusi had an incredible savoriness to them, balanced out perfectly by the fufu. I wasn't quite as fond of the jollof rice; it was prepared excellently, but it's just a bit mild for my taste. We also ordered a big ginger juice, which was delightfully spicy. read more

This is a world class food spot. Food is amazing, people are great, you will want to bring home so much food to take home to enjoy as a family. Also you want the ginger juice so healthy and tastes great too! I promise that you will thank me. The sun is out, and this place is growing big time! read more

I was absolutely impressed with the food I received. And have been back at least 3 times before writing this review. Not only did the staff help me make decisions, it was refreshing small talk. I originally came for the TikTok trend with poc trying fufu, but Lord have Mercy I'm glad I got the roots of Africa in this dish. I ordered.. (x3) Goat Pepper Soup with Fufu (which I do not like spicy foods but I could not put it down. -- the goat and broth have so much great flavor.) Ginger Lemonade - SOOO good, with a kick of spice from the ginger. African Milkshake - this was a little funky, but not bad at all. The server told me it had couscous and milks. Originally he told me to eat it with bread, which I totally forgot to until after it was gone. So I'm likely to try that again with bread. This restaurant is not only friendly, they are fast as well! Anytime I'm in the area you all will definitely be seeing my face. read more

I went there for the spicy soup and fufu ( yes because of tik tok trend ) the staff is so friendly, and the food was amazing... every bite just got better and better! I highly suggest checking this place out! ( The picture is not from the restaurant because we ate the food prior to getting a picture... ) read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - Spicy Fufu and Soup Platter - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

Good West African food and very speedy service. Jollof and chicken with fried plantains is the classic way to go, and it's delicious! If you're looking to get a little more experimental, try the goat pepper soup with fufu (which is pretty spicy!). read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - Jollof Jollof Rice with Chicken Goat Pepper Soup with Fufu Fried plantains - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

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One of my go to restaurants in Rochester. Awesome little restaurant with fantastic food, large portion sizes, and extremely reasonable if not cheap prices. Definitely recommend checking it out at some point. My go-to dish is the chicken with jollof rice and a side of plantains. read more

Just seen their new location pop up across from the hotel that i've been staying at for work. I've never had African Cuisine, so i figured i'd give it a try after seeing so many people gave it great reviews. They just moved into this location a week or two ago. Its a very nice restaurant and very clean inside. The server was one of the best i've ever had. Seemed happy to be there and offered me samples of their signature beverages. I definitely recommend their Bisap. Its a sweetened drink made from Hibiscus Flowers and mint, the color of grape juice, and its got so much flavor! He brought me out a couple fried donut things to try. Not sure of the name. They were litle fried balls of spiced dough with a crunchy exterior and a cake-like interior. For an Entree, i chose the Jollof Rice with Red Snapper. He asked me if i wanted the head on the fish lol. I grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania. I've eaten many fish with the head on. That doesn't scare me! It was absolutely delicious. If you've never had African Cuisine, be sure to try Jollof. Its their staple dish. Usually served with Chicken or Fish. The Fish was cooked perfectly. Bright white meat that fell off the bone easily with the help of my fork. The flavor of the rice was a warm and roasty, tomatoey, savory, and absolutely delicious. I will definitely be back to try some other dishes. Thanks for giving me such a great experience my first time trying African food!!! If you live in the area, definitely try this place. read more

I had the jollof rice with chicken. The rice needed more tomato. It was a bit dry. The flavors were great. I don't really care for the taste of palm oil but the gravy was delicious. read more

Hidden gem in Rochester. Tried for the first time today, and after two bites I already know I'll be going back! Ordered the jollof with chicken. Very flavorful and chicken is moist. Good portion for the price and I love the spice they add on the side. Highly recommend read more

Kamara's African Restaurant - Jollof Rice with Chicken - African Near Me - Rochester, New York

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Visiting my son in college and happened to see African food on yelp! A friend from when I was in college back in NYC use to make jollof rice every weekend . He was from Ghana and omg it was so delicious! So I was excited to see they had jollof rice wasn't disappointed! Delicious, will be on my rotation wen I come back into town. Will also try their plantains next! read more

The food is excellent while I have never been to Liberia I have lived in Ghana West Africa and was missing that authentic West African food. So when this place 1st opened in Rochester there were no other West African spot here at the time and I broke my neck to get there hoping it would scratch that itch for West African Food. OMG it went above and beyond my expectations. They had dishes that I was familiar and others I had never heard of. Here it is a few years in and they are still one of my favorite restaurants because their food is always good and their prices are always decent. This place is Truly Unique "The ONLY PLACE TO GET AUTHENTIC LIBERIAN FOOD" in the ROC read more

The food was soo good! Eat here. Just know the specials aren't really customizable. But It was delicious. Also vegetarians be clear. Tell the owner that you don't eat meat. The sweet potato greens had meat all in them. But I'm happy and full and I'll be back! Thanks Kamara! read more

The restaurant is small with a couple tables,clean and tidy, the staff are friendly; it is a family owned and run establishment. The food was well prepared flavorful and delicious. I had wonderful conversations with the other patrons. Overall a delicious and delightful experience. I had the friend okra and a goat stew both were exceptional. read more

As others have said, visiting Karama's transported me back to my time in Sierra Leone. Great for Rochester to have such a truly authentic spot for West African food. read more

I've been to Kamara's twice. The Liberian food is similar to other West African food and is delicious. They have a menu that changes every day of the week. I hadn't tried all of the different things that they offered before, so the owner gave me tastes of many of them. The peanut butter soup was excellent, as were the "potato leaves" (they aren't actually made from the leaves of potatoes but are a green). Jolof rice was also excellent. I suggest you ask about spiciness if it's a concern for you--most of the food was a bit spicy but not too much. The hot sauce is very hot! The prices are very reasonable especially for the amount of food you get. Most of the food has meat in it but I was told that if you call in advance they can make you vegetarian options. I would say it's great for takeout (and very fast). They also have a small number of tables inside if you want to sit down, it's very casual. It's great to have this unique restaurant in Rochester! Try it out! read more

If you love fufu like I do, you will love Kamara's fufu. It is so good and the peanut soup is outstanding. Wonderful people and I hope they stay in business for a long, long time. read more

The food is incredible here! It was my first time here and definitely not my last. The okra, cabbage, peanut soup, and cassava with rice was to die for. Support this business for sure! read more

They snapped. Jollof rice was awesome! I ordered for delivery and it was steaming when it came to my door. I love it

When we arrived, I had told the gentleman that we were new to African cuisine and had no idea what to order. He doled out a little bit of everything and explained what each item was and what was in it. One, the food was amazing and two, how awesome was it that he would do that for us?! Anyway, we ordered three meals [Peanut Butter soup x2 and some type of palm soup(?)] and we each got a drink. I was beyond surprised with the total came up to ONLY $35. I would definitely recommend and we will definitely go back. read more

Food was great and hit the spot. Love that there's an African restaurant in the city. Great addition to the diversity in food choices!

Absolutely delicious and authentic and this is coming from a fellow African (Ethiopian by way of Cote D'Ivoire).