The food was good and the lady who took my order was patient with me as I was ordering. However, I ordered their oxtail which is $25 and it was all bone and barely any meat. I was quite disappointed in that and wonder if it's always like that or if it's just a one time thing. It's located in a plaza so parking is easy. They do have dining tables inside as well but we did carry out. Overall I'd recommend but maybe skip out on the oxtail read more

Good Jamaican food, generous portion sizes, affordable, fast service, convenient parking

Went to Kingston Grill for an evening snack: beef patty Parking: there is a parking lot so there are plenty of spots. If taking public transportation, this location in near corner of Dodge and Dempster in Evanston. Good vibes in the place. Seating is in the restaurant or at the kitchen (stools). I could tell there were regulars in the place. Service was a litle slow, but friendly. Big screen TV, several tables in the place and plenty of information of future carribean events available (flyers and newspapers). I took my two beef patties to go and was happy to eat my late snack. Cheers! read more

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Fast and hot oxtail dinner. Next time I will order an additional order of fried plantains and steamed cabbage. Yum! The jerk chicken was delicious also. read more

I have a new found love for Kingston Grill. I never really got into because of another restaurant I would frequent, which has since gone awry. Their flavors are good a bit spicy for my taste but good. Their soups are amazing especially the manish water. Today, I stopped in and ordered a curry goat with cabbage and plantains. It was good like i said a bit spicy but it's okay. I appreciate that they have ALL the items in their menu available. I never was told 3 hours for this and that. They have everything available. This will be my new spot for now. read more

Kingston Grill - Cirry Curry Goat Dinner - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I ordered a jerk chicken white meal with cabbage, plantains and rice& peas. My plantains were missing and the rest of the food was cold! Absolutely nothing had steam or was hot, there was no freshness to the entire meal. It tasted well seasoned although so cold. If I just bought it from your restaurant, why do I have to heat it up before eating it when I get home? Terrible! Horrible! Inconsiderate! Poor Service! I wish zero star was an option for this. read more

Kingston Grill - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Very warm environment with welcoming friendly faces and delicious food at great prices to match. The portions are hearty and well prepared and neatly displayed. Thank you all for your fine service and quality food. See you soon read more

Excellent and authentic Jamaican cuisine. Food was made to order without an excessive wait time. Beef patties were the best I've had in the area (no weird chunks). Rice and fish was nicely seasoned and had the right amount of spice. Cabbage was a little tough in texture, but it went very well with everything else on my plate. There aren't too many parking spaces in front of the restaurant, but you'll find a spot somewhere near. Overall, I highly recommend this place. read more

It all begins with this adorable amazing gal who keeps changing her color.....I love her smile!!! She kinda knows what I enjoy to order...so I get to see her smile and I so love her politeness. Today 2 orders of Cow Foot and Beans 1 order of Ox Tails 1 Beef Soup The young man is so friendly and helpful....this place has so much enthusiasm and pride...you can taste it...you can see it in the customer who come in; like they're sitting at their own kitchen table. Very clean place, quality meats and vegetables and great portions as they will customize any plate for you if they've got it. I so enjoy coming for a delicious meal and to see this little gal's smile.....they all smile there...but she's kinda special to me because she's so helpful and I am just learning how to enjoy Jamaican Food. Thank you again for another delicious meal. read more

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Recently visited the location in Lauderdale Lakes and must say, I'm looking forward to going BACK The food AND people were very heart warming .. Speaking to the staff there is when I learned they have an Evanston location read more

I used to love coming here but seems like they have lost the effort in having available items and customer service was basically non existent at the register. It was about 3pm , and they had no festivals and no cabbage. They also had limited meat items. They did have fresh hot Patties available but they were skimpy on the filling. My dinner was okay the meat was a little dry. I'm probably not going to make the long drive to come here again because they have fallen off. read more

Kingston Grill - #1. Jerk Chicken All White Meat dinner - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I order the lunch menu from Kingston once a month or two. It's a good amount of food at a good price. I usually get the curry chicken with rice. I don't know what they put on that curry, but it will definitely stain your nails yellow, lol. Be careful with white counter tops. So far, though, the food hasn't disappointed! read more

The food and service was delicious ordered pxtails and cabbage and the plantains really done and soft and sweet took home order only thing price was really big for such a small order of meat I am from Texas use to get large order of meat but they were fast too read more

If u just opened and the chicken was cooked today it would not look nor taste like that! I been eating from here since i was in highschool! I know yuk meat when i see it! All in the trash! And next time throw some water on your rice when u re heat it! No more for me! read more

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I wanted to come here for a while had high hope of this establishment. It was nothing to rave about. It's chicken with jerk seasoning. Was it tasty? It was. The chicken was moist and tender and smothered with sauce that had a spicy kick. I was baffled about the great reviews on their meat pie. It was mediocre at best. The cashier/waitress/server was struggling while multitasking. I feel bad for her. Now that I've been there. Next. read more

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If you change your price you should change the menu you have in the restaurant. I mean and extra dollar or two, fine. But when the menu says a whole jerk chicken is $13.50 and then you try to charge me $25???? Nahhh that is not right. Back to Claire's for me. They are honest and delicious. I'm never gonna pay almost double the price listed on your menu in the restaurant. Shame on you. read more

Ordered the goat curry for delivery. The food was medium, bursting with flavor and filling, but also extremely salty. I did not experience the service because I ordered delivery. read more

I tried the chicken curry plant and the Jerk Chicken. Everything was so flavorful and portions were generous. There were quite a few bones to pick out, but I didn't have any issues with them once I realized they were there! I hear the sandwiches are awesome, so I'll definitely give those a try next time. read more

Really good Jamaican food, and good prices. I had a hard time finding them at first because it's kind of in a weird place in the strip mall. Update: My husband raves about their cow foot and jerk chicken , he wants me to bring him some every Friday on my way from the office. read more

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We recently dined at Kingston Grill on a random early Saturday evening. Who knew that you can find some down-home Jamaican cooking within an Evanston strip mall? Well the place does seem to draw some Jamaican folks. The interior has displays of appropriate iconic figures (Bob Marley, Obama) although we were a bit puzzled by the Joe DiMaggio poster. We ordered our food at the counter. The menu is loaded with Jamaican specialties. The young lady was unsure about certain things (we asked for the Dos Equis beer by calling it the beer on their top cooler shelf with the two big red X's). I ordered oxtail stew, and my lovely dining companion opted for tilapia after she was told they were out of fried chicken. After paying, we sat down and waited only a few minutes before the food was brought to our table. My oxtail platter was ok but frankly disappointing in direct comparison to a delicious oxtail stew that I had recently enjoyed at another establishment. The ratio of oxtail meat to bone and fat can always be a crapshoot, but this plate seemed to have lots of fat and bone and not quite so much of that tasty meat. There were also butter beans in this platter. My companion thought her tilapia was good but quite spicy for her taste buds, so she was really chugging her beer and water. Both of our meals had sides of plantains, cabbage, and rice and beans. I thought the plantains and cabbage slaw were pretty good. The cup of rice and beans had too many crunchy bits of rice (undercooked? overcooked?), as if it were reluctantly scraped out of its original container. I just cannot handle eating random hard rice grains, so big minus here. However the ginger beer was excellent, helping me to digest the unintentionally crunchy rice. read more

I really want to like this establishment but every time I try the food I'm disappointed. I was raised by a Jamaican father who could cook his ass off. Curry rabbit. Curry goat. His curry dishes were the bomb! But for some reason, Kingston Grill's curry just doesn't hit the taste test. The rice and peas are bland and tasteless. I can't bare the taste of the cabbage and the plantains are just so-so. Both my parents were excellent cooks and perhaps I shouldn't compare their culinary expertise to these others, but when you're craving curry, you want delicious curry. I hate rating this establishment so low, but the food just isn't worth eating. Sorry! read more

Was headed to Evanston and spied this spot from the road, it was lunch time and decided why not. Sure glad we did. Walked in and the place was full of Jamaicans speaking pidgin, I was tickled. I have not heard that speak since my time in Kingston. I was pretty familiar with the food options but there sure where a lot to choose from regardless. The place was hopping, the crowd was friendly, the service was that slow, patient, quiet reserve style that you will recognize if you have experienced it before. I ordered a small curry goat meal and the jerk pork meal for my wife. The portions were huge even though it was a small and the food was yummy! Washed it all down with a Red Stripe of course. Noticed a lot of the locals were getting bowls of soup, will have to consider that next time. Loved it, we'll be back. read more

Kingston Grill - Curried goat - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Best jerk chicken place in Evanston, hands down. It's one of my favorite carryout places, and you owe it to yourself to give them a shot.

Bought large oxtail dinner which was $37. Get home and open my food and it's nothing but bones. Rice was old , plantains were burnt and the cabbage looked days old. Called about the issue and was told they cut that way and given a number to call a manager who didn't pick up. Wouldn't recommend at all! read more

If you come to this side of Evanston it's definitely worth it. If you miss Caribbean food I'd go here for the rice and plantains the jerk chiken was a great serving and really good! read more

Mediocre food. Curries were frozen and reheated. I did order some Curry goat and nothing to brag about. Prices are ok.

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. read more

Kingston Grill - Oxtail - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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For this restaurant to carry the island of Jamaica capital city name, Kingston, I was expecting flavorful, spice and fresh tasting Jamaican food. The food was OK, no burst of flavor or anything authentic like. I got the cabbage, festival and plantains, and I gotta give credit. The plantains were good, the cabbage could have used some more scotch bonnet and vinegar, but just that, and festivals for the amount I paid (8$) was a lil too much. The clerk too was on her phone (maybe blue tooth) but was laughing while me placing my order which was rude asf. Also, they offer only beer & no rum punch or liquor FYI. And they only give you a small .oz of the jerk sauce for all this chicken, so if you here cos of the sauce, ask for a few more. read more

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This is by far the best spot to get jerk chicken in the North Side. Their food is absolutely delicious. Da Jerk Pit's got nothing on Kingston Grill! read more

Awesome. I had Jamaican Jerk Chicken with the soup of the day: fish soup. It was so delicious. It had deep spiciness to it like Indian curry with real fish including some bones. My boyfriend is a regular here and tried their oxtail and tripe. He loves them tripes. The seasonal flu crept up on me but the spicy Jamaican food cleared my sinuses. Now the people here aren't the friendliest. But they're not being rude. I think they're just Jamaican. No, seriously. Unless you have something to smile about or laugh about, most people outside of this country (the U.S) don't smile or laugh. You will however get everything you need and ordered promptly. I will be going there again and try their.... everything! read more

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. read more

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Food was great except the rice was hard we got the curry goat dinner and jerk chicken dinner food came out fast and the prices are ok but 41 for 2 pieces of chicken meat lol and the cashier needs an attitude adjustment n learn how to give better customer service read more

Nothing fancy but I love this place! When I am craving Jamaican food I literally get in my car and drive 45 min to get there. There are other similar restaurants in the area but nothing compares to them, the BEST! The staff is very nice as well. Looking forward to my left overs read more

Kingston Grill - Delicious - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Food is delicious, service is great. Not authentic Jamaican food- as they have modified the food to be American

I know nothing about Jamaican food! I obviously need to visit their island soon! A spontaneous decision to have lunch at Kingston Grill ended up being a pleasant surprise. The small restaurant was full of Jamaicans enjoying bowls of soup, other items off the menu, and I lost count of how many people dropped in to carry boxes of food out to their offices. I was a bit overwhelmed and not sure what to order so my husband I decided to get two different items and share. My husband chose the curry goat and I had the jerk pork. The portions were large and came with plantains, cabbage and wonderful red beans and rice that we enjoyed with Red Stripe. I look forward to next time! read more

I wish I could rate the food, unfortunately I was unable to eat here,,perhaps they did not care to serve me. I placed an order for jerk chicken and red beans and rice...and asked if they were too busy, She said they were not busy and promised order would be ready in 15-20 minutes. We waited around the area..and went into the restaurant after 15 minutes expecting our order to soon be ready. No....while I was IN the restaurant..waiting to pick up the order..they called and said they had no jerk chicken and only white rice so they could not prepare our food. It took them over 15 minutes to figure out they could not fulfill our order, or perhaps they knew..they just weren't in any hurry to inform us. Either way,,it was kinda rude. read more

This is authentic Jamaican food. Everything is fresh, and everything I've ever had here was delicious. I have had their jerk chicken, jerk chicken sandwich, oxtail, meat pies, and most recently, their national dish: ackee and saltfish Saturday special! It was soooo good! The woman who works there even let us try it before ordering, just in case we didn't like it. But we loved it. It came with fried bananas, two dumplings (moist, dense patties) and yams. So delicious and extremely filling. I feel like I can run a marathon after that meal. The restaurant is clean and organized, and the people there are kind and friendly!! I highly recommend and will continue coming back. read more

Kingston Grill - Saturday special: ackee and saltfish with yams, dumplings and bananas! Delicious. - Caribbean Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Cute and friendly Jamaican restaurant that landed in a central Evanston strip mall. Lucky strip mall! BYO? Parking? Yep. Enter near Dempster. Nearest liquor stores are west of McCormick in Skokie or on Davis in downtown Evanston. Curried Goat Fork-tender meat, spicy sauce. Forehead and eyeball sweat spicy, not angry mouth-punishing spicy. Lots of bones, just deal with it. Dinners comes with one side dish , consider the white rice so you can sop up that sauce mmmm yeah. I'd recommend the large. Jerk Chicken Delicious. Their most popular dish, I believe. The half chicken is plenty for eating in; I'd get a beef patty if you order the 1/4. Whole bird = good leftover value. Beef Patty I like them. The patties. Like to eat them. Took some home. Happy now. Also starring Rice and peas: quite good White rice: made with coconut milk. yum. Chopped salad comes with the dinners, nice touch. Fries: available. handy if you have kids / potatoey friends Tropical fruit soft drinks imported from Jamaica. Chicago-based distributor. Really delicious and refreshing. We got the Ginger Soothie. Misc remarks It's small and casual here. Most orders are takeout but the service kept up. Totally authentic food, super friendly people. Next time oxtails. They ran out; good sign actually. fish. Couldn't wait a half hour this time. read more

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 entree I wanted from the menu because they'd "have to make it". So....I chose a different entree 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 entree 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. read more

Orderd to-go and boy, what a portion! I got the ackee and salt fish and was not disappointed. My friend got plantain in their box and I wish I did too instead of rice and beans. There's always next time. If you're in the area, stop by this gem - there's so much to try and no doubt will I be back. They also have a fine selection of Jamaican juices and drinks. read more