Honestly was one of the best times I’ve had with my family here. More people should know about it. Would recommend. One thing I would change would be the servers consistent coming back to check for drinks but that’s it, still an amazing
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Suya Beef w 2 Sides, Jollof Rice Without Meat, Oxtail Stew
Stewart Pierson
I have to preface this review by saying that I love this kind of cuisine so when I discovered Jambo, I was elated to find it near when I shop. I noticed that the reviews are kind of all over the place with both the food and service so I decided to roll the dice. And I have to say, a lot of the bad stuff is right on the money. We walked in and were acknowledged by a sign that told us to seat ourselves but it took a minute for us to be noticed by anyone else despite the fact that the restaurant was nearly empty and there were several staff just sitting at a table on their phones or playing cards.After we sat ourselves a young lady came and brought us water and menus with a quick 'hello' and then left without another word. We then waited and waited and waited. No one came back after about 15 minutes when we discovered a QR code on the table that linked us to a way we could supposedly order to our table. We tried to do it, only to discover that the prices and options didn't match the physical menu and several items tried to upcharge us for things that were supposed to be included. After about 25 minutes since we got our water the young lady eventually came back and offered to take our order which we had to repeat multiple times. We asked a couple of questions but she seemed confused by our questions so we gave up and just ordered.About 20 minutes after ordering, our appetizers and one of our entrees arrived at the same time without the food for my wife. The person who brought it to us inquired about whether my wife also had food and she told him she did and what she had ordered. He clearly looked confused and walked away. Almost 15 minutes later her food arrived, which meant that mine was cold since I waited for her to get hers so we could eat together.I have to say, the food was actually very good but it was extremely overpriced for the offerings and setting. Typically I would expect African comfort food to land about $10 cheaper per plate, at least given the presentation, quality and setting.Our server never came to our table again through our entire meal until long after we had finished and were getting quite impatient waiting for the check. We never got a single refill of water throughout our meal, which is unforgivable when eating spicy food.As has been said numerous times in negative reviews, an 18% gratuity is automatically added to the bill. Personally I think this is a disgusting practice but I expected it based on the reviews. What I didn't expect was that they went further into what, quite frankly, feels like a scam. When they bring your receipt to sign, the final bill does not show the forced gratuity on it (even though it is included in the price on the bill) and they have another line requesting an additional tip with suggestions for an additional 15-20%. I am absolutely blown away by this money grab attempt. Anyone who isn't paying close attention will get tricked into essentially a 30-40% tip on any already overpriced bill.While I was very hopeful that this place would be wonderful, I won't be back. Decent food does not make up for poor service, crazy prices and questionable billing practices.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Curry Chicken with Jollof Rice, Kenyan Samosas, Beef Samosa, Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
Cyrus Mobley
First time here service was horrible food was cold they didn’t complete our
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
Jeff Grayson
Everything was good until the bill came. The bill included an “Mandatory 18% gratuity. I paid it but it will be the last time. As I sat there eating I considered mentioning the place to a group of guys I eat lunch with several times a month, but the “Mandatory” thing ruined it. When it is mandatory it is no longer Gratuity, it is a service fee.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Jerk Chicken Plate
Karjiana Cadet
I really wanted to love this place because it's different from a lot of the restaurants around here in Hoover, but I was mostly disappointed with everything except for the atmosphere of the actual restaurant.The food was just fine. I got wings covered with sauce and fries, and both were lacking in flavor. The fries tasted like unseasoned frozen fries from the grocery store and the wings only had flavor from the BBQ sauce.Maybe my dish was a dud, but I'm not curious enough to find out by going back to try something else.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
mohammed ali
I dont always write review and especially bad ones but Went there and half the Menu was out.Wasnt told of additional items missing until after we had Ordered appetizers.Basically choices were between 3 menu items at this point.The food took almost 1hr 15mins . We saw other people being served before us, even though they came after us by 20minutes.Food arrived and let's just say what a disappointment. The white rice and the Mac n Cheese were stuff u find in boxes from Walmart.As many already mentioned the meats were more bones than meat and were not at all tender.For the almost $80 for 2 people..I would expect better.Also the water had a soapy taste to it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Iman Shabani
Food was dry. Meat was so rough I had to fight with it. Took us 1 hour to get the food. Never got any refills on drinks during the hour either.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Natasha Allen
Great food great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maurice Brewer
I got the Grilled Lamb, cabbage, Mac and cheese, and even tried there chicken patties. Everything was flavorfilled and worth it. They atmosphere is so cozy and the hosts were very nice and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Chops w 2 Sides
Tena J
Our server Daniel put up with all of our million questions as well as putting him on the spot to make the menu decision for us. He was so patient with our group. Service made eating here the best choice.Best meat patties hands down. I even warmed up 2 patties a day later. Soooo Good.The goat was so tender with rice and cabbage it was the star at our table. We also ordered the lemon pepper wings with their sweet chili sauce. Next time I want to order sweet chili wings, that sauce was everything; I even used it on my chicken meat patty. My least favorite dish was the jollof rice with fried chicken wings nothing was seasoned. We also liked the plantains. The fufu was fresh and warm. I also ordered the Suyan Beef Kabobs to go with mac and cheese for my son. The veggies and beef made the car smell amazing OTW home. It was also tasty.One of the owners made a round of Jello shots that were serious. All of our drinks were well made we ordered both sunrises, liquid marijuanas and a passion fruit.
Delicious experience. Felt full,but not weighed down. Very high vibrational for me.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
Maurice Welch
I dined in while they were not busy. I wanted oxtail but they ran out and cooking more. I ordered the nyama choma....omg. It was simply good to me. Try it you will not be disappointed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
RC
Nice and clean inside, looks like a quiet place to dine in. Food looks to be authentic and very good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Yaya's Way
The Jamaican beef patties are good. The crust is buttery and crunchy the filling is savory and spicy and just taste very yummy. The chicken curry was not my favorite neither was the spinach or Mac, but I did love the customer service she was pleasant and patient and friendly. The environment was very clean and inviting. There was great music and a nice drink menu.
Honestly was one of the best times I’ve had with my family here. More people should know about it. Would recommend. One thing I would change would be the servers consistent coming back to check for drinks but that’s it, still an amazing
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Suya Beef w 2 Sides, Jollof Rice Without Meat, Oxtail Stew
I have to preface this review by saying that I love this kind of cuisine so when I discovered Jambo, I was elated to find it near when I shop. I noticed that the reviews are kind of all over the place with both the food and service so I decided to roll the dice. And I have to say, a lot of the bad stuff is right on the money. We walked in and were acknowledged by a sign that told us to seat ourselves but it took a minute for us to be noticed by anyone else despite the fact that the restaurant was nearly empty and there were several staff just sitting at a table on their phones or playing cards.After we sat ourselves a young lady came and brought us water and menus with a quick 'hello' and then left without another word. We then waited and waited and waited. No one came back after about 15 minutes when we discovered a QR code on the table that linked us to a way we could supposedly order to our table. We tried to do it, only to discover that the prices and options didn't match the physical menu and several items tried to upcharge us for things that were supposed to be included. After about 25 minutes since we got our water the young lady eventually came back and offered to take our order which we had to repeat multiple times. We asked a couple of questions but she seemed confused by our questions so we gave up and just ordered.About 20 minutes after ordering, our appetizers and one of our entrees arrived at the same time without the food for my wife. The person who brought it to us inquired about whether my wife also had food and she told him she did and what she had ordered. He clearly looked confused and walked away. Almost 15 minutes later her food arrived, which meant that mine was cold since I waited for her to get hers so we could eat together.I have to say, the food was actually very good but it was extremely overpriced for the offerings and setting. Typically I would expect African comfort food to land about $10 cheaper per plate, at least given the presentation, quality and setting.Our server never came to our table again through our entire meal until long after we had finished and were getting quite impatient waiting for the check. We never got a single refill of water throughout our meal, which is unforgivable when eating spicy food.As has been said numerous times in negative reviews, an 18% gratuity is automatically added to the bill. Personally I think this is a disgusting practice but I expected it based on the reviews. What I didn't expect was that they went further into what, quite frankly, feels like a scam. When they bring your receipt to sign, the final bill does not show the forced gratuity on it (even though it is included in the price on the bill) and they have another line requesting an additional tip with suggestions for an additional 15-20%. I am absolutely blown away by this money grab attempt. Anyone who isn't paying close attention will get tricked into essentially a 30-40% tip on any already overpriced bill.While I was very hopeful that this place would be wonderful, I won't be back. Decent food does not make up for poor service, crazy prices and questionable billing practices.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Curry Chicken with Jollof Rice, Kenyan Samosas, Beef Samosa, Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
First time here service was horrible food was cold they didn’t complete our
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
Everything was good until the bill came. The bill included an “Mandatory 18% gratuity. I paid it but it will be the last time. As I sat there eating I considered mentioning the place to a group of guys I eat lunch with several times a month, but the “Mandatory” thing ruined it. When it is mandatory it is no longer Gratuity, it is a service fee.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Jerk Chicken Plate
I really wanted to love this place because it's different from a lot of the restaurants around here in Hoover, but I was mostly disappointed with everything except for the atmosphere of the actual restaurant.The food was just fine. I got wings covered with sauce and fries, and both were lacking in flavor. The fries tasted like unseasoned frozen fries from the grocery store and the wings only had flavor from the BBQ sauce.Maybe my dish was a dud, but I'm not curious enough to find out by going back to try something else.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
I dont always write review and especially bad ones but Went there and half the Menu was out.Wasnt told of additional items missing until after we had Ordered appetizers.Basically choices were between 3 menu items at this point.The food took almost 1hr 15mins . We saw other people being served before us, even though they came after us by 20minutes.Food arrived and let's just say what a disappointment. The white rice and the Mac n Cheese were stuff u find in boxes from Walmart.As many already mentioned the meats were more bones than meat and were not at all tender.For the almost $80 for 2 people..I would expect better.Also the water had a soapy taste to it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Food was dry. Meat was so rough I had to fight with it. Took us 1 hour to get the food. Never got any refills on drinks during the hour either.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great food great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I got the Grilled Lamb, cabbage, Mac and cheese, and even tried there chicken patties. Everything was flavorfilled and worth it. They atmosphere is so cozy and the hosts were very nice and friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Chops w 2 Sides
Our server Daniel put up with all of our million questions as well as putting him on the spot to make the menu decision for us. He was so patient with our group. Service made eating here the best choice.Best meat patties hands down. I even warmed up 2 patties a day later. Soooo Good.The goat was so tender with rice and cabbage it was the star at our table. We also ordered the lemon pepper wings with their sweet chili sauce. Next time I want to order sweet chili wings, that sauce was everything; I even used it on my chicken meat patty. My least favorite dish was the jollof rice with fried chicken wings nothing was seasoned. We also liked the plantains. The fufu was fresh and warm. I also ordered the Suyan Beef Kabobs to go with mac and cheese for my son. The veggies and beef made the car smell amazing OTW home. It was also tasty.One of the owners made a round of Jello shots that were serious. All of our drinks were well made we ordered both sunrises, liquid marijuanas and a passion fruit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Chops
Restaurantji Recommends
Great good and service! A hidden gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious experience. Felt full,but not weighed down. Very high vibrational for me.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Oxtail Stew w 2 Sides
I dined in while they were not busy. I wanted oxtail but they ran out and cooking more. I ordered the nyama choma....omg. It was simply good to me. Try it you will not be disappointed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Nice and clean inside, looks like a quiet place to dine in. Food looks to be authentic and very good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
The Jamaican beef patties are good. The crust is buttery and crunchy the filling is savory and spicy and just taste very yummy. The chicken curry was not my favorite neither was the spinach or Mac, but I did love the customer service she was pleasant and patient and friendly. The environment was very clean and inviting. There was great music and a nice drink menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Beef Samosa