Cool Runnings Restaurant & Bar

Do not eat here!! They don’t pay their employees!!!!!!

terrible management!! THEY DO NOT PAY THEIR EMPLOYEES ANY TIPS WHATSOEVER 😒 illegal &’ untrustworthy business

I’m not even sure where to begin here…first of all we aren’t Karens. I never complain, I’ve worked in restaurants before, so I understand sometimes things are less than ideal. That being said. Much like the review I just read. My wife and I had tried Cool Runnings in Michigan City last year and I loved the place. Great food, great service, all around good experience. So we decided to give the South Bend location a shot…definitely a mistake. So we show up last night around 7:30, hardly anyone in the place at all. The gentleman at the door was on the phone taking an order, after he’s done he seats us and tells us that he is the only person on staff at the restaurant because nobody else showed up to work that day. Literally no servers, no bussers, not even a bartender. So we wait a bit and he finally comes over to the table with menus and waters. Didn’t ask us for our drink orders or anything, so I ask for a beer and my wife asks for a mixed drink and he says he can’t get us either of them because they don’t have a bartender. I mean the mixed drink I understand, but he couldn’t even get me a beer lol. Then he says he will give me a beer on the house, and I told him I didn’t need a free beer, I would pay for it. He says ok, then never brings me the beer lol. Needless to say we order food, it takes quite a while for the food to come out. He brings out coconut shrimp and a Jamaican beef patty. The Jamaican beef patty is soggy, and wet. Not crispy at all and he brings us 3 barely warm coconut shrimp. The picture on the menu shows 6 to an order but he brings us 3 for $11. So I asked if you only get 3 to an order and he says there must have been a mistake, he goes back, 10 minutes later he brings out a plate with 3 more and says for some reason the cook put them on separate plates. Then he brings out our entrees. I got 5 rib tips for $19 that were dry as could be. The rice and beans tasted like they were made with sulfur water, and the Mac and cheese was twice as dry as the rib tips. The worst part…they brought out my wife’s chicken tacos and the chicken was literally cold. Not lukewarm, not even room temperature, literally cold. Like they pulled it out of the refrigerator and put it on the tacos. So you know without question it wasn’t cooked fresh when it was ordered or even heated up. So cold shrimp, cold chicken…both could potentially make you sick. Then he brings me the bill and there’s an $8 service fee on the receipt in addition to the food we ordered. The service was awful to begin with, food was awful, just in general the worst dining experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant that wasn’t a fast food place. Needless to say I tipped the guy, paid $73 and walked out of the place and I will never step foot back in there again. Not an enjoyable experience by any means. Unfortunately it was a waste of a date night and my wife finished off the night with a Dairy Queen chicken tender basket because she was afraid to eat the tacos.

The wait was long for the amount of customers. The food was lousy. I ordered the rib tips. Nothing Jamaican about them. 4 small pieces of rib tips, so dry. Green beans were canned. Appetizer was ok. Dessert was ice cream, and that was the best part of the dinner. Cabbage was tasty. No one refilled our drinks. The walk to the restrooms was skanky. Would not recommend.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

I ordered a goat curry. We were the only 3 in there. Curry was cold and I couldn’t find any meat. My husband ate some chicken. Too dry. It feels like they like to burn their food.

Food: 1

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Curry Goat, Chicken Wings, Jerk Wings

0/10 Mac and cheese was terrible chicken was dry 15% service fee to dine in $20 for 6 wings and bad Mac and cheese $70 for 2 plates and 2 drinks I could’ve ate at bonefish for the price terrible seats

The Problem is with the staff, lack of urgency. They are very different from one in Michigan city. South bend staff are very reactive than proactive. Even their reaction to service is slow than sloth

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Curry Goat, Chicken Wings

I was charged 20$ to check in, I had to leave my table to call for a server to come to our table and take our order. I ordered some fish. It was overcooked and dry. Also, my girl friend ordered pasta and it was too spicy to eat in which the server didn’t make her aware that it was spicy. On the top of that, my bill was at $120 altogether and I was looking at the bill after the server asked me if I wanted to leave it and I’ve seen that. They already tipped themselves 15% out of the bill. Wouldn’t go back there

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 1

The place is looking good on the pictures. But all tables and chairs are wiggling. We were waiting for the order for 40 minutes and it wasn't that busy. The life band was good but speakers are so old and sound is really bad and loud. We spent $100 in this place for two plates of food and two cocktails. The food was ok, but it's just grilled fish and chicken with rice. Not for $100 at all..
I left disappointed and with mad headache 😒

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 2

Must be new owners. Macaroni is not good. Oxtails were tough. Rice is very bland even with the "gravy". We used to love this place, but will not be going back. $100 for 2 plates and 2 drinks is nasty work!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 5

*YOU ARE GOING TO BE CHARGED TO SIT DOWN AND EAT IN THEIR RESTAURANT* TL:DR - Server was good, food was dry, paid 45% on top of the meal total between service charge and tip. Shame on me for not looking over everything more carefully. Don’t autopilot through this place. — Went here for date night; excited to try the South Bend location as I had recently tried the Michigan City one for a company outing and loved it. My experience was a combination of good and bad. Ultimately I was disheartened. Katlyn, our server was extremely helpful, patient, and kind. The food was definitely good in flavor/seasoning; however, the chicken was very dry for both of us. One other mention about the food is that both times in my experience with Cool Runnings is that there is definitely bones in the meat where you wouldnt necessarily expect— or I am ignorant… but I consider myself among the average diner. I don’t mind it if I know about, but it is definitely not a fun surprise when it cuts your gums or jabs ya in the throat. A courtesy warning probably should be given from staff. Also in regards of courtesy, this is where it really goes south for me. Shame on me for not looking closer at the bill and the handheld payment device first. We receive the bill and I click the max tip because I felt she did a good job. Didn’t notice that max was 30%, but shame on me for not looking closer. After I clicked it, I was like hang on a sec, the total charge seems kind of high even for a 30% tip. Well I look back at my receipt and see a 15% charge on top of my bill as a “Service charge” so I asked her- hey just for future reference, not that you dont deserve a good tip- but does this. 15% that I am now seeing go to you as a tip also? She tells me that they put it on all of their dine-ins and that she doesn’t know where that money goes. I said well that would have been a nice thing to know up front when we sat down. She brings me a menu and shows us the fine print at the bottom right. We thank her and we leave. The longer we were in to our drive back home we just really felt suckered. Feels like a good way to finesse more out of people in plain sight. I would encourage the servers to question where that 15% is going if not in their pocket… because at that point youre just charging over twice the amount of sales tax just to be there.. which is kind of the point of having a giant dining area. Lesson learned. We will likely be back again earlier in the evening and hoping for a better experience. We’d like to not have to write this place off.

I came in very hungry.And the food was very tasty and delicious. Everything was high point. Very satisfying.
Nice atmosphere as well and music!
Upon check out I was charged a 15 % service charge.. which is a money grab. Tipping should be at the customers discretion. I am removing one star

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mixed Chicken Dinner, Chicken Wings

Service was slow but it was Sunday, but the mixed chicken was amazing, the “burger” had a twang taste that I wasn’t fond of, shrimp tacos had great flavor, I would recommend if you’re close to restaurant but I wouldn’t drive out of the way, if you like red beans and rice and don’t want to pay $1.00 to change your side, best place to try , do not order the “sweet corn” if you arrive late, it’s just corn overcooked, Mac n cheese, is what they say, just covered in Jamaica seasoning, but again, the chicken is amazing

Atmosphere: 3

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Mixed Chicken Dinner, Jerk Tacos

Loved this place for years. They ain't even trying anymore. Hidden 15% fee is just dirty in post covid, high inflation world. The wait staff are doing their best. I hope they find better jobs once this place finally folds up. Really sad. I've taken so many people here through the years.

I feel for the servers as it has to be embarrassing to see your place decline in front of you.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 5

We've normally had great experiences at Cool Runnings; however, our lunch on 12/28/24 was disappointing. Our server was friendly and doing her best working both the floor and bar, but we still ended up waiting over an hour for our food on a Saturday afternoon. The hour wait, and the "okay" food would have been fine; however, it was the surprise 15% "service charge" added to the bill at the end that unfortunately will keep us from returning.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3