All Island Cafe

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

I remembered them for great tasting food and slow but decent customer service 5 years ago when I was last here. I went there after church on Easter Sunday and as many Jamaicans (like myself) know, Easter weekend is a time of eating fish! I ordered kingfish and was severely disappointed. The serving sizes are nice, but that fish was the driest, toughest, most overcooked and overseasoned piece of escoveitched fish I have ever tasted! I had to fight with the food, in a sense, to get it cut, chewed, and down. And the customer service was past terrible, and not wanting to deal with them AGAIN is why I forced the food I overpaid for down! They dont ask you if your food is eat in or take out, and they saw me standing there with a young child. First of all they cut the sorry-tasting piece of carrot cake I asked for (it was dry, not moist like its suppose to be), and FORGOT THE REST OF MY ORDER! After standing there watching others get served, the black girl (there is a black and an Ethiopian looking one) asks me if I had ordered anything else. Excuse me? She is behind the counter why doesnt she have a printout of the receipt to fulfill the order from? So I tell her what else I ordered and still no one let me know to sit down. She comes back with everything in styrofoam and I ask if she has any plates or at least trays because I am eating here. No. So I asked what happens for people who are eating here, they still get the boxes? She said yes. I said how am i to carry all that, she said you could have sat down. I said I didnt know that, no one told me. She replies "well most people know to sit down if they eating here"...WHAT? Why would she assume every customer is SO familiar with the place that they will all act as if they come there all the time?? And she STILL did not even offer to carry the boxes to a table for me, matter of fact I had to ask her to put them in a bag so i could get them to the table, and she saw my hands were full already with my own bag and my child and her toy! First of all had I sat down, the fact that all they remembered of my order was the cake says I would clearly not have gotten my food, because they forgot me, and second you see a woman with a young child in hand and not only do you have her standing there way longer than necessary, you tell her its her fault she doesnt know how the restaurant runs and then dont help her get her food to the table? No man that is ridiculous. The Ethiopian girl when I asked to see a manager and let her know why apologized and agreed that I should have been asked up front if i was eating there or taking the food with me...but here is the kicker SHE IS THE ONE THAT TOOK THE ORDER! The black girl was just the one that fulfilled it! Awful customer service is one thing, but then to top it off with terrible food? For the money I am spending I could have gone to a McDonalds and gotten something off the $1 menu and been more satisfied and received better service. Even looking back I am amazed at how the black one just didnt even offer to help me carry the food to the table. Caribbean restaurants are notorious for bad customer service and I am sorry, there are too many restaurants popping up all over for places like Island Cafe to feel that this type of slight to customers is okay. I have found Steam House on Rockbridge Road which serves perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned food, every bite delicious, and Chef Robs Caribbean Cafe in Sandy Springs on Roswell Road, which also has high quality food and BOTH these places have something these other Caribbean restaurants need to take note of: GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE! I am Jamaican and know good Jamaican food when I taste it, and trust me, Island Cafe failed BIGTIME on Easter. Of all days!

KI

kieyanab

Theres no other place that compares to All Island on the Eastside of Atlanta! I usually go during the weekends to get a small plate of grilled jerk chicken (only served dyring the weekends) with an order of plantains, because I love their plantains. I have referred my mom and sis there. My mom loves jamaican food so to get her to try them out was nothing. She loves their curry chicken. My sister, on the otherhand, pretty much is a chicken tender only type of gal. She likes what she likes and therefore thinks its unnecessary to try anything new, but she LOVES their jerk chicken that they serve daily. Soo thats how you know theyre good! I dont usually have to wait. I order and 2 to 3 minutes later my order is ready. Every time I go, I have a pleasant interaction with the cashier. I would like to see them utilize their space more. Like, they have a huge layout. They could easily utilize their layout and make it into a nightlife restaurant and have live performances, karaoke night, bingo night, etc to bring in more revenue and become more active within the community. (Just a thought)

NI

Nikette Johnson

My family and I have been eating here for over 20yrs. Ive tried many West Indian spots around Atlanta but none compared to the flavor of Island cafe. 2/17/17 was a different story. The oxtails happen to be my favorite dish. They no longer have a small only one size plate. They have Increased the price to $14.98. I am a foodie so i realize this is about average for an oxtail plate so I can get over that but they have completely changed the recipe for the oxtails. It had a subtle sweet taste for the past 22yrs but now they are very spicy and salty..not sweet at all. I called the restaurant and asked Barbara if they changed the recipe. She said no. I said I know its different because Ive eaten here at least 3 times a month for the past 20 yrs. She asked for my name and number and said she would call back. Havent heard from anyone yet but Im truly dissapointed and sad to say I wont be back. Guess I have to try and make a similar gravy for my own oxtails.

KA

Katrina Wright

Had lunch here today and it wasnt too bad.. We ordered a curry chicken plate with white rice and an original jerk chicken plate with rice & peas. Im not a big fan of rice so I noticed they had a few appetizers listed, which one of the items was fried dumplin. I asked the waitress if I could substitute my rice for the dumplins to which she advised is only available for Sunday breakfast.. disappointing.. why isnt this specified on the menu and why isnt it listed under "breakfast" since that has its own section on the menu? The food arrived in a timely manner and it was good, not great, but thats ok. The curry was a little salty but had good flavor and the jerk chicken also had good flavor but was pretty much scraps of chicken (literally bite size) with jerk sauce on top. I wish they had given me proper pieces of chicken so that I could actually enjoy the meal rather than pulling little pieces of chicken off of bone and gristle.