Irie Bar and Grille

I have been to this Irie location a few times, so I feel my assessment is more than fair. This place is a sh! t show. The décor, when it was there was nice (they are currently undergoing construction). Pre– and during construction they still have the WORST customer service I’ve ever seen. Like seriously. I had a take out order for a beef and chicken pattie. I asked how long. She says 7 minutes. Almost 25 minutes later I am finally leaving with my food. There is no communication of delay. EVER!
In November I had my birthday dinner here. My goodness! The service was not only slow but inaccurate. It’s like there is no concept of how to run a successful restaurant business.
The ONLY thing that has kept me coming back is the food. And even that has been hit or miss sometimes.
I suggest you bring your patience or eat elsewhere.

So it may be that I’m Jamaican and very particular about my food, but the food here will not have me returning. I had the oxtail, which was $ 13! They gave me 4! 4 smaaalllll pieces of oxtail for $ 13! They were tough and not even tasty. Never see my face again

Grade: D
Pros: Entered the restaurant and it was empty. Our server was Wayne and his service was pretty good overall.
Cons: Waited 45 MINUTES for our food. Three entrees were ordered. One was jerk chicken which arrived to the table cold. I ordered shrimp and grits which says on the menu that it was cheese grits. The grits had NO CHEESE at all. Instead, it had SUGAR in it. Third order was spare ribs, which came hot and good. So my feeling is that the spare ribs were made last and the others first (rather than concurrently). I had to request Wayne to bring cheese to the table. For such a screw up, the manager should have came to the table. No one came! Then on top of all of that, THEY CHARGED US FULL PRICE! Menu clearly says that ALL of their entrees come with two sides, but when you order an entrée, they say that your entrée doesn’t count for the two sides and makes you pay al a carte.
This showed me that they didn’t care to remedy the situation and plays games with their prices! Very disappointed and will not eat there again! Avoid this place. Went to the Jamaican take out at Southern Avenue and Marlboro Pike after throwing away their food. They are much better!

Hell no… don’t go!!! Only reason I gave it 1 star is just so I could comment on how terrible the first 12 mins was!!! No service on a Saturday at 7pm. Literally walked right in & was seated immediately & then FORGOTTEN about!!! No drinks, water, service… NOTHING!!! On top of that… the restaurant didn’t smell of food cooking… let alone good food!!! DONT BOTHER WITH THIS PLACE!!! You’ll be pissed you wasted your time!!!

Came on a Saturday night, no real comments on the band didn’t stay that long to hear it. Had the Jerk Salmon: it was awesome hands down, it’s spicy so beware but it’s a good type of spice. Bf had the oxtail it was the first time I felt an oxtail so fall off the bone tender. The rice and peas was great too, don’t know how they made it feel so «juicy» but it was lol. Great place would love to come again. Also had the Long Island Iced Tea it’s a wonder all on its own.

Irie is tastee enough. I never have high hopes for West Indian cuisine outside of major cities like NYC or Miami, but Irie does a good job. The bar is consistently crowded as they do a good job with drinks and a decent age/​behaved crowd of patrons.
I have been here for live music a few times and although I appreciate the music and the artist are talented it is sometimes hard to hold a conversation as it can be loud.
Nonetheless support them… you won’t be disappointed.

I usually only do positive reviews but the food I had was so bad I had to say something. Went for lunch today and the food took way too long to come. If you offer a lunch menu the food should come quickly to accommodate a lunch break schedule. I ordered the Jerk pork. It was dry and had a sweet taste. Other than the name Jerk there was nothing Jerk about it. It was more of a braised, over cooked piece of meat. There was a pretty rowdy table in the back that started playing their own radio, with offensive, foul language, not acceptable. The manager said something to them but they continued to play the music. I like to support local business but the food and service was not good. Hopefully it gets better.

Had dinner there on Saturday for my friend’s birthday. There was a live jazzish type band playing. It would have been better with a band playing reggae.
The ambience was great. The server, Nadine, was super friendly. Without asking she gave each one in the party of 8 our separate checks. The drinks were good. Food was okay and the rum raisin ice cream was horrible and stale. There were ice chips in the ice cream so it was not creamy at all. Overall, good experience. Will definitely visit again.

The food was great but it took entirely too long for the food to get to us. There was a live band also that added to the carribean experience. I’ll definitely check it out again.

Great Parking. nice décor… compliments dwindle from there. Had the jerk wings… cold.dry.so-so flavor.
Must be a drinking hole… stick to happy hour drinks. leave food in the kitchen!

We enjoyed dinner here for my mom’s birthday. (For the record, we are Jamaican). I recommend getting the escovietch veggies and sauce on the side if you get the fried snapper. It’s overpowering compared to other escovietch that I’ve had. The jerk drumettes were the truth! If you get the jerk chicken then you may want to get the jerk sauce on the side as some in our party found it overpowering as well. The callalloo was very good. The cabbage was meh. I’m a bit mystified at them charging a premium for fried plantain and spinach as sides. I think that’s really odd and just doesn’t sit right with me as plantain is a staple with Caribbean food. The Irie Platter was a good sample as an appetizer and we split it amongst five of us and everyone was able to get a taste of the various offerings.
Happy to have a nice sit down Jamaican place in town.
**side eye** they charged us gratuity for a party of 5? Suspect.

I just left here and I was pleasantly surprised :-) most of the restaurants or cafes in the large area are usually uptight & stuffy but this is a nice spacious spot. The food was very well seasoned/​nice portions for your money’s worth. Plus they have a live band & on Wednesday karaōke. Will be going back soon :-)

I’ve been to Irie four times and have yet to get good service. I sit in the bar area, either at the bar, or in a booth in the bar area. The wait time is longer than average something as simple as refills. You have to order everything you want as soon as you get the servers attention or you’re going to be hungry, thirsty, or missing that extra cup of bleu cheese.
In regards to the food & drink, I don’t have complaints. I’ve had the jerk salmon and brown stew chicken entrees. They’re on point! I like my food spicy, so that doesn’t bother me. The peas and rice are flavorful and the vegetables taste fresh. You get nice sized portions of the food. The jerk drumettes are the truth. I get them every time. The rum punch is good, but they don’t have any draft beers so bottle is where you’ll live if you have a taste for beer.
On food alone, I’d rank this place higher, but the services really does drag you down when you want to eat, drink, and have a good time.

After leaving the Copper Canyon Grill Happy Hour I would walk across the parking lot to Irie Bar and Grille.
Irie Bar and Grille has it regulars and I must admit I’m one of them.
The food is way too spicy at times and the service is okay but it can be better. They do have live music on Fridays but the dance floor is small if you call moving tables out the way a dance floor.

I love the Image Band, Awesome music!
The bartenders suck!
Food for thought– don’t keep my change and assume that I want to leave you a tip, it doesn’t work that way.
Plus, all she did was pour me a glass of wine.
The food is always way too spicy, so I just stopped eating there :(
My tip– eat and drink before you get there and you won’t be disappointed.
Sad but true..

In an unfamiliar place, but among Friends.
Service was great. From the time I got there to the time I left, I was completely satisfied. I got there during HH and was pleased with the drink specials and wings.
Although I went alone and waited for a friend to join me, but I didn’t really feel alone. The atmosphere and the other patrons there were relaxed and engaging I felt like I was among friends.
By the time I was to order food I wasn’t hungry, but the food was so good, I eat it anyway… It was good!
I will go back and enjoy the space and the food again, even if I’m going alone. The folks around the bar were very pleasant and chances are I won’t feel like I’m by myself
Cheers Irie!!!

The food here is pretty good but over priced! At other Caribbean restaurant you can get twice the portion for the amount you pay for one year. The service was nice and friendly and very attentive. I will go here again but maybe I’ll try to Friday night live band. All appetizer like $ 10 then your main dish is probably going to round out to be $ 22.

***THIS RATING IS FOR HAPPY HOUR, JERK WINGS AND CHOCOLATE CAKE ONLY***
I have been to this location a few times for happy hour. All of the bartenders can make a mean margarita! I hear the rum punch is delicious but I’ve yet to try it. My experiences at the other location in Capital Heights has turned me off from their food so I typically play it safe and order the same thing off the happy hour menu every time I come here which is an order of jerk wings. If you are familiar with my reviews you know that I am very picky about my chicken. These jerk wings are just ok and can be hit or miss. The ones I got last Friday were very blah… little jerk seasoning… not enough salt… baked to the point of them being dry. One thing I’ve noticed when I go here is that the jerk seasoning consistently taste THE SAME so I’ve come to the conclusion that this is just how they choose to make their jerk seasoning and it’s just «tolerable» to me.
I was convinced by my friend to at step out of my box a little and try there chocolate fudge cake. SMH WWwhhhhyyyy? Let’s just say the cake at Wegman’s is better. Come on Irie Café’ please get it together… I want to like you so bad… UUUggghhh! LOL
Bottom line: IMO don’t knock it until you try it AND I’m curious to know how others rate there chicken. Everyone has different taste buds and while I may not like the jerk wings you may love them. I will be coming back to check the most recent reviews to see if things change…
Keeping it 100; I am only giving them 2 stars because 1. All of the bartenders are nice 2. They have good happy hour prices and last a little longer than some surrounding restaurants. 3. I am always greeted by the host with a smiling face 4. The establishment looks to be tidy 5. They have live bands on Friday nights and other special nights.
I will be returning soon to try out a few more dishes and will update my stars after.

Ran in there for an alumni event. It was just about empty save a few people at the bar. The food took a long time to come out. The jerk chicken wings were not spicy at all to me. I got a jerk shrimp caesar salad. It was delicious, just not spicy like I expected.
Wait staff is friendly and attentive.

While I would not have chosen Irie, I don’t think it’s a bad choice – 3.5 stars. It’s a (relatively) upscale Jamaican restaurant, with a nice bar and big dining area. Unfortunately, we were there at 8:30 p.m. on a Thursday, and so was the DJ. While I did love the music, it’s not exactly what I was hoping for during my meal.
Service was excellent and I wish I remembered our server’s name. We each had a rum punch, plus we shared the appetizer sampler (jerk chicken wings, mini beef patties, plantains, and codfish fritters) and the jerk pork with plantains and rice and peas. I highly recommend the sampler platter, especially if you are with a group. The dry-​rub jerk wings were spicy and tender; the beef patties flavorful; plantains were perfectly caramelized; and codfish fritters were crisp and mostly cod, not much filler. The jerk pork was delicious (and spicy)! I don’t often see jerk pork, so I was excited. The rice and peas, however, had no flavor, which was disappointing. The rum punch lacked much alcohol, which was also disappointing.
Can you get better Jamaican food at a much lower cost? Absolutely. At Irie, you definitely pay for ambiance. But if you’re looking for atmosphere (or a place to dance), go to Irie.