G’s Jamaican Quisine

I am Jamaican by way of Chicago. After relocating to Kansas City recently, I was ecstatic to know there were a few Jamaican restaurants in town including G’s.
G’s restaurant is located in a fairly destitute area of Kansas City. The restaurant’s exterior is equally uninviting with a mix of colorful art and security bars. The interior is much more delightful — a mix of dance club, bar, and tables with chairs. There were lights and posters advertising Jamaican tourism and entertainers. There were a few regulars at the bar eagerly dining and chatting with each other like a scene out of Cheers, but with Jamaican food. It felt like many other Jamaican restaurants I have visited in Chicago, New York, DC, and even Jamaica. The owner’s thick and familiar Jamaican accent made me feel even more at home.
But, the food! Argh! The curry goat was salty, the oxtails were bland and tough, and the jerk chicken just wasn’t quite right. The jerk just had the sauce on top and didn’t have the intense, spices throughout or the smoky jerk flavor that comes from the jerk process.
The bright points were the tasty rice and peas and beef patties. Items were priced a little too high, particularly the Jamaican sodas marked up 100−150% over grocer retail prices. The patties were also dear.
I took my parents there when they visited. They enjoyed chatting with the owner about «back a yard,» but were baffled at why I would take them to eat such poor food. My mom has asked never to return there again, and now visits with a cooler of ingredients to cook for us when she visits.
I really want to like this place, but the food is subpar. It would be great to take a quick trip on nights when I crave my native foods but am too tired to cook. But, I’ve given up on G’s. I’d rather cook or drive the 8 hours to my parents house in Chicago for my mom’s incredible Jamaican dishes.
I used to go there periodically for a beef patty and kola champagne, but I grew tired of being gouged. I now frequent the African/​Caribbean grocery store in City Market for sodas and frozen patties that I pop in the oven.
Thumbs down to G’s.

Save your taste buds., this restaurant is not worth it. Beef patties were bland and not enough beef filling., oxtails were not seasoned and definitely not tender. I will not be going back

I had the brown stew chicken with red beans and rice, cabbage, mac and cheese, and coco bread. Hey, I was hungry. The chicken, rice and beans, and cabbage were very delicious. The chicken was falling off the bone and the flavors were perfect. The coco bread was also good. I started to try a beef patty, too, but it looked like it had been sitting in the glass heater for days.
The mac and cheese, on the other hand — just, no. It was made with nacho cheese. Just macaroni noodles mixed with nacho cheese.
The place also looks extremely sketchy, but the owner was nice. Overall, I plan to come back to try more menu items. They have reggae music every Saturday night, too. Sounds like a good time, although I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable going there at night.

G’s is THE place for Jamaican curry! The curry chicken and curry goat are two of the most delicious dishes I’ve had since I moved to Kansas City, and the jerk chicken is not to be missed. Everything I have had from G’s has been superb.
Don’t let the exterior fool you – yeah, it looks sketchy, and it’s not in the greatest part of town – this is the spot for a damn good meal. The meat is fall-​off-​the-​bone tender. The curry is rich and flavorful without being obnoxious (it’s really easy to overdo curry).
I pretty much haunt G’s weekly now for their $ 6.99 lunch special (11am-1:30pm). Fridays is curry chicken. :-)

Soo close to giving them 5 stars until I tried the jerk chicken. Sucks.
I have been here three times every time getting the curry goat as my meat. That says a lot. I am absolutely in love with how they make this and I crave it now once a week. Red beans and rice is good but even more amazing when u let the drippings slide into it and mix. It then becomes heavenly. The fried cabbage not even a thought after I tried it once. The Mac and cheese is reminiscent of the a velveeta pack but much more flavor and thick. The mash potatoes and gravy mm the gravy is outstanding and I went to dip into his plate for it more than once.
Coco bread was blah but I’m the one who love Hawaiian bread with everything. Fried plantains are good and usually really hot. I think this maybe one of the few only things that get cooked to order honestly. There is a microwave I seen them use. Festivals are good but nothing like what I tasted in California, bummer. Jamaican rum cake, I can’t really put into words like its good but dense and has that run taste just not for me. Also tried the Ting grapefruit drink nothing special maybe I should try the others.
The bad. Jerk chicken was not jerk chicken in my eyes. Yea the chicken was moist and tender but only had a fade away taste of jerk seasonings only on the skin part. Other places I’m comparing with had it throughout, sorry to say I won’t come here for that again. I’ll try the oxtails but there is a place the other direction off of Troost that does then really good.
Come here try the goat u won’t regret it.

Great curry goat and plantains
The owner was one of nicest people I have ever visited with.

This place was good last Saturday at 2:00 pm. I’d been wanting to get here for a long time, never have been to Jamaica, and love meat pies in general. I was happy with G’s. The meat patty (pie) was a 3.5″ square, flat pastry with a saffron-​colored crust, flaky but a little dry, filled with a thinnish layer of fine meat mince which was moist and spicy. I liked it. We also had the jerk chicken (not particularly hot, lovely allspice flavor on the skin) and the oxtail stew. Oxtail stew was rich and tasty and beefy, not spicy or hot at all, but a very good example of how delicious oxtail can be. We had cabbage, which was good, tender but not mushy with a delicate vegetable flavor. Also the beans and rice, which were very bland filler, not my favorite ever. I had a rum and fruit punch: delicious, large, and highly alcoholic.
The service was pleasant and earnest but confused. Not an experienced waiter, I felt like I had to be extra nice to the poor kid as he was trying hard but not sure what he was doing. But it’s not really a waitron sort of place, there was a slow but steady influx of order-​at-​the-​counter takeout customers, and we were the only diners. The owner came out a couple of times to see how we liked it, and chatted with my friend for a moment about the menu. He was very friendly, and made us feel welcome. We will be back.

2 stars for the food only as it was just ok. The older man (owner maybe) is so rude! The man stayed on the phone the whole time we were standing at the desk trying to order. My friend and I felt like we were bothering him or something.

The fried plantains are delicious. The coco bread is cross between a donut and French bread– a little sweet and soft. The meat pie was nice and spicy. The jerk chicken and oxtail dishes were fantastic– just right on the spices — both tender with a great flavor. G the owner is a great guy. We asked him to take care of us and he sent us his best food. My wife and I had a great time. We will go back! Uhh the Jamaican punch drink isn’t that good. The Fun on the Beach was good.

I came here with my co-​workers and was a little skeptical at first especially when it comes to authentic food. I’m so happy to say that they are exactly what their store name is! What I loved is that the owner came out and knew my colleagues orders! Since they both ordered the Oxtails, rice, and plantains I decided to followed suit. I’m so happy I ordered them, they fell right off the bone and everything was great and the ginger beer was an added plus! I plan to be a frequent customer from now on!

I felt adventurous, so I pulled out my phone and did the « Unilocal Wheel ‘O Fortune» and saw that G’s Jamaican was right down the street from the client I was visiting.
To put it mildly, this place looks sketchy both on the outside and inside. The décor is graffiti paintings of Jamaican stlying. I’m pretty sure the windows were barred. My colleague and I walked in, not wanting to judge the place based on its appearance, and grabbed seats at the bar.
We each had the Jerk Chicken, mine with fries, and his with fried plantains. The chicken was tender, juicy, and extremely flavorful. It fell right off the bone! I thought it was fantastic, maybe a little too salty for some people though. The fries were good, but the plantains were excellent. They also brought us some Jamaican style hush puppies which were excellent (and free).
The man and woman working there were extremely nice. The food came out about 15 minutes after we ordered it. The man behind the bar was actually from Jamaica (I think the woman who cooked was as well) and he definitely had the laid back, island (lack of) speed, attitude. He made conversation with us for a long time, and never offered our checks until we asked for them. Very welcoming which is great if you don’t have to get back to work haha.
5 stars — friendly staff
4 stars — good food
3 stars — prices could be lower
1 star — the place is kind of scary looking
All things considered, I would return here to eat again. It’s definitely worth a try!

I’ve always enjoyed Caribbean food, but it’s been pretty tough to come by in the places I’ve lived. G’s is not exactly in the most obvious of locations, so it’s not surprising that I’ve missed it all these years. I sure am glad Unilocal decided to suggest it for me, though. I don’t really know what Jamaican food is supposed to taste like, but the fare at G’s was delicious by me. All of the menu items sounded great to me, and the lady at the counter, in her wonderful island accent, suggested I try a combo of the curry goat and jerk chicken.
Maybe things have changed from the review below describing food boasting nothing but salt; my meal was bursting at the seams with flavor. The allspice on the chicken was layed on thick and permeated the meat wonderfully. Many describe meats as «falling off the bone,» but this is the first time I’ve actually had that happen. I hungrily attacked my chicken quarter only to find myself holding a bare chicken thigh bone with a glob of savory leg meat still sitting on a mound of stewed cabbage (which was also really good). The curry goat was kind of a small bone minefield, but the effort necessary to remove the tooth-​ruining shards was totally worthwhile. That was some freaking awesome goat. The mound of beans and rice the meal was served over was seasoned beautifully and complimented the sweet and spicy themes of the meal very well. I also indulged in a meat pie as an appetizer which was a nice treat but not quite as remarkable as the rest of the meal.
Really, the only qualm I have with the place is the price. My meal was almost $ 20 — not at all what I would’ve expected from a place on 79^th and Troost. It’s not surprising that I was the only person in the place at prime lunch time. Granted, if I wasn’t gluttonously stuffing goat and chicken in my craw in an allspice-​induced feeding frenzy, what I ordered could have easily fed 2 people, so I’ll give them a pass. Still, G’s deserves a spot in your restaurant rotation for when you just need something a little different. I will definitely be back and will be bringing my appetite.
Word to the wise: As another reviewer mentioned, they charge $ 2 for credit card transactions, so bring cash if possible. Otherwise, those borderline prices climb even higher.

This was my go to place while being pregnant and ate well. My plate of choice was always curry chicken, beans with rice, plaintains and 1 fruit punch plus 1 pineapple soda. Well worth the travel from Lawrence, KS and always had a take home plate well.
Great seasoning, great flavors, always welcomed with a smile.

I just had lunch here and enjoyed it! II had the jerk chicken and it was tender and very tasty. I didn’t think it was too salty like some said. I debated between this and the ox tails. G brought out a sample of the ox tails with our meal and they were falling off the bone and awesome! My only complaints are that the place was pretty cold inside (it’s winter and the heat wasn’t on), so if you go there in the winter, bring a coat. Also, the food came out very quickly, however at the end of our meal we were ready to pay and G was occupied back in the kitchen. We waited for probably 10 minutes. No big deal to us, and we could have got his attention if we needed to.
Finally, they take credit cards, but charge a $ 2 fee, so bring cash if you can.

Ate lunch at G’s today. Can’t believe we haven’t been there before. The Jerk Chicken was moist, tender, and full of amazing flavor. A full review will come later, but this is a place that anyone who likes Caribbean food should try sooner rather than later.

Do these people know what spices are? Beside salt, I mean, which they use to such excess that I left there feeling preserved. And the chicken was not really jerked, more like chicken jerkey. Prices are way too high for the quality of food served. If you like Jamaican food, you’ll really need to recalibrate your sense of taste for G’s.
One thing I’ll give them is that they’ve got authentic ambiance up to a point, by which I mean they’ve really tried to make this place look like a poverty-​stricken disaster. Most Jamaican restaurant owners take some pride in their place, and make it as warm, clean, and inviting as possible even if they can’t afford finery. Little to no effort made here on food, surroundings, service, or… well anything. Do yourself a service and just stay away!

My coworker and I came here for dinner last night and the place looked a little run down but, eh, that doesn’t bother me as long as the food is good. As we walked in I was surprised at how large the restaurant was. There was a dj booth, stage and by removing the tables and chairs there would be a good size dancefloor for a nightclub or concert. Back to the food, I got the jerk chicken with cabbage and a meat patty. The jerk chicken was ok, a little salty and not enough spices and the cabbage was more on the tender side. The meat patty was ok and I think it needed more spices too.

We had everyting and every little ting was all right!
We started with plantains, chicken wings, fried dumplings, and meat pies. All great but the meat pies were rich and spicy and I want one just writing this… Where was I, the meat pies are AWESOME.
I had the jerk chicken, and the guy to the left of me had the curried goat and the lady to the right of me had the ox tails. Get the ox tails, they were the star of the lunch. My chicken was good and the goat was too, but the only problem with the goat was the bones. It was full of little sawed bones that made it tricky to eat. Still very tasty.
We were the only ones there of lunch on a tuesday, so our service was great.
I loved the Ginger beer.

Kev, you are the man! I admit, I entered G’s slowly and with hesitation. It is located in a rundown strip of stores, none of which look occupied since the 1980’s. But I slipped in and was met by friendly staff and G himself (George) and ordered up a plate of curried goat. Kev had a good point: why don’t more Americans eat goat? Well, if you ever had it poorly prepared it would be something you’d always avoid. But G’s does it up right. The goat was perfectly spiced, as was the brown rice and cabbage. George talked to me during most of my meal (I was the only patron) and told me where he buys his goat but that how he prepared it was the real difference. I raised my eyebrow after he poured his second shot of Hennessy during our little chat. He told me not to worry, that it was part of his secret to preparing good food. Who am I to argue?

Came here for lunch (to go order) and was absolutely floored on their Jamaican Meat Pies. For those who don’t know, these delicacies are some of the most popular street food items in New York City and other east-​coast cities.
To find a place in KC that has the real thing (and GOOD tasting!) is a pleasant surprise.
I was told by a co-​worker that on the weekends they have live reggae and dancehall bands play. I happened to notice a nice dance floor while picking up the food as well. I hope to come here for dinner sooner or later and have some jerk chicken!