Better Choice Jamaican Restaurant

I used to love there oxtails, now I’m never going back to this restaurant. This is my second time getting burned rice there and when you call to c/​o they act like they don’t understand what your talking about. You can smell it please stop. They probably reheat it from the day before, waist of money and still hungry.

Been here several times. I am a fan and sold on it.
Although I don’t go to this place as often as I would like, I have to say the amount of food you get here is! HUUUUUUGGEEEEE, ahh”! (ya, you know what car commercial I’m talking about)
For me the take away is the ox tail with rice and peas and a side of ackee and sailfish. For some reason they are always out of sorrel.
Someone posted a photo on a scientific weight scale, and it was «da truth».

I work in the Lyell/​Mt Read area and Better Choice is one of the better choices I have found for lunch. I don’t have much time and they have quick service with consistent food which is worth a lot to me.
When it comes to the food, I’ve tried their jerk chicken, stewed chicken and the curry chicken so far and I’ve enjoyed them all. The jerk chicken is my favorite out of the three and my go to. Well seasoned skin on top of fall apart cuts of chicken makes this some of the better jerk chicken I’ve had in town. It is darkly seasoned and just a bit spicy and the only downfall is that the skin can tend to be a little soft. The stew chicken is cooked in a tomato base and brings a little more heat than the jerk surprisingly. I only tried a little bit of my GFs curry chicken and it tasted strongly of yellow curry — a bit too much for my tastes but she loved it.
The different varieties of rice have all been a bit inconsistent (yellow, rice and peas, white) ranging from undercooked, under seasoned and the gravy that gets put on tends to be on a grease filled side instead of actual gravy. Sometimes it is right on point but there is a wide range of quality. I’ll be making repeat trips when I need some non-​homemade food for lunch.
One caveat is that it is not in the finest of neighborhoods so keep that in mind when you make a trip over.

Best Jamaican food in Rochester, hands down (and this is coming from a guy who has been to all of them). Relatively new, and I don’t think the word is out there about this place, as small restaurants rely mostly on word of mouth. Wow, is this place good.
The breakfast menu (yes, they are open for breakfast!) consists of Jamaican staples: Callaloo, Ackee and Saltfish, Liver and Kidneys, and multiple kinds of porridge (varieties rotate daily). I haven’t made it there to sample the breakfast menu yet, so this review reflects my many lunch experiences there.
The menu consists of Ox-​Tails, Curry Goat, Pepper Steak, Stewed Chicken, stewed kingfish, steamed fish, and of course Jerk Chicken. All are based on availability, but the fish dishes seem to be the only ones that are sometimes not available, though sometimes he runs out of things later in the evening, which is completely understandable for a small Establishment such as this. That said, he’s never been out of anything I have ever ordered. There are also daily specials Cowfoot (Wednesdays), Tripe & Beans (Thursday), Stewed Peas (Friday).
The Ox Tails are ridiculous good. The best I’ve ever had, bar none. The gravy is delicious and savory, so much so that you just want to lick the container clean when you are done. Nicely spiced, but not overdone. The Ox Tails are so good, he knows what I’m going to order before I even say a word. The Jerk Chicken is amazing here as well. The chicken is tender and smokey, with just the right amount of kick in the jerk sauce. If you want more heat, there are an array of hot sauces (Jamaican and others) to add some spice. Some Scotch Bonnet sauce will cure that need for heat right quick! The Curry Goat is fantastic as well, but you’d better love the curry if you order it! I’ve also tried the stewed chicken and pepper steak, both were delicious. You really can’t go wrong at this place. All meals come with cabbage, a few plantains, and a choice of white rice, yellow rice, or rice & peas.
His rice (choice of is also very consistent and delicious. The rice and peas does not play the filler or side dish role at this joint, it’s delicious by itself! I came here for lunch the day after I ate dinner at Black & Blue (not a fan). For about a fifth of the price, we feasted on a ridiculous amount of delicious Jamaican food, and the meal was about 10 times better than Black & Blue. The rice & peas was so Delicious, I declared that if I was given a choice of the meal I had at Black & Blue or just a bowl of the rice & peas, I would take the rice & peas without a second thought.
He also has an array of soups, with a different offering each day, so you have to ask what the soup of the day is. The Red Pea & Cow Foot soup (usually offered on Thursdays) is silly good. Spicy and just perfect, packed with fresh spices (sometimes you find the sprigs and leaves in the broth!). I’ve also had his Chicken Soup, Chicken Foot Soup, Goat Head Soup (AKA Mannish Chowder), and Red Pea soup. All were good, but nothing beats the Red Pea & Cow Foot!
There is a small parking lot on the Dewey on the south side of the building, the neighborhood is not bad at all for the city. Everything is served in takeout containers, but there are a few tables to sit and eat at if you wish to eat in. The soup is served in Styrofoam drink cups (I’ve seen it in other small takeout places, which is kind of ingenious. It keeps the soup warm, and also makes it portable. Nice.
A nice note here is that unlike many smaller local places, Better Choice is consistent as hell. He has never had an «off day» that I’ve experienced. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve gotten a great meal at a very reasonable price.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wow the menu, salt cod, chicken feet, ox tail, goat, soup, homemade beverages. We ordered curry goat, jerk chicken, ox tail, soup of the day, ginger beer (good one too) and an unmarked beverage that had a hint of almond to it. All very good, the locals were in and out moving to the fantastic cd playing in this little joint full of local atmosphere. Be a fan of sucking bones and licking your fingers.