Ena’s Jerkmania!

The food was ok. The meat pies were good for the price.
the french fries i had to send back because they were cold.
The Hot Jerk sauce was pretty mild with a lot of black pepper.
I will give it another shot because the chicken was prepared well.

So glad I stopped here. I was trying to find something quick for lunch. They were very friendly and helpful. You sort of build your own wrap. They give recommendations and it is fast. I had the spicy brisket wrap. It was really good. I can’t wait to go back and try the chicken.

Ever thought — what if you could get the exact same ingredients you got at Chipotle, except in another flavor? That’s a good summary of Jerkmania. To be fair, the selection is more extensive here, but you’ll get the idea.
The food here is unique and generally awesome, I’d say it is the rest of the restaurant that let’s this place down.
The plus: despite having many of the same ingredients as Chipotle, I like what they do with them here. The jerk chicken is sliced in bigger chunks, further exemplifying the perfection that it was grilled to. The mix of mango chutney and slaw adds to the depth of textures. There’s a wide selection of jerk sauces that you can add to the dish. I got the original, which had a light kick to it. However, I’d recommend getting extra sauce, as it just didn’t seem like much.
Even basic condiments have new life here. The kickin’ ketchup has a smokey-​spiciness that complements the sweetness of the ketchup very well. I’m surprised this doesn’t exist in more places.
The bad: the restaurant doesn’t stand out very much and feels poorly organized for the volume of people it is serving. I think the best way to describe is that it has an efficient Chipotle-​style menu without the Chipotle style assembly line efficiency. The kitchen would more closely resemble a small mom-​pop shop. Nothing wrong with it, but it just means there’ll be waits despite everything seeming simple.
I think Jermania! makes a lot of sense and is a serviceable alternative to going to Chipotle multiple times a week. If they borrow some of the operational best practices, I think it’ll stand out.

Food is still awesome but service has slipped a bit the last few times I’ve been. The last time I went in, they said they’re closing the location as of Sept. 11, 2015, and will be running a food truck only. The food is the star of the show so it’s probably a good thing! They’ll be posting their schedule and locations on Facebook.

so sad to hear that Ena’s will be closing their doors in September. just not enough support for this original local business.

Went here again for lunch and again no patties available. No spicy or mild beef patties and no chicken patties. I was given the option to buy both frozen (which means they had some in stock just none prepared!) very disappointing because this is the reason I came, I showed up for a quick bite on my lunch break but none were ready to buy. I thought friday at lunch time, they must have some ready but no there was nothing. You would think since they have big signs in the window advertising patties they would always be available but no not the case. I have been here multiple times where no patties were ready and even more times where no spicy or chicken patties were ready, I give up… such a shame because the first time was really enjoyable and I could of seen this place as being one of my regular spots.

The spanishtown wrap was pretty solid… plenty to eat and good flavors. The service wasn’t the friendliest though. I’ll definetly give it another shot since it’s close to work.

The actually chain and food is fantastic, but this location is terrible. Twice I’ve called in lunch orders to not have them ready when I’ve gotten there. Not to mention it’s a logistical nightmare with a crazy line to the door and the young girl behind the counter obviously not knowing how to put orders in the system. When all was said and done, the order was wrong.
Shortly after leaving the review, the owner (very nice gentleman) contacted me and apologized explaining that the staff was new and training in a new environment. I feel like anybody that courteous running a respectable establishment, that anything I may have encountered must have just been a fluke. I’m sure with leadership like that, I would have to give this place another chance. After all, the food was fantastic!

Picked some food up to go. Service was mediocre but they were young and got my food out quickly so I’m ok with it.
Onto the food: I ordered a spicy chicken bowl and the Parmesan fries with spicy ketchup which came to only $ 9! The spicy ketchup was amazing and everything was spicy just how I like it. The bowl was delicious and filling.
Definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for some good Jamaican food. My only complaint is they don’t serve oxtails.

I’m really sad i had to rate this place a 3, but it’s only because the jerk sauce was so hot, it made my stomach hurt. I got the original! And mind you, i grew up eating Jamaican food and i still eat it pretty often. I kind of hate unnecessarily hot jerk seasoning!
BUT, on another note the taste of everything was pretty good. I would eat here again using a different sauce, of course.

Wow this place went from being a 4 – 5 star to a 2 – 3 star. The original review is accurate but lately they have been running out/​not making beef patties which is very annoying and disappointing. I’m definitely calling to make sure they have beef patties before I go there. They offered to sell me frozen beef patties. So what you’re telling me is you have the patties but refuse to make them??? How do you not make beef patties for lunch on a Friday???
I got the curry bowl this time and it was okay. Not that flavorful but not extremely bland either.
Original review
Great food for a great value! Everything on the menu is under $ 7. Staff is very nice. Truly one of Cincinnati’s hidden gem. I got a custom beef brisket bowl with the sweet sauce and it was very good. I suggest trying the sauces before ordering because the sweet sauce was spicy. Their beef patty is also very good. Probably the best I’ve had in Cincinnati especially since there are not too many Caribbean joints around. If not for the slow service, I would definitely give a 5 star. They took a really long time to prepare the food and mixed the order up too.

I first visit this place with a group of coworkers for lunch. One of them suggested we go for our team lunch and emailed the menu. I’m not the one to try new things so I wasn’t too impressed but went anyway. Hey free food.
When we got there the menu is quite Concise but was overwhelming as most of us have never been before. It’s similar to chipotle where you build your wrap/​sandwich/​bowl but they also have classic builts. The staff was nice and offered suggestions. I got the classic built spanishtown wrap with original sauce. Only one cook was working at the time so for a group of 7 to come in for lunch we expected to wait a while. It took about 30 minutes for food to come out. And man was it well worth the wait! The original sauce has a kick to it. And I usually like spicy but I couldn’t imagine going with the hot. It took a while to finish because I had to let my mouth cool in between bites.
I came back for a second time today and brought my boyfriend who is an even more picky-​er eater than me. We both got the original spanishtown wraps again but this time I tried the spicy parm fries. Once again the food was amazing. This time it took about a 5 – 10 minute wait for our order. Plus my boyfriend absolutely loved the food as well. Here’s a new place we can go for lunch or dinner as the price is reasonable. I would say it’s similar to chipotle prices.
Jerkmania is a small but great place to get some amazing Jamaican food. I love that they play bob Marley’s music to go with the restaurant theme. It’s not a place you will go to get a quick sandwich as you more then likely will be waiting for the order. You may want to call it in if you’re in a hurry. But to me the food is well worth the wait. Ymmmmy !

Went here for the first time last week and loved the food. Great choice of what you want and the meat was perfect.
I will be going here for my second trip this week, the hot was great the first time I tried it but I will definitely be trying the original and BBQ as well.

A few weeks ago my family and I found ourselves in Springdale with no dinner plans. After quickly browsing Unilocal for someplace new, I easily settled on Ena’s JerkMania! The concept is a fast casual spin-​off of Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen in Columbus, specializing in jerk cooking.
The location at 411 West Kemper Road was easy enough to find, and was obviously once an old Taco Bell restaurant. There isn’t much space inside for dining in, but we had sleeping kids in the car anyway, so I placed a carry out order. The only other patrons I saw during my brief visit also took their food to go.
Orders are placed at the counter and food is prepared in the back. There is a small window back into the kitchen so you can kind of see your food being prepared. The menu is pretty simple. First you pick one of a few meats, and then you pick either rice bowl, sandwich, wrap, or salad. From there you select among the handful of jerk sauces and add your own toppings or try a classic build.
My wife ordered the chicken rice bowl with sweet jerk sauce ($ 6.50). This comes on top of Jamaican rice and beans and has Caribbean slaw on one side. The slaw is a of the dry variety and didn’t add much flavor to the dish. My wife found it best to mix all the ingredients up and enjoy with all the flavors blending together. With that said it might be worth added three build your own items for 50 cents.
I went with the spicy chicken wrap Spanishtown style with mozzarella, Caribbean slaw, and maniac mayo ($ 6.50). The chicken and sauce weren’t overly spicy but definitely had a nice kick. The cheese and mayo probably helped to subdue the spiciness. The slaw added a nice crunch to the wrap. I was pleased by this classic build and would definitely try some of the other builds on a future visit.
We also shared a side of fresh-​cut rosemary-​garlic fries ($ 4.00 for large order). Their kickin’ ketchup was served on the side and was excellent. It provides a nice spice thanks to the scotch bonnet pepper infusion. The fries were also very tasty by themselves.
Overall we had a great meal from Ena’s JerkMania! It is a the only quick service Caribbean restaurant that I can think of and is definitely worth a try.

What a great find! The food was excellent and the prices are reasonable! We both tried wraps with chicken and the original sauce. The sauce wasn’t too spicy and the chicken was flavored just right. I got mine with «Spanishtown» toppings as recommended by the cashier and it was spot on! I also tried a Caribbean grapefruit soda called Ting. I’m not a huge grapefruit fan, but it was great! We shared a side of fries with the mayo dipping sauce. I wish we would have gotten 2 dipping sauces because that stuff is addicting!
Overall, this was a great new place and I highly recommend it!

I REALLY wanted to love this place. I read all the reviews and thought there was no way they would miss the mark. I had passed the place several times, and after reading the reviews my curiosity walked in and had a few things I was thinking of trying, and was quickly informed that they were out of several things. Bummer.
I liked the system, you pick your meat and your sauce, but when I got my meal, I just thought it was a bit bland. I didn’t eat much of it, and it just seemed like it was quickly thrown together. Maybe I went on an off day, and I will say the reviews are enough to get me to try it again.
But on my first impression, I was just so let down. They give you a lot of food for the value, and maybe my dish just wasn’t getting along with my tastebuds. Like I said, I’ll try it again and rewrite my review once I do. For now, I stand by my A-​Ok.

The reason I love Unilocal is because I find places like Ena’s Jerkmania that I would normally drive right past. In fact, that is what I have done for almost 2 years until today I wanted to try something different. Turns out I work only 10 minutes away from this place.
Considering I love Jamaica and have visited the country three times I was excited to give a Jamaican place a visit. The restaurant itself is basically an old Taco Bell that has been reconditioned or at least that is what it reminded me of. I walked in and said I’ve never been here and I was given a rundown of the menu by a very nice woman, perhaps it might have been the owner.
The menu almost has a Chipotle feel to it. You order the meat and then can either get a wrap, sandwich, or bowl. They don’t prepare the food in front of you though. I decided to order a Jerk Chicken and Pork Rice Bowl. I went with Sweet as the flavor and it still had a kick just as I was told it would. I like spicy and it didn’t bother me, but someone that can’t handle their food on the spicy side might have a hard time. Of course it is jerk so if you expect anything less than hot you probably don’t know Jamaican food very well.
The food was out in about 5 minutes making it a fast enough lunch that I could see myself here at least a couple times a month. The chicken and pork were perfectly prepared. I genuinely enjoyed the meal, so much that I went back and ordered a spicy beef patty to go. I had a few of these on my trips to Jamaica and they were authentic, almost as if I could have been in Negril.
Now if Ena’s could only bring the Jamaican beach to Cincinnati! I’ll be back and suggest you make a visit as well.

I work in the Springdale area and have been looking to break away from my usual 2 – 3 lunch spots that offer something delicious that’s not loaded with calories and God-​knows-​what. I have indeed found a winner!
Their mode of operation is simple and smooth. This was my first time there, but it was easy to figure out how to build a meal and the staff was willing to explain anything. The kitchen is open — a good sign they have nothing to hide and are proud of their food. I ordered chicken with spicy jerk sauce on a salad with tomato, red onion, and mixed peppers. The chicken was tender and the sauce was a taste sensation. It was adequately spicy without leaving me wondering if I’ll regret my choice in the morning, if you know what I mean. The vegetables were bright and fresh. They used Romaine lettuce rather than Iceberg, a simple but critical distinction that will make or break a good salad. I got a ginger beer to wash it down, which paired very well with the flavor of the sauce.
Seating is a bit limited, so if you come with a group you may not have many seating options. Otherwise I am struggling to find anything criticize. I’ll be back, and often!

This hollowed-​out Taco Bell has been a thing or two since. Ena’s is easily my favorite reincarnation.
Apparently this is a Jamaican style eatery out of the Columbus area that really knows how to push the sled.
I love the setup here. Ena’s has made it easy for anyone who hasn’t tried it before, to make their first foray into the world of delicious Jerk BBQ. And for those who have it’s a nice return to a cooking style that you just don’t come across very often. I loved the Jerk chicken I had here, but if you aren’t into birds it’s not your only option. There’s even tofu for the vegetarians.
Jamaica doesn’t stop at the Jerk though, there are some great side items, like fried plantains, as well as sodas that you would normally only find in the Caribbean… or at Jungle Jim’s.
Additionally, Ena’s will cater. I think I’ve got a plan brewing for this year’s Inland Hurricane!

Oh ya mon … Let’s go to Jerkmania and feeeeel all-​riiight!!!
Just note this is a walk-​up-​to-​counter and order to take out, or to grab a table kinda place… but that’s what i was expecting, SO: five stars!
Food is excellent, authentic! Genuinely ethnic, and an independent joint! The staff are you Jamaican, are so very friendly in that unique Islander way. We were warmly greeted, offered samples of anything we wanted to try, and had our questions answered. We ordered to eat it there, and took a seat. The friendly mon at the counter brought the food to us.
Those seasoned french fries are to die for and I will echo what other reviewers said, and recommend that you try them even if you don’t think you’re crazy for Jamaican food. The kickin ketchup is great, just the right amount of spice but I also loved the maniac mustard dip. Never thought I would love mustard with fries! They will give you a generous sample of the sauces.
A special added bonus: their Jamaican beef patties are the genuine article shipped in from New York, made by Tower Isles, mon! It doesn’t get any better than this.
Plan to return again and again. May even plan a trip to Columbus to visit the original restaurant where I understand their full menu includes curry goat.