LA’s small-but-mighty Caribbean restaurant scene includes delightful spots specializing in Jamaican, Cuban, Trinidadian, Puerto Rican, Belizean, Dominican, Haitian, and Garifuna cuisines. Influenced by Indigenous traditions, the transatlantic slave trade, immigrants from India, colonizing nations, and local tropical ingredients, the Caribbean’s flavors are as vast as the region itself which includes two dozen island nations. The results are unique and flavorful dishes like Jamaican jerk chicken, Dominican pernil, and Belizean panades. Here now are 15 exceptional Caribbean restaurants to try in Los Angeles.
Read More15 Exceptional Caribbean Restaurants in Los Angeles
Where to find the best Trinidadian, Cuban, Jamaican, Belizean, and more Caribbean cuisines in the Southland
Mojitos
It’s imperative to order a sangria or mojito immediately upon stepping into Mojitos. Those visiting on the right night will be treated to live music along with notable versions of Cuban-style pollo a la plancha and vaca frita, grilled flank steak marinated in plenty of garlic and lime. Don’t hesitate to order a Cubano sandwich, it’s one of the city’s best.
El Bacano
Founded by a brother and sister duo who previously operated a food truck in Anchorage, Alaska, El Bacano serves a terrific array of Dominican comforts including the cuatro golpes breakfast of salami, cheese, longaniza, and eggs; and bistec encebollado with gandules guisado (pigeon peas) and ensalada rusa (potato salad) to the Valley Glen community.
Mofongos
Open since 2009, Mofongos serves up Puerto Rican favorites like pastelitos, yuca fries, arroz con gandules (pigeon pea rice), and pork roast with plantains. Try one of the nine mofongos on the menu, which consists of deep-fried green plantains stuffed with red snapper or shrimp with Creole butter lemon sauce.
The Original Coleys
Chef Don Coley opened the original Coley’s in Leimert Park in 1982. These days he operates out of Sherman Oaks and remains fiercely dedicated to making stellar renditions of brown stew chicken, callaloo and saltfish (vegans can order the flavorful callaloo on its own), coco bread, and a cheesy beef pattie.
Pasadena Fish Market
Those in the know call ahead to place their orders at Pasadena Fish Market as the staff operates on island time. The small and superb Jamaican menu includes goat curry, rice and peas, stewed oxtails, beef-stuffed patties, and plantains. The mostly takeout spot also serves Southern favorites like fried seafood, candied yams, sweet potato pie, and peach cobbler.
Caribbean Gourmet
Located at Blossom Market Hall in San Gabriel, this Guyanese-owned stand makes excellent meat and vegan curries, flaky roti, and a rotating selection of patties (both Jamaican style and a buttery Guyanese rendition). Chef-owner Yonette Alleyne also prepares grilled jerk chicken, baked macaroni pie, slow-braised oxtail stew, and an otherworldly crab soup.
Karibbean Cuisine Truck
More than a decade ago, chef “Tia” Ilonka Garcia was cooking at El Camaguey Market in Palms serving classic Dominican food in one of the city’s earliest documented appearances of the cuisine. In 2022, Tia opened a food truck just off La Cienega Boulevard serving a hungry Dominican crowd with breakfast through the early evening. Her specialties are soulful stewed oxtails, fried chicken, and fritura (fried snacks), as well as a terrific tray called tres golpes: fried eggs, fried cheese, and sliced fried salami that should quell one’s morning hunger through half the day.
Tracey’s Belizean Restaurant
Generations grew up on Tracey’s Belizean Restaurant’s food and it’s easy to see why. The space is unfussy and focuses all efforts on the menu starting with breakfast including fry jacks served with eggs and beans. In the later hours, go for the stewed chicken and oxtails. Don’t miss the weekends-only sweets like cassava pudding, caramel cake, and more.
Cha Cha Chicken
The 28-year-old Cha Cha Chicken is a Santa Monica beacon for pan-Caribbean dishes, attracting diners from all corners of town. The jerk chicken is consistently delicious, as are most of the sides like fried sweet plantains, dirty rice, black beans, and tangy red cabbage slaw. If in need of something incredibly hearty, go for the Cuban ropa vieja (shredded beef stew). There’s also a location in Northridge.
Little Kingston Jamaican Restaurant
Little Kingston is one of LA’s best Jamaican restaurants offering classic dishes like pimento-spiced (allspice) rice and peas, meat and seafood stews, curries (the oxtails and goat curry are particularly good), ackee and saltfish, and jerk chicken that comes with a sweat-inducing sauce. The small outdoor patio in View Park-Windsor Hills makes the idea of island time in Los Angeles feel remotely possible.
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Little Belize Restaurant
This Inglewood gem calls itself “the house of plantain,” but the restaurant excels throughout its menu with memorable oxtails and panades stuffed with ground tuna served with a fiery sauce. The crispy garnaches with black beans, diced onion, and queso fresco atop fried masa tortillas are best consumed while piping hot.
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Trinistyle Cuisine
Merlin Garcia, a former LA Public Safety Department worker, started a street food stand and catering company in her spare time. Now Garcia has a proper South LA brick-and-mortar restaurant that serves fantastic doubles, stewed oxtails, corn soup, and rotis that represent the varied and deeply delicious food of Trinidad.
Donna's Home Caribbean Restaurant
Though Donna’s strip mall facade is unassuming, it is quite homey on the inside. It’s not uncommon for customers to call the owner Ms. Donna and immediately order her delicious brown stew chicken, jerk chicken, oxtails, or fish tea soup upon sitting down. A glass of soursop or sorrel juice is essential to wash everything down.
Gusina Saraba
Los Angeles’s only Garifuna restaurant migrated from its roving truck format to a permanent stand in South LA’s Mercado La Paloma in 2022. It’s nice to sit and order smaller bites like panades (deep-fried masa stuffed with fish masa dough), garnaches (crispy tortillas loaded with black beans or shredded chicken), and salbutes (puffed corn tortillas topped with shredded chicken breast and vegetables), as well as bigger dine-in or carryout plates like beefy oxtails, steamed rice, and vegetables.
Isla Cuban-Latin Kitchen
Opened in 2019, Isla is family-owned and embraces flavors from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and even Mexico. Order the pan con bistec or the pollo a la plancha while the bartender whips up an excellent Isla punch.