Atmosphere/Service:
Casual. It's a white room with a big kitchen. The other walls have interesting memorabilia and posters from Reggae musicians. Green, red, and yellow are the theme colors, of course. It seems to be family owned, and that's what really makes the atmosphere for me. The same woman always takes your order, with her amazingly cute baby in a fabric sling on her hip. Her apparent husband is the cook. The woman is kind and completely willing to describe every single dish to you if you like. She'll even warn you if a particular dish is too spicy or too odd for most patrons. I have to say, I have tremendous respect for any woman that can run a restaurant (including cashiering, serving and busing) with a baby on her hip and a smile on her face. Props to the baby as well, it seems to have the most calm temperament in the world. Ordering is nice and fast, and you'll get your drinks immediately. The food takes a bit longer since they seem to make it all from scratch when you order. It takes about 15-20 minutes.
Menu:
Interesting. They have plenty of side dishes/snacks, entrees, vegetarian options, wings, and salads. And you probably have never heard of at least 75% of them. There are lots of non-alcoholic drink options. It seems they have wine and beer, but I didn't notice their selection. I was all about the guava-aloe juice, which is quite possibly the most refreshing drink since water.
Food:
This is why you come to Reggae Shack. The food is delicious, well-seasoned, and different. My first time there I tried the Calalloo and Salt Fish. Mrs. Reggae Shack made sure to ask if I liked greens. Who doesn't like greens? Calalloo is a collard green-like vegetable. The salt fish was most likely salted cod, which I mainly know by its Spanish name, Bacalao. This dish was seasoned perfectly, which is tough to do with greens. It was a traditional dish that you don't typically see here, but I'm glad I ordered it. Alex had the brown stew chicken, which was tender and flavorful. He has said he would definitely order it again. The festivals were a light, sweet end to my meal. Festivals are fried dough pieces, similar to a cakey doughnut.
On another occasion, I had the Curry Goat. I have recently decided that more people should try eating goat. It has a very interesting, earthy flavor. The curry sauce was a thicker, sweeter version that what I was used to, but it complimented the goat meat perfectly. Alex had the jerk tofu. He got MANY warnings for this from Mrs. Reggae. He assured her that he liked spicy food. Let me tell you now, unless you can handle hotter than Steamer's medium spice (if you haven't gone to Steamers, you should), don't order the jerk anything. It was delicious and Alex loved it, but he was definitely teared up by the end and had trouble finishing. The spice doesn't hit you in the first few bites. It builds up gradually until there is a fire dancing on your tongue with 6 of its buddies.
Warning: Reggae Shack cooks bone-in. Be watchful when eating something covered in sauce. The bones are pretty big chunks, so it's easy to pick them out. Just pay attention. Bone-in cooking is worth it. You get much stronger flavors out of the meat when the marrow comes into play.
The patties. Oh, the patties. I would eat those breakfast, lunch and dinner. Especially at only $2-$3 for a giant one.
Price:
Expect to spend $7-$12 per dish. The meals feed me twice. Alex could probably finish a dish in one sitting if he pushed himself, but why do that when you're plenty full already?
Overall:
10/10. Go to Reggae Shack, especially if you're craving something different. Oh, and get the aloe juice.
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