Caribbean cuisine, a rarity in Buffalo

For those in Buffalo who may want to try different foods, Caribbean restaurants offer the opportunity to choose from a wide array of dishes.

DoctorBirds Caribbean Rasta-Rant and Caribbean Experience Restaurant are two of the few restaurants in Buffalo that offer Caribbean cuisine. Both restaurants carry dine-in or take-out menu options, which allow customers to choose from popular dishes such as Jamaican-style jerk chicken, oxtails, curry goat, stew chicken, and curry chicken.

Doctor Birds Caribbean Rasta-rant is a small restaurant located at 3104 Main Street in Buffalo. The restaurant started as a take-out restaurant in 1981 on the east side of Buffalo, before moving to Main Street.

Owner OG Lee said he wanted to relocate to a neighborhood in which his business would expand and reach people of different cultural backgrounds.

“Buffalo is such a polarized city,” said Lee. “We figured if we came on Main Street we could reach a wider range of people. It is a better location for the types of ethnic foods we try to offer, as opposed to where we were.”

Doctor Birds offer popular Jamaican meals such as patties ($2.75),jerk chicken wing dinner ($11.99), and curry shrimp ($10.49). They also serve side orders of rice and peas ($2.50), tofu burger ($4.99), potato salad ($2.50), and desserts which such as carrot cake ($3).

In addition to the more popular dishes served at Doctor Birds, Lee said he also tries to cater to individuals who may want other kinds of foods.

“We try to cultivate a Caribbean flavor,” said Lee. “In addition to the more popular dishes, we also offer vegetarian dishes for people who may want that.”

Doctor Birds is in close proximity to the University at Buffalo. As a result, many of the customers who frequent the restaurant are from UB. Even though many of the students have moved from the south campus to the north campus, Lee said business has remained fairly good.

“Students from UB visit our restaurant,” said Lee. “Although a lot of them have moved to the north campus, you still have some that can get to us.”

“Whenever UB is on vacation, there is a decrease in the number of students as opposed to when UB is in session,” Lee added.

Caribbean Experience is a family-owned restaurant located at 2897 Bailey Avenue in Buffalo. The restaurant has a dimly-lit setting with a pool table and bar area inside. Since it opened its door 19 years ago, Caribbean Experience has been “specializing in the finest West-Indian dishes.”

Kenroy Walker has been manager of Caribbean Experience for 18 years. Walker said the inspiration behind opening Caribbean Experience was due to the lack of Caribbean cuisine he experienced in Buffalo.

“There are not a lot of Caribbean people in Buffalo,” said Walker. “The few that are here are the older ones that cook their own food. Most of them are in Rochester or parts of Lockport.”

Caribbean Experience has a lunch and dinner menu that also offers popular Caribbean cuisines such as brown stew chicken ($7.95), escovictch fish ($8.95), patties ($2), and jerk chicken ($7.95).Each of the menu items are served with rice and peas. 

Walker said the restaurant offers West-Indian dishes, but focuses more on a Jamaican-based menu.

“We focus strictly on Jamaican food,” said Walker. “We don’t serve burgers and fries like some Caribbean places do.”

The restaurant's lunch menu offer items such as steamed fish ($8.95) and curry chicken ($8.95), and its dinner menu offer items such as steak ($10.95) and Jamaican curried goat ($10.95). They also serve additional side orders of plantains ($3) and steamed vegetables ($2.50), and desserts which includes Jamaican bread pudding ($2.25).

Walker said that business has gotten better since the restaurant first opened because a lot more customers frequent the area.

“For the first 5-6 years it was actually zero,” said Walker. “It was like nobody knew anything about Jamaican food, so they probably didn’t want to come and try. Now we have the weekends where we play reggae music. People got to know about us because we’re open until 4 a.m. and we have food until then.”

Doctor Birds and Caribbean Experience serve as a simple solution for college students who may want to expand their culinary palate, or those who may want to enjoy home-cooked meals.  

Tiffany Walters, a Jamaican student who attends Buffalo State College said she thinks there should be more Caribbean restaurants in the areas close to the campus.

“I think that there should definitely be more Caribbean restaurants around,” said Walters, a senior from Brooklyn, NY. “I think they should open up a Golden Krust here because it would make money because a lot of other students would be open to the idea.”

Walters said she believes having more Caribbean restaurants in the areas around campus would not only benefit Caribbean students, but also those of other cultural backgrounds.

“Other cultures are open to trying Caribbean foods,” she said. “I know many African Americans who basically eat foods that Caribbean people eat. They might not make it the way we make it, but they eat it too.”