Authentic Taste of Jamaica

Authentic Taste of Jamaica is a restaurant in Leavenworth, Kansas. It serves Jamaican cooking for dine-in and takeout, open Monday from 5 to 8 and Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9. The menu centers on jerk chicken marinated in Caribbean spices and grilled, served with rice and sweet fried plantains, alongside curry chicken simmered in golden gravy with potatoes, brown stew chicken, slow-braised oxtail with butter beans, and curry goat. The kitchen also turns out Kingston fried chicken, jerk-seasoned fries, twice-fried tostones, fried plantains, coco bread, and island-style mac and cheese, plus a jerk version baked with a three-cheese sauce. Soups include Mannish Water, a peppery goat soup, and a chicken soup built on a handcrafted broth. Desserts range from sweet potato pudding and rum-soaked Jamaican fruit cake to lemon cake and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Drinks include sorrel, ginger beer, fruit punch, and a sorrel rum punch. A kids' menu offers fried chicken with two sides and a beef patty.

The restaurant was founded by Dave Richards, a 28-year Army veteran whose cooking draws on his grandmother's kitchen in Jamaica. What began as a passion for authentic recipes grew into a mission to bring true Jamaican flavor to the international community. The kitchen describes its approach as traditional recipes inspired by generations of real Jamaican kitchens, made with real ingredients rather than imitations. It also offers handcrafted sauces and seasonings shipped nationwide, and takes catering inquiries and local delivery requests.

Authentic Taste of Jamaica holds a rating of 4.90 from the customers who have reviewed it.