Elsa’s Place

Great food. Cooked to order. Small quaint place. Parking is in the rear. Friendly service. I prefer to place my order ahead of time, then sit & enjoy.
Excellent curry chicken. Large portion sizes. Priced to perfection
My buddy normally gets oxtails or the smothered porkchop. They look yummy & mk my mouth water, even though I eat neither.
There okra is battered in house.
The steam cabbage is delicious, a slightly smoky & vinegar taste
The potato salad is good. Various sized potatoes
The rice & beans hv more than 1 kinda bean. So what u get other red beans depends on the day or time of day
Not a fan of the cocoa bread (not fluffy)
Overall, I’d luv to eat here more often

There food is always good, me some friends come here to eat and enjoy the atmosphere it’s a great place

This place is on point! I immediately was greeted with wonderful smells as soon as I stepped in. The food was wonderful and the staff was so nice. I will definitely be back many times.

This is my favorite restaurant in the world. Nothing fancy just awesome Caribbean cuisine and soul food. Try the curry or jerk chicken! Love this place!

Always a pleasure hitting up Elsa’s. Been a few years since I moved from Jacksonville. I made a trip back down today and had lunch with a friend and the food was awesome as usual. A it slow on getting the food but overall tasty flavor. Ox tail, Goat and Curry Chicken!

I found this restaurant while visiting for a few days. Being from NY, I’ve experienced better West Indian food because of the dense population of people from the Caribbean, with more flavor and spice which I’m accustomed to. The curry was flavorless, but the roti skin was good, the ox tails didn’t look like ox tails, the sauce looked lighter and tasted more like beef stew. It’s not like I wasn’t able to eat it, but I guess I was expecting what I’m used to eating, the service was good, I’m happy I found it, but I’ve had better. But being from NY you expect it to taste as close to home cooked as possible.

While flying from Atlanta To Jacksonville a very lovely Delta employee told us about Elsa’s. We stopped for lunch. It was fabulous, we ordered the oxtail soup, beef patties, fried catfish lunch specials served with rice and collard greens. More food than we could eat We were fortune to meet Elsa, and spend time chatting with her about her life’s adventures. Definitely a stop on next year’s vacation. Thanks Elsa for the lemon cake, it was delicious. Trinidad has been added to our travel list. God Bless — Doug and Lynn

Don’t let the exterior steer you away from this gem! Generous portions, authentic comfort food and welcoming staff. Family run business. We enjoyed the curry chicken, lemon pepper chicken, mac n cheese, collards and fried okra. Both entrees included rice also. The sweet tea is not to be missed. They even gave us dessert! When I’m back in Jacksonville will stop here again. Exterior and décor could use some work to enhance its curb appeal but it had a 95% health rating.

This place is great. The good is amazing and a good price. The jerk chicken is a good choice.

Got Jerk Chicken with Mac and Cheese, cucumber salad and Fried Zucchini! Loved it all. Will come here as much as possible !

I decided to dine in here during lunchtime awhile back since it was my day off. The staff was super friendly. As soon as I sat down one of the staff members offered me a free piece of cake which was really yummy. I wanted to get some more but I didn’t want to ruin my appetite which I’m glad I didn’t because when they bought my food out it was ALOT!!! I had got the grilled chicken salad, okra, and plantains. I couldn’t finish my food because it was so much of it. My only complaint was the okra was a little too salty but other than that my food was delicious.

Update: got home. No beef patty… thanks elsa’s. Thanks…
Update: got my food at 2000 & it was all wrong. They gave me 2 cheeseburgers and fries. Really this long of a wait for even burgers is ridiculous. I ordered jerk chicken, Mac n cheese, cucumber salad, and a beef patty. Idk how they got cheeseburgers from this.
Ordered at 1830 she told me it will take 20 mins. Got here at 1900, I’m still here waiting on ny food. Currently 1935. little hidden gem in Old Town Jacksonville. Food will take a while to get to you since they make it hot to order! Love myself Jamaican food, the owners are from Trinidad so the food has their own twist on it. But for jacksonville this will do! Had the jerk chicken, cucumber salad (very refreshing!), Mac n cheese, and a beef patty. They were out of coco bread :(
Never coming back.

Elsa’s never let us down! Every time we visit Jacksonville NC, is you are in the area, you must visit Elsa’s restaurant, you might wait a bit for your food but the wait is all worth it! The food food is so good and delicious, you going to think you are in the island.

I came in for the first time today and this place was amazing. They make you feel welcomed from the moment you step in. They go out of their way to make you and your children happy. The two male workers encouraged my 6 year old to stay in school. The food is amazing and they are always asking if you need something. I will most definitely be back

Best Caribbean we’ve ever had! Definitely recommend! Everything is made from scratch, and don’t forget to get the free cake on your way out!

Had jury duty a couple of weeks and stopped here for lunch. This is not fast food. Straight home made Caribbean food!!! So delicious. And huge portions.

best food in jacksonville! !!!

Some of the best food in town can be found here! Their mac and cheese is wonderful! Also try the stir fried veggies! My favorite thing to order is their BBQ shrimp! It’s sweet and tangy! The only down fall is it does take quite a while to get your food. However, it is piping hot and fresh when you get it!

Not brand new to downtown but new to me, Elsa’s Place came highly recommended and in our first dining experience here (take-​out), lived up to its billing. Tucked away in a narrow slot in one of the old red brick buildings on what’s left of Court Street, Elsa’s is a family run Jamaican, Carribean, and «any way you want it cooked“restaurant that did not disappoint and delivered in every way possible — well, except delivery.
Elsa’s is a lonely but welcome beacon of warm hospitality in an otherwise barren strip of a not unattractive historic part of old Jacksonville just waiting for a rebirth in the form of cool places to go amid the charm of the old .red brick buildings. Parking is essentially behind the store, as there is none on Court Street, which is now a government ghetto — utterly bereft of life at night, much less the wild night life for which it was famous for so long.
My 89 yo mom had the lemon pepper chicken breast with sides of stir fried vegetables and fried okra. I had curry chicken with collard greens and mac n cheese. The order was ready right on time when I walked in at 5 P.M. The folks were very friendly and after chatting a while, threw in a couple pieces of run cake to try as well. The quantities of the main dishes were insanely generous and the sides completely filling or overflowing their compartments within the container. The main dishes were served over rice, but the quantity — and weight — was not from rice alone. We got 4 meals out of the two plates (and could have been 6 from the main dishes — but we just chowed down the sizeable quantities remaining and there were no leftovers surviving after meals 3 and 4.
My curry chicken was strongly spiced with curry, but not hot, as I had feared (and asked to have as tame as possible. The house mac n cheese was pleasing, quite good though nothing extraordinary. The collard greens were nicely done — especially compared to those I recently had at a restaurant in Phoenix recently, and had a nice heat to them that was notable, but not overwhelming. My mom loved the lemon pepper chicken, cooked to order with no extra salt. The chicken was moist, already cut into pieces, and mixed with some veggies over and into the rice. She was complimentary of the fried okra. I enjoyed stir fried vegetables more than she, a generous quantity that included cucumber, onion, squash, andI think carrot, bell pepper, and more. The rum cake we both found moist and delicious. Grand total: $ 18 for two –from which we got 4 sizeable meals.
The ambiance is warm, friendly, family restaurant, complete with I think (?) plastic tableclothes. Nothing fancy but comfortable, clean, and welcoming. I saw no one that looked like an «Estella», but the guys behind the counter were great. I look forward to going back to learn more about the family that runs the place and to sampling more of the menu, which includes curry beef, chicken, and goat, oxtail soup, and fish of the day, as well as a «shrimpburger», and what I presume are ordinary hotdogs and hamburgers, but which I’d love to find have some twist on the genre to make them more Elsa-​unique. A very positive experience. I look forward to more.
P. S. I took photos to document the vast quantitiy of the food, served, but apparently I ate those too.

A great hidden gem. Yes, I used a common Unilocal term, but it is a hidden gem. It’s hard to find in Jacksonville. This place smells like grease and looks tacky, but it’s full of personality.
I asked our server way too many questions about the food. I was so embarrassed. Sorry that I’m a little picky… :(but he took the time to explain how they cook their food. I ordered catfish roti which isn’t on the menu. I love curry, but I never had it as a Jamaican dish. It was delicious and oh my goodness the food is so filling. It would feed you 2 – 3 times. The roti (bread) isn’t like the Indian or Thai roti at all, but still good.
My boyfriend also liked the taste of my dish. He likes to stick to the safe dishes like jerk chicken, but curry catfish is probably an acquired taste. Their sides are just moderate, but if you get any veggies fried or sauteed, you’re good.