Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant & Bar

Worst experience ever!!! Service was really bad, have to wait for almost 2 hrs and still didn’t get our food. What we only ordered, the red sangria, the bill shows white sangria that we need to pay! No apologies from the waiter who was taking our order, such a BUMMER for a restaurant that has 4 star review. Claim there was outage when the people next to us receive food after we order.

I like jerk and this place makes a good jerk chicken. I was expecting it to be more spicy, but it was still good. I love plantains and they’re spot on here.

Tried my first Caribbean food here while visiting Palo Alto, and 5 stars all across. It’s small, loud, quaint, friendly, and very very busy. We waited 15 minutes to be seated on a weekend, and the food took another 15 – 20 minutes to order and serve. We were pretty lucky to seated so quickly, it didn’t seem like they’d ever squeeze us in without a reservations but somehow they did!
We each ordered some kind of mojito, I think it was mango, and that was alright, if they used better alcohol I’d be more excited for it. But It wasn’t the drinks that hooked me, it was their flavorful jerk chicken, oxtail, and grilled herb seasoned vegetables. Each meat item were interestingly different, full of flavor of spices and culture. I love trying different things, and this was true oh different for me. Very delicious, we sat there for hours enjoying our food, drink and company. Looking around, surrounded by the same people for the past hour, everyone’s enjoying their food and talking it up with good company.
This place seems mellow looking, with a cool vibe of humble, yet a flavor of festive and exotic spices.
Something different!

Pros:
Fun place! Good for small and big groups.
Be sure to make a reservation on weekends and fridays.
Really good food and vibrant ambiance.
Don’t try to resist the drinks and these entrees:
Coconut Shrimp
Curried Shrimp and Vegetables — Really Good!
And enjoy the music while you’re at it :)
Cons:
Staff could be a bit less distracted and more organized. They had «techniqueal» problems when I went so it was a cash only night! (Can be good or bad– kept us in check with our drinks atleast: O)
Check it out!

Dark and Stormy before patties and jerk chicken not white meat, dark meat the meat that does not taste like cardboard. Dam good meal! The Bartender was great too because I ate at the bar. He seemed to be working the floor too. Lol. Hard worker.
Weird last time I ate at the bar many weeks ago the bartender charged me much more for basically the same thing and did not give me a receipt.
Make shore to ask for a receipt especially when paying cash,

We thought the place was a little overpriced. Especially the cocktails, which weren’t very good either. It’s not the best for large groups either. We were seated outside and felt a little restricted. Food wise the place was average. I thought the appetizers (jerk chicken wings and coconut shrimp) were good. However, the entrée rice and beans were not flavorful at all. I would definitely just stick to appetizers if I were to visit again,

My husband and I were on our way back to SF from San Jose and hunger pangs made us stop on the way for a bite to eat. My husband looked up Unilocal reviews and we picked Coconuts Carribean Restaurant as our eatery. We could not have made a better choice!
The restaurant was sparsely populated at 2 pm, past the lunch hour. The host, Candelario, was extremely welcoming and very friendly. He seated us right in the middle of the restaurant under the fan, because it was such a warm day, and was informative and generous!
We ordered the Coconut Shrimp which was delicious, the Crabcakes were exquisite and the sweet potato fries were perfect. Our intent was to have a snack. Howeve, Candelario offtered us a dessert treat of the sweet potato pudding with ice cream which was to die for!!! I was enjoying the taste on my palate long after we left the restaurant.
We are hooked… and definitely going back! Thanks for a wonderful time, Candelario!!!

We had dinner here last night. We’ve been here on e before and really enjoyed it. The place is pretty loud for a Thursday night but it was a fun kind of loud.
The food is very good. I had the combo of chicken and salmon which my son and I shared. He didnt really like the rice so we ordered plain white rice for him.
The service needs to improve. The servers seemed uninterested in customer service. Looked like they were there because they had to. It took so long to get our side of white rice and I could tell the server forgot about it. When he came to our table, he had the look of «oops I forgot something.»
Overall, it was still a nice experience. We will definitely go back.

Not impressed.
I was always curious about Coconuts, I love their more humble sister restaurant (Back-​A-​Yard) and was told that this is the fancier alternative. Located just off downtown Palo Alto and precisely across the city hall. I wasn’t too thrilled about the parking, cause we all know it, parking in DT PA is a b*tch! Luckily, there is a public parking garage opposite the restaurant.
The interior design was pretty vibrant, decorated with colorful island hued wall and has that homey vibe — I especially dig the patio area, it has a relaxing and earthy atmosphere.
We ordered a bunch of appetizers: chicken wings, plantains, mac & cheese and corn bread. The wings and corn bread are quite scrumptious, I actually love the wings more than the jerk chicken itself. The Mac and Cheese, however, was terrible. Moldy and sour taste… we probably got a bad one, ugh.
For my main entrée, I did the salmon and jerk chicken combo. For $ 16.95 it was a pretty good deal since they give us pretty thick cut of grilled salmon and two huge jerk chicken along with all the fixing. The flavors were complex with sweet, tangy and spicy marinade. I do like it a lot actually!
Service was horrendously slow, we had to cancel some of our orders because it’s taking way too long. We asked the waiter three times for our check and still 30 mins later, no bill (I guess they don’t want our money? Lol).
Overall, my experience here isn’t entirely pleasant. Glad to have tried it once, but not the kind of place I see myself returning.

Get the curried goat or you are an idiot. Just kidding. Loved the coconut shrimp. The jerk was super tasty. You’ll love it.

We’ll give it 4 but on the 3.5 side.
Favorite was the Jerk Chicken Wings. Spicy, but not too spicy. BBQ sauce on the side was a nice touch only when you wanted it.
The dips platter appetizer was good, but the friend plantains and the tostones where the best part (they were both very good). The dips themselves where not great. The guacamole tasted like good guacamole, but didn’t blow me away — still the best dip. The bean dip was alright. The other was totally not memorable.
The Jerk Salmon was good. The sauce wasn’t anything to write home about, the fish itself was fresh and very well cooked — not too dry at all. The rice it comes with had very interesting spices in it — nutmeg maybe? I liked it. It was different.
Good sized portions. The two of us went home full with two appetizers and one entrée to split.
Looks like they have happy hour from 5 – 6:30 with $ 4 drafts.
It was busy at 7:15 on Tuesday night, and loud, but still relatively efficient.
For the amount of food I felt it was reasonably priced.

My favorite Caribbean restaurant in town!
Food: Authentic, tasty and generous portion. Drinks are delicate and delicious! 5 stars
Ambience: Cute and relaxing. Particularly loved the patio seats. 4 stars
Service: 5 stars
Highly recommend the jerk chicken, oxtails and coconut shrimp!

Love this place, but they are closed on Mondays!
The key word here is spicy! Not the burning, flaming, eye watering spice. But that warm, mild, permeating spice!
Homemade Gingerbeer: Non-​alcoholic! Great amount of spice! You can really taste that ginger! I suggest getting water on the side to chase and cleanse your palette! This is super flavorful!
Jerk Chicken/​Goat Combo:
I recommend the combos because you get to try two different types of protein (salmon, chicken, goat, and beef I think!) Comes with Jasmine Rice and fried plantains! This is very flavorful and its a rich spice that will follow you home. You come out of the restaurant smelling like Jerk Chicken for the rest of the day! Prepare to use your hands, if you are lucky you get a bone where you can suck the bone marrow out! YUMMM!
Ital Stew:
This vegetarian dish is a must, even if you AREN’T VEGETARIAN! The okra and eggplant, and carrots. It is so delicious! This comes with rice and fried plantains, too! Its a nice pairing with the Jerk Chicken because it complements the depth of spice with in a warm mild sauce.
Fried Plantains:
The caramelization they get on these plantains is amazing! The crunchy crispy bits on the outside with the smooth soft inside! Get these as an appetizer if your dish doesn’t come with it!
Rice and Beans:
ALWAYS MAKE SURE ANY RICE YOU GET IS RICE AND BEANS, IF NOT SUBSTITUTE IN RICE AND BEANS, TRUST ME ITS WORTH IT! Its so delicious!
Good for groups! They have large tables with long benches! So they can accommodate very large parties!
The strategy here is to get several dishes and eat family style! So you can try everything!

We decided to try something new for Mother’s Day and made a reservation for Coconuts on Sunday night. I’m a big fan of Back-​a-​Yard, so expectations were high!
Coconut Shrimp appetizer: just so-​so. Not the greatest, but not bad either.
Corn festival side: amazing! Back-a-Yard’s corn festivals are good, but a bit greasy. These ones had the great taste, sooo good when hot, and without the grease!
Jerk chicken: delicious. Chicken was really well flavored, very juicy.
Goat: not bad! Pretty tender and flavorful.
Ox tail: just okay. The menu described it as «fall off the bone tender». It wasn’t quite there… a bit tough, but I’ve definitely had much more tender and better ox tail elsewhere.
If I were to come back again, I’d probably get the Jerk chicken again.
Service was a bit weird. We had a reservation, and when we got there, they seated as outdoors. It was a bit chilly and windy outside, but they had a heat lamp going so it wasn’t too bad. I would have preferred to be seated indoors though, and wish they would have at least checked with us to make sure outside seating is okay instead of just putting us there.

Food: excellent
Service: excellent
Noise: excruciating
There was definitely a party atmosphere during lunch hour this last Saturday. A large table was a roar in the same room as we were in. The noise was about 110 decibles by iPhone measurement. It hurt our ears. Otherwise, everything was very nice.
Enjoy!

Absolutely loved this place… and I was skeptical walking in, as my terrible bias is that I like to see folks who look like they might BE from the same region as the food being offered. I know, I suck at life. But somehow that adds an air of legitimacy, and I don’t want Americanized _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​food… I’m 2 Legit 2 Quit.
It was delicious, everyone was friendly, and the portion sizes were generous. Not inexpensive but neither was it unreasonable. I’d have to say, one of my favorite meals in downtown Palo Alto, an area I often find to be overhyped, for its food scene.

I stopped in here with friends for dinner one night. It was busy. If you are looking for parking, park across the street in the parking garage. Service was attentive and the décor was island style. It did remind of the Carribean. Haha, I can’t wait for the warm, summer weather. Anyways, I had the oxtail and jerk chicken combo with rice, plantains. The portion was big. I took half of it home. The oxtail was tender, but didn’t fall off the bone that easily and the jerk chicken was good. Both were a bit salty and less sauce would have been better. The rice and plantains were cooked well too. Overall, food was good, but less salt and sauce.

11 dollar for coconut shrimp, not too worth it. Comes with 6 pieces but its pretty tasty. If you’re not an exotic eater, nor like to try new food, I’m sorry this place isn’t for you. The oxtail freaked me out, I just thought it was weird– I don’t generally eat such exotic food. The chicken was good, I got the chicken cesar salad and the serving size is huge, with plenty of chicken that was cooked very fresh. I enjoy the white meat chicken over the dark meat ones on the bone. Variety is limited in my opinion. The kids menu seemed good– they had chicken strips.
I enjoy the décor here. It’s cute and gives off good vibes. I believe there is an outdoor area during the good season and weather days. My bf got the mango lemonade. At first it was good and he ordered a second one and that one became so sweet he couldn’t drink it anymore.
There is parking across right by the city center, underground.

Stopped by Coconuts on the recommendation of a friend. The service was great here. Love the owners and the people who helped us out with making recommendations and taking our order.
We started off with the coconut fried shrimp, which is about $ 12 for 6 pieces of shrimp. Definitely not very filling and on the pricer side but the shrimp was nicely breaded and had great flavor. I’d recommend trying it at least once. We also ordered the sweet potato fries and their corn festivals. I loved the sweet potato fries. They were fried to perfection. As for the corn festivals, they weren’t my cup of tea. I thought they were kind of just oily pieces of bread but take my uneducated opinion for what it is!
I ordered the curried goat and sampled some of my friends’ jerk chicken and citrus lime pork. Of those three dishes, my favorite by far was the jerk chicken. The Unilocal reviews don’t lie — their jerk chicken is amazing. It’s seasoned nicely and cooked til tender. My friends really liked the goat, which was melt in your mouth delicious. You could tell they had spent a lot of time preparing and cooking the goat. It really was like butter… just dissolving in your mouth. The citrus lime pork, to me, was too tough. It wasn’t the flavor I expected after trying the goat and the chicken. The dishes were also a bit inconsistently salty too for my taste, which is what is keeping this from being a five star place.
Definitely recommend this place as a great introduction to Carribean food and it’s really encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try new cuisines! Overall, loved the reasonably priced and flavorful dishes.

Yay for unique and fun restaurant finds! I think this was my first experience with authentic Caribbean cuisine, and it was fan-​freaking-​tastic.
My friends and I agreed to meet for a late dinner on a Tuesday evening, and we didn’t make it to the restaurant until about 9:10. Luckily, the waiter said that the kitchen closes at around 9:15/9:20, so we could still eat. We quickly sat down and ordered, and waited ever-​so-​patiently as our stomachs grumbled away.
When the food came out, we were definitely NOT disappointed. I ordered the chicken and oxtail combo, and the meat was basically falling off the bones. Both meats were so juicy and so flavorful; the chicken was perfectly seasoned and the skin was delightfully crispy, and the beef was straight up melt-​in-​your-​mouth goodness. The rice and beans were kind of sweet, which was unexpected but very much enjoyed, and the fried plantains were so delicious. I would have ordered more of just the plantains if I had the chance.
Despite being one of the last few customers in the restaurant, the wait staff was still super courteous and friendly! Prices are also very fair; my plate was $ 16.95, and it was one of the pricier options on the menu. Great experience here, and I’d definitely come again!

My colleague and I were promptly seated at the bar a few minutes before the kitchen closed. The bartender was very friendly and let us know that the kitchen would soon be closing. We looked at the menu and ordered the jerk chicken and shrimp combo to share. It was plenty of food. So delicious! The chicken was cooked perfectly the shrimp was delicious (only four pieces of shrimp come with the combo).
We each ordered coconuts version of the Moskal meal it was delicious. The bartender said that they make the ginger beer in house.
An overall great time so glad that we had the chance to try this place. The bartender was excellent and the food was delicious! The music was great in the background. I will definitely go back, also want to try their happy hour!

I’m typically skeptical when someone says xxxxx place has the best xxxxx. But this time, my fellow Unilocalers were absolutely correct when they say «Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant & Bar has the best Oxtail, ever» It was fall off the bone meat! It did have sooo much flavor and there was more meat than fat!
We also tried the Citrus Brine pork. Although it was good, it paled in comparison to the Oxtail. Some bits were a little dry and hard, while others were tender. Best bits were the ones with charred fat!
Service was very good, very attentive. I also observed our server take care of the table next to us (four senior citizens) who were a bit budget conscious, but out to try new things. They were sweet and cute, but a little needy. The server handled it with a smile and great service.
We’ll definitely come back and get the oxtail! This time, two plates — no sharing!!! Who ever said ‘sharing is caring’ hasn’t had their oxtail! :D
Happy eating!

This place is an awesome gem for the Palo Alto. A coworker and I were craving Caribbean food so we stop by this place and as always they deliver exceptional food and decent service.
To start we order the coconut shrimp which was delicious. And for an entrée and I had that shirt salmon which was cooked to perfection Alon side and the rice and peas and fried plantains.
On the side we had an order of collard greens and festival bread which were really good. For my drink I tried the mango lemonade which was a bit on the sweet side but still tasty. My only negative comment is that my fried plantains were a little bit undercooked. Other than that everything was great and I look forward to going back.

Tried out Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant & Bar in Palo Alto one night last week. I’ve been to the both sister restaurants of Back-​A-​Yard and like them much better.
We both got Oxtail and Goat combo dinner $ 16.95 not listed on the menu, but they can make it for you. I love oxtail and theirs is good, meaty and tender with good sauce. Goat I found really salty, was tender. I got extra rice instead of the plantains. I think their rice has coconut milk or coconut flavor, plus they add beans which I like.
side of Mac & Cheese $ 5.25 — was kinda cold I thought, hubby didn’t think so. Tasted like cheese mush, just ok I guess.
Side of collard greens $ 6 — I found it really salty, hubby didn’t think so.
Place gets busy fast so eat early!
FREE butter mints by the hostess stand. Love them.