Review Elsa's Place - Jacksonville

This has to be one of the best places in Jacksonville. Friendly service and great food. I got the Jerk Chicken with Green Beans and Collard Greens. The jerk chicken was really good, had Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Peppers mixed with the chicken and rice. The collard greens were one of the best I’ve ever had too. If you come here, which I highly recommend, you have to get the collard greens. The strawberry cake that came with the meal was really moist and had great flavor.

This place is BOMB. So good. It's looks like a run down hole in the wall, has weird clown funeral paintings, and they are rockin' Christmas decor in March. But I'm tellin' ya, the food is SOO good that it suddenly becomes really easy to look past the funky atmosphere. The oxtail was perfect. Collards were excellent. I also definitely recommend the baked mac' n cheese side. Pictures don't do the food justice. There is just so much flavor in everything. I'd venture to say this is one of the most delicious restaurants in Jacksonville. Plus Elsa actually works there and you get the joy of supporting a local business. The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the amount of sugar in the lemonade, but I assume that's just me and my personal preference. I also got a Chicken sandwich with fries. Chicken sandwich was delicious and comes with fixins like mayo, texas Pete sauce, katchup. Also came with fries that were perfect and I think seasoned with Old Bay seasoning. I'm on vacation here and have eaten at most of the restaurant with reviews over 4 stars on Google. Elsa's was miles better than the rest. If I lived here I'd be obese because I would eat at Elsa's every day.

I always love me some Caribbean food. You won't beat this restaurant's quality. It's the best out here in Richlands!👍🏾

They are so friendly and the food was great! The price was fair and the amount of food you get is amazing. I ordered the jerk chicken and my husband ordered jerk burger. My jerk chicken was a little salty but I like how flavorful the jerk chicken is and how much of a spicy kick it has to it. I've ordered jerk chicken in other places before but they never provided this much heat to their jerk chicken. Whenever I see an establishment have collard greens available, I always order it and my goodness their collard greens are FANTASTIC. I will 100% be ordering their collard greens again. I took a bite out of my husband's jerk burger and the meat was very soft, packed full with spices but too salty. We both tried the mac and cheese but it was kind of bland. I read a lot of great reviews about their amazing mac and cheese so I was surprised to find it so lacking. There doesn't seem to be any a/c and it can get pretty hot in the place so I recommend always ordering and bringing the food home. Overall I still would recommend this place and plan on visiting it again. I can't wait to try out other foods at Elsa's Place in the future! And of course with collard greens, lol.

Visiting Jacksonville NC, I was so happy that I found this place. I googled and saw that they had very good so my husband and I decided to try it out. No regrets. We ordered oxtail and goat with rice and peas, macaroni and cheese and fried okra, chicken, roti, and jerk chicken. Got a lot of food and it tasted great, and the price was reasonable. I wish I had a restaurant with great tasting Caribbean food like this in Virginia Beach. I tried them all in VB, and they are all mediocre. Keep doing what you’re doing Mrs. Elsa. Will certainly be coming back to your restaurant when we are back in Jacksonville. Trini to the bone🇹🇹

Wow!! What a find. Amazing food, flavors, and service! I got the jerk chicken with collard zucchini and squash and my mom got the ox tail. So much food! And the chocolate cake yum! They also do take out!

Pound for pound, this is the best food in all of Jacksonville. I've lived here for over 10 years now. I've eaten at dozens of places, and reviewed many of them, and Elsa's takes the crown without question. That mythical "dingy hole in the wall with incredible food" that everyone refers to in any city you go? This is the one. It's a small little dimly lit old building in the center of old school downtown Jville. It doesn't look very pretty, but letting that deter you from ordering here would be a miscalculation of the highest order. What you will find inside is a small family owned restaurant run by an older lady named Elsa from Trinidad and her sons. The food they cook is prepared with the heart and soul that you will only find in a restaurant like this. Every order is gigantic, and reasonably priced. The rice is to die for, the collard greens will likely be the best you've ever had, the jerk chicken is spicy and full of layers of flavor cooked to perfection, the mac and cheese as a side can't be beaten, I cant imagine a better side of mac and cheese. Fried and smothered pork chops are both excellent. You can also find classic Caribbean favorites here like curry goat (only on certain days) and oxtail, beef patties, fried plantains, cocoa bread, Jamaican ginger beer etc. I've never tried anything here that wasn't incredible. The ONLY downside is that they've recently been working a shorter week and are generally closed a few days a week, so check before you plan to order. Other than that, if you are coming even anywhere close to Jacksonville you owe it to yourself to give this place a shot.

Okay this place was the biggest and most exciting surprise. We were headed to another place when we smelled the most delicious scent coming from Elsa's place and they were just opening so we gave it a shot. I could not have been happier with that decision. I got the jerk chicken which was absolutely phenomenal. The two people with me got the fried pork chops which I got to try and they were also incredible. The fries they served were fried to absolute perfection. My collards and fried zucchini, I just couldn't get enough of. Oh! Definitely try the Jamaican soda. I tried the cream soda and it was probably the best I ever had. Every single person in that building was so friendly, helpful, and attentive. I never had to wonder about anything. They knew what was in the food, which is great for someone with food allergies. They were willing to help us out at any point. They checked on us often to assure our satisfaction. Seriously don't skip on this place. You'll be seriously missing out. I've added the menu that they gave us when we left so it's recent!

Haven't had jerk chicken in a while. But this little place had a nice variety of everything. I don't usually eat to many vegetables but for some reason I ate it this day. Must have been very hungry. But it's one of those lil hole in the wall joints if you know what I mean. Those usually the best ones right.

YOU MUST TRY THEM! Elsa's place is awesome. Be warned, the online menu must be really old. Some things are different and the prices are as well, but when you get the food, you will see the value and enjoy the meal. The people there are super friendly. The food is cooked to order, so if calling ahead, it usually takes about 30 minutes. Being new to the area, I haven't found all of the lunch "hot spots", but this is definitely one of my picks.

I got the fried pork chops with mac and cheese and collards. It also came with rice. It was really delicious, I was quite surprised. They also gave a sample of their oxtails and that was on point. The people there were really friendly and nice. You can not beat the price!

I love this place. The people there have always been so helpful and friendly. You get alot.of food at a reasonable price.

Friendly and fun staff. Wee for the streets chicken which is only available Abilene on Tuesdays and the dish was tender and delicious. The fried squash, stir fry vegetables and cucumber salad were also excellent. The cutlery is made out of plastic but the food is regal. Ella's place is a gem!

The man who took my order and served me was extremely friendly, and the food was fantastic, I had the ox tail and curry chicken with Mac and cheese, collards and rice. Is expensive but soooo worth it

Well, what can we say… The best Jamaican food in NC!! Full of flavor and spices, just like true Southerners like. Thank you Elsa’ for a great food experience 😋 #foodie #couplechronicles #mckellerfoodnetwork

I’ve been here twice and have tried the oxtail and the jerk chicken which are both amazing. You get large portions at a great price. Everything has flavor and is authentic and delicious. Highly recommend!

First time I've eaten there. Ordered the fried pork chop, cucumber salad and fried squash for lunch. Everything was very good and seasoned perfectly. I didn't have to add salt or pepper to anything (which is a rarity for me). I called ahead and my order was ready when I got there. The price was more than reasonable for the amount of food. Only complaint I have is that tea doesn't come with the lunch plate and to buy it separate would have been another $1.50 for a small, styro-foam coffee cup of tea, which is too much because tea is cheap. But other than that the meal was great, the people were friendly and I'll go back.

Tried the goat and curry chicken, customer service was excellent, definitely felt like a valued customer. The lemonade is a must !! Large portions!! Will be returning to try more of the menu!!

Fantastic! My wife and I had a delicious lunch here today. The smothered chicken was incredible and the oxtail was the best I've tasted. The fried zucchini were perfect and the collard greens WOW! Everything was perfectly seasoned. Nothing fancy (which I'm not a fan of anyway) but it was quaint and the food was fresh and so good! We'll be back soon!