When looking for a place to eat, there are many places that offer the traditional fare of pizza, wings, Chinese food and burgers along Main Street. But there is only one place to go when looking for authentic Caribbean cuisine: Dr. Bird's Caribbean RastaRant.
Located at 3104 Main St., between Osaka and Queen City Imaging, Dr. Bird's is a small eat-in or take-out restaurant that is not too far a walk for students living on South Campus or in the University Heights district.
The walls of the RastaRant are adorned with Bob Marley and Jamaica tourism posters, and diners can find copies of Artvoice, as well as flyers promoting local upcoming hip-hop and reggae shows.
In addition, Dr. Bird's offers authentic Caribbean cooking ingredients for sale. The not-so-common ingredients include Jamaican Ginger Beer, curry powder and jerk seasoning.
In fact, the food is just part of the Caribbean flavor of Dr. Bird's. Music is a big part of the RastaRant's atmosphere. More often than not, reggae music is playing through the speakers, and there are dozens of cds of reggae or local bands available for purchase under the counter.
These extras in such a small place adds to the fun of the RastaRant. One can sense real pride in Caribbean cooking and the Caribbean culture while listening to Bob Marley and watching the workers go back and forth with their Jamaican Rasta hats. In fact, the RastaRant is so inviting and natural that the food seems like an extension of the atmosphere.
The menu offers a diverse selection of food, with something for everyone. The items are divided between dinners, salads, sandwiches and sides. The choices range from beef patties, jerk wings and steamed vegetables to red snapper, haddock and curry goat. Dr. Bird's also offers a small but tasty vegetarian menu, including curry tofu.
From the outside, Dr. Bird's seems like it is a fast food type of establishment. But if you are in a rush, Dr. Bird's is not the restaurant for you; the food is not ready to go as soon as you walk in, instead it is prepared fresh right after it is ordered. If you order a full-sized dinner, you can expect to wait 10 to 15 minutes before you can sit down to eat it.
Although the service is friendly and any questions you have about the menu will be promptly answered, if you need food right away, Dr. Bird's is not where you should go. But sit down and set a spell - the food is well worth the wait.
Especially flavorful is the curry shrimp dinner, which offers enough food to fill you up until tomorrow night's dinner. Also deserving special attention are the super-spicy jerk wings, which may rival the "hot" level of Duff's chicken wings. Another delicious and filling dish is the Roti, a gyro-like item, with your choice of chicken, veggies, shrimp or goat wrapped up in a pita.
Many of the selections are very affordable; most of the sandwiches and all of the salads are available for less than $5. Chicken and seafood dinners are slightly harder on the wallet, but a full dinner comes with your choice of chicken, shrimp or goat served with a small garden salad, peas, steamed vegetables, potatoes and rice. The prices of the dinners range from $7.99 to $10.
Dr. Bird's RastaRant offers quality food at good college-student prices. When looking for a take-out alternative to Pinzone's or Jim's Steakout, Dr. Bird's should be your first stop.
