Jambo Cafe in Santa Fe

One of the best meals I have ever eaten. The wait staff were wonderful. The desert was the very best thing ever... coconut flan...

Let me start by saying this USED to be one of my favorite restaurants... I used to even make special trips to Santa Fe just to eat here. Something has gone terribly wrong with their quality though. Last time I ate here, the plantains were super soggy and cold, the chicken curry dish was bland, and the chicken kebabs were super dry. We were so disappointed--we mentioned the quality issues to our waitress who didnt seem too concerned. We also emailed Jambo Cafe afterwards just to let the owner know of possible kitchen issues...received no response. Its really sad to see one of your favorite restaurants go downhill. Hope they figure it out. The chef/owner used to walk around table to table asking how everything was.... this was not the case on our last (and probably finalvisit. Wish hed go back to taking pride in his brand. Sad.

Id give this place more stars if I could! The food was amazing! First time having african/carribean food and it was so good! The atmosphere was nice, the waitresses were kind, and the price was great. I wish I lived here so I could visit every week! I will just have to wish they open in Chicago!

Perfectly spiced, beautifully plated food in a delightfully upbeat and colorful atmosphere. By far the best meal of the trip so far!

Wonderful find! Unique and delicious food, friendly and welcoming staff. We had the fried plantain appetizer, the coconut pili pili shrimp and the Moroccan brisket sandwich. Everything was outstanding - incredible flavors and generous portions. We will be back!

The food is out of this world! The oxtails were beyond amazing! With every bite, you could taste burst of flavors! We also had the jerk chicken wings and the Kenyan beef kebabs ! They were so good as well ! I highly recommend this restaurant! I got a chance to speak with the chef, he is just the sweetest ! Thank you for such amazing food Chef Ahmad !

I’m a super foodie that landed in New Mexico after living in Denver and traveling for over 20 years. I try the best food everywhere I go. This is LITERALLY the best food in the state of New Mexico that isn’t “New Mexican” food. The vibe is high, flavors on point, and the chef is the kindest man in town. Highly recommend forever- the go to, jerk chicken with coconut cardamom flan for desert. I dream of this place when I’m not here.

Unbelievably good food. Some of the best weve had in America. Loved it here.

There are many wonderful restaurants in Santa Fe but this was probably the best meal weve had yet. The flavors of the spices and other ingredients call on you to slow down and savor the taste. And the service is pretty great as well.

The food is excellent. It is my new favorite restaurant in Santa Fe. The Moroccan Spiced Chicken Kebab was the best of the three dishes we had, but it all was fantastic! Highly recommended!

Great food that is different from the rest of the town has. Understand we are in Santa Fe, but we didnt want to get another Mexican. We love the Pili Pili Shrimp, it is a little spicy and sweet inside, very tasty. The Beef Kebab is great too. Service was good, restaurant is a little bit dark if you like dark. Would try again next time in the area.

My first time at Jambo Cafe. The food was delicious. We got the Kenyan Style beef, the sauce was life. Also had the Moroccan lamb stew and it was delicious. We got to meet the Chef and he is a really chill guy. Definitely going back to sample more things on the menu

Our service was great. Our waiter was fast and friendly as well. I ordered a Tofu Curry which was served in a generous portion and it was very delicious. The restaurant is more fancy, sit down type rather than casual eating type. Although the prices are a bit high, I highly recommend this place.

Food here is amazing it used to be one of my favorites. But we just arrived at 8:30 we had called ahead to see if they would still serve us. They said we close at 9 you should be fine before 8:45 which makes sense. At 8:30 on arrival they turned us away. I get it all hey have some 17 year old kid as the host and he was probably thinking about the staff, but then say you close at 8:30 it’s really that simple. Hope they can get me back to a 5stsr review because as I said the food is great.

Let me start off by saying I did enjoy my meal. The place is very cool and the shop they have is very unique. My food tasted great for my first time here my wife tried the combo platter but didnt know it would be so spicy so they can improve on that a little. One concern by me is how long it took my food to come after ordering. I did take awhile to decide but I didnt think the wait would be so long. A couple came in after us and got their food fast a woman had come in about 5 minutes before my wife and I got our food ordered and got her food before we did. The menu says any drink with a * next to it is charged 1.45 for refill understandable, but dont tell you the bottles drinks are charged the full price of the drink each one you get. They should think about getting fountain drinks rather than bottles. The food is good but everything else could use some work.

Amazing food and great atmosphere. I ordered the oxtails and they were incredibly savory. If I ever return to Santa Fe this will be the first stop I make. Eat here. You wont be disappointed!

This was a great place. We both ordered the vegan combo plate and were so happy that we did. All the food was delicious. The service was wonderful, everyone there was so nice and friendly. Id highly recommend Jambo Cafe to anyone who asked.

We went at lunch time and there was no wait. We had a party of 7 and they arranged tables to accommodate us. The waitress was attentive without being hovering. I had the Caribbean Goat Stew which was delicious if a bit mild. Its a bit pricey, but when youre looking for something out of the ordinary, it is a nice place to eat.

Every bite is exploding with flavor. Im a native born and raised in Santa Fe at 22 years old I have never tried jumbo cafe. After my first time here its literally my favorite restaurant in Santa Fe. Ive tried every other restaurant and none come close to the flavors, type of cuisine and culture that jumbo cafe bring. On top of that the staff is super respectful. Id give them 10 out of 10 stars if I could.

Absolutely delicious. I had the ox tail and it was tender, spicy, and rich. Paired perfectly with greens and a mashed plantain cake. My husband had the jerk chicken and it was also delicious. We will definitely go back.

SUCH an amazing combination of flavors and unique dishes. We had the coconut crusted tilapia (topped with a sweet tamarind chutneyand coconut tofu curry dishes. Even though they were both coconut based, each dish still felt different and delicious in their own ways. For dessert, highly recommend the Jamaican rum pecan pie, it was warm and topped with vanilla ice cream. This place is super close to Meow Wolf, so make it part of your trip!

For all my fellow vegans out there beware- the pita is not vegan. There was a bit of confusion with my server as to what constituted vegan vs vegetarian. The pita is premade and has butter. I am very glad I didn’t order the hummus which is marked as vegan however clearly isn’t. So for that I deducted some stars. Its not cool to mark something specifically vegan if it isn’t. This place is very good otherwise. You can make the combo plate with the chickpeas, lentils, and jerk tofu. My personal favorite by far was the jerk tofu. Really nice flavor and the tofu had a nice dense texture. The other two curry’s were good but not the best I’ve had.

I really wanted the jerk tofu sandwich which is labeled VG (veganbut the waiter kindly informed me they recently switched the pita bread when (thank goodnessi mentioned being vegan, and it now contains egg & butter. I was very disappointed but he recommended the vegan combo platter & it was pretty good. I have been told so many good things about this place for a long time, they need to get vegan Pita (or some other vegan bread optionback asap, I wouldn’t go back unless they did. Also with the platter I got there was so much rice, if I knew it came with three sides of rice I would have asked for one to be beans (which I’ve also heard good things about)

So delicious! I heard of this place thanks to Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Since I was on vacation in NM, I decided to visit and was not disappointed at all. I had the jerk chicken and it was juicy and seasoned to perfection. I have high expectations for plantains since Ive grown up eating them my entire life, and these were perfection. My partner got the combination platter with the chicken curry, goat stew and the chickpea stew. All three were good but the chickpea was our favorite. Perfect combo of sweet and savory. The food was great and great service as well.

Very good food. Good service. Pistachio crusted friend goat cheese was quite interesting and delicious.

Phenomenal place!! Definitely a popular spot in Santa Fe, there was a little bit of a wait. The place felt alive with energy, the chef was walking around and talking to the tables, which always solidifies the feeling of community and care. Crab cakes and fermented drink were amazing to start, tried the beef kebabs and the combo platter with the chicken, lamb and goat curries, and ended with the coconut cardamom flan. One of the best meals Ive had!! If youre in town, make sure its something you hit. Everything was full of flavor.

Amazing food , ambience and service. The chicken wings were sooo tender and tasty. The best chicken wings I’ve had!! Tried the combo plate and it was good. The roti was different to the ones I’ve usually had and it was really good! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Went here because someone called it an “adventure for your tastebuds” and this certainly lived up to that!!! We had the pistachio curry goat cheese salad, jerk wings, oxtail, and mahi mahi and every single dish was insane in terms of flavor and taste. We also had the ginger mango lemonade and it was such a good and unique drink!! You will not regret coming here, was the best meal I have had in a while!

Amazing, tasty food! The service was fantastic and I cannot get over the unique combination of flavors. I got the Caribbean Goat Stew and it was incredibly delicious. Will definitely come back again!

Traveling from Texas , need nice dinner and this place is a great choice specially all the meat is halal. Lot of choices and taste was excellent.

What an experience!!!! Absolutely amazing food!!! The mahi mahi is absolutely a must!!! The owner is a very sweet man who came out to us to see how we were enjoying the meal. A definite must if passing through the area.

Were not very familiar with African food but we were blown away by every single dish here. We absolutely loved the coconut chicken curry with Roti, Jerk chicken wings, Crab cakes and the chocolate cake. Highly recommend!

Wow! So first let me say YOU NEED TO GO HERE!!!! Listen it would be foolish to miss this adventure for your taste buds!!! Chef Ahmed, my husband and I truly enjoyed meeting you! The food...we are Vegetarian so I can only give you the details on those items. STARTERS we went with Hibiscus, and Mango Ginger Lemonade!!! Yep do that, real jump starter...the Savory Stuffed Phyllo woooweee Amazing!!! Just get it, thank me later. Curry Encrusted Pistachio Goat Cheese, it was great if you like Goat cheese. Curried Black Bean and Sweet potato soup! Its December and we LOVE a great soup, get it with Roti!! So as you can see I wanted to try it all we live in Texas so no Jambo there...if your like me and want to try it all get the COMBO Plate: tofu curry, chickpea berbere stew, and curried lentils. And I got the Jerk organic tofu sandwich on Roti instead of Pita!!!! The dessert! My fave was the Pecan pie hands down! Period. So why are you still reading this? GO! Bye ooo wait dont forget to drop by the cute little store inside and next door, grab a cookbook and some spices! Ask chef to sign his cookbook for you, what a great treasure to take back home!

Showed up at 18-1900 with no reservations with a party of 5 and we where sat immediately. Service was good and they comped an item after messing it up. Food was good, the goat curry was fantastic m the lamb on the other hand was very ... bland and the meat had a strange texture (I eat lamb frequently, this was unusual). Besides that it was really good and the hit sauce they had was fantastic.

Wow. Where to start. The biggest disappointment is that we do not have this restaurant where I reside.All the food was eye openingly delicious. We had a large group, so we were able to sample many different dishes. The coconut shrimp starter was sooo good. The stuffed Philo was a beautiful presentation. I always love plantains and the cinnamon plantains were the best Ive had. The mixed cumin and lemon fries were super surprisingly and incredible as well.Best main dishes I tried were the oxtail and the combination platter. The kebabs were mouthwatering.Cute little place. Well maintained. Picked up a, cook book since the food was so good!

Hungrily passed through Santa Fe and randomly looked on Google Maps and clicked the first restaurant I found. Didnt look at pictures or the menu and ended up just driving to Jambo Cafe. What a delightful surprise! Staff is very kind and the Combination Plate + Hibiscus Tea I had was phenomenal.

The staff was so friendly and to top it off the food was phenomenal. We didn’t take a picture of the wings, but they were so good-falling off the bone and packed with flavor. The far one is the combo plate, which was a great way to try the different flavors! And the shrimp dish I got was so warm with spice it was wonderful. Highly recommend.

Mr. Obo is so kind. The food is authentic and tastes amazing. The service is fast too. The diners are diverse. The ambiance transcends you. Best curry Ive tasted. But the rum pecan pie wooooo weeeeee. A must have!

Had another amazing meal here for our anniversary! Entire staff was friendly and happy ! Of course our meals were delicious. This was our first meal back in Santa Fe after a few years. Chef Obo even came by and chatted for awhile ! We love Jambo !

Santa Fe is known for delicious new Mexican food. But Jambo, Jambo is an incredible place to eat. Delicious stews and meats. We tried two different sample platters, so we tried all of it I cannot recommend this restaurant enough. Great service, great food, great atmosphere!! Do not miss the chance to try it.

Everything was amazing. Ordered Coconut Shrimp & Jerk Wings for appetizers. Shrimp was a little too breaded for me but still good & super flavorful. The Jerk Wings was the best wings I’ve ever had, I had to order some to go. Top tier wings. Had the Pili Pili Shrimp, a tomato based stew, which was very flavorful but I also had the Coconut Curry Chicken stew with rice for a sampler & that was way too good. Everything was a HIT. One of the many gems of Santa Fe.

From my one experience, this seems like a good place to go for African/ Caribbean cuisine. The place didnt seem like it had any frills, but the food was a bit fancier than I expected. Jerked chicken was quite nice, perfect amount too. Ill be returning to try some of their other dishes.

Fabulous new interesting flavors all are dishes were very tasty, All of the staff were very attentive, Small but interesting wine list all from South Africa. we’re definitely going back.

My brother from Africa wanted to take me to lunch. He decided Jambo cafe. I’ve never eaten at this cafe before. I must say my first impression walking in was very pleasant. The waiter was patient and the food was excellent. We had the goat soup rice and a bread tortilla the owners came out and asked if we enjoyed the food. Yes. Very good excellent. 2👍👍’s up!

Yum.. We were traveling from Texas and a couple of locals suggested this gem. Food is great and so is the service. We will return when visiting Santa Fe in the future. Another special treat is the owner will come by to chat with you!-Jambo🥰

Absolutely LOVED it. What a fantastic and delicious GEM in Santa Fe, in a mini mall, no less! Fragrant and wonderful food, and the sweetest staff you could ask for. Nice diverse clientele, from old Cowboys to young kids. Everyone enjoying the food and having a great time .

Love the vegan options - try the sampler platter and add an Ugali! You won’t be disappointed, what a nice change from any other restaurant in the area. They have a small spice and sauce shop too, the scotch bonnet hot sauce was so good I had to buy one for myself ☺️We wanted to go back before our flight out but they’re closed on Sunday.

Phenomenal food and service! We got a lot of plates to share - as appetizer the jerk chicken, crab cakes, and mussels; for entrees the mahi mahi and the shrimp; and for dessert the banana coconut cream pie and mango cobbler. Favorites were the mahi mahi + cobbler. The only one we didn’t really like as much were the mussels. Suggestion to get there earlier or make a reservation. We got there at 5pm on a Thursday and immediately got a table and by 6 it was totally packed with a line!

Delicious 😋! The atmosphere is cozy, with fresh flowers on the tables. The food is consistent, spiced perfectly and appealingly plated. My favorite dish is the kabobs which have the perfect balance of sweet and savory, pair it with a ginger lemonade and you wont regret it. I highly recommend that you try it for yourself.

The absolute best food Ive had since moving to Santa Fe. We ordered the jerk chicken wings and it was so flavorful and tender that it was falling off the bone. I had the Moroccan Spiced Beef Brisket and my husband had the North African Spiced Lamb Burger and they were both incredibly delicious. After eating the Jamaican Rum Pie we knew we had to get Chef Ahmeds cookbook too!Jambo Cafe just opened up for dine-in services today and we were lucky enough to snag a seat before people starting coming in for the lunch rush. Chef Ahmed even took the time to greet everyone in the dining room and thank them for coming in. We will definitely be back!