Suya African Caribbean Grill

Absolutely delicious, tasty flavors and always friendly service. I love the chicken and beef skewers with her seasoning along with rice and grilled corn. The Jamaican beef and vegetable patties are delicious. I enjoy this place every time I’m in the area and would recommend to family and fiends.

Pros: friendly service

Cons: very slow service despite the fact that there weren’t too many customers when we were there
–Food was ok

Really flavorful food! As someone with family in the Caribbean, it definitely reminded me of the heavy spices and flavors which characterize island cuisine. Prices are affordable as well, with most meals coming up to about $ 10.
Service is a little shaky and the décor is simplistic at best, but I think the food is definitely enough to keep people coming back. And for me, the food is the only thing that really matters.

I had never had African food before, so when Suya popped up in Berkeley, I was the first to try it. And yeah, one bite and I was ridiculously addicted.
After having tried literally everything on the menu, I would definitely recommend that people go for the chicken skewers (spicy) and the grilled plantains. The chicken, when its good, is so tender, and flavored to perfection. I don’t know what Suya uses in their seasoning but it’s totally to die for. The plantains, when in season, are sweet and tender and delicious. I definitely wish more places did plantains.
The only criticism I have for Suya is their lack of consistency. I would go almost once a week (sometimes more) and at times the plantains would be super hard and inedible, and at times they would be mind-​blowingly good. I understand that they are a small shop so it’s hard to keep up with the orders, but hopefully by now they have ironed out some of that inconsistency.

Great simple, sweet, affordable, African fusion place quintessentially and appropriately «Berkley-​esque»
Yum :)

Halal meat is served here. Got the following–
Jamaican ginger root beer (non alcoholic)-I liked the ginger flavor, but it was extremely sweet (read the label– holy shit; had 56 grams of sugar!!!)
Beef skewers with sides of rice and baked potato– while the skewers were tasty, I would have liked them better if they were more seasoned. The suya seasoning is very mild (only after eating we read the small sign that said that we could ask for more suya sauce). The potato was nice, but with very less to none seasoning. The seasoned rice also needed more seasoning!
Chicken skewers with sides of plantain and corn– we asked for the jerk sauce. It was nothing like other carribean restaurants. The jerk sauce was very mild and we could harsh taste the sharp tangy sauce. We asked for more jerk sauce but they do not give that extra. The sides were awesomesauce! The plantain was sweet with a tinge of tangy. The corn moist as well as crunchy.
Chicken Empenadas– my least favorite dish. The chicken filling had a gooey consistency. I didn’t even eat my half.
The white garlicky sauce that came with all the dishes was very good.
Also the portion sizes are on the smaller size and the prices on the higher.

Gentleman who helped us was extremely nice and helpful with our questions about the menu items.
Ordered to go. All three empanadas (chicken, beef, and vegetarian) were delicious. Surprisingly our favorite ended up being the vegetarian one.
We also ordered the beef wrap with suya spices and the beef plate with jerk seasoning. It came with 2 sides. We chose the salad and the veggies. Everything was very spicy but flavorful. I admittedly am not the best spicy food eater however even as my eyes watered I couldn’t get enough. Will definitely be coming back to sample a few more things from the menu and to of course have the empanadas again.
The restaurant is very small and also has 8 seats of outside seating.

Decided to come here after reading all the good reviews. They have both inside and outside seating which I liked, however the inside is not so spacious. I ordered the Beef Skewers meal with corn and roasted potatoes. I really wanted to try the plantain but they told me it would take 30 minutes as they just started cooking them, which was a bummer. After ordering we waited around 30 minutes! I thought to myself I could have ordered the plantain if I knew the food would take 30 minutes to get ready!
The food is fresh as they cook it in front of you. The Beef Skewer was good. I also tried my friend’s chicken skewer which was actually better. We also shared a beef empanada with their special sauce, and it was amazing! The portions are on the smaller side though.

Still hungry T. T
FOOD
Got the jerk chicken meal with side of sweet potato chips and steamed veggies.
–Jerk chicken: Staff said it’d be spicy and it was only okay. maybe my spice tolerance is pretty high but I only found it to be a very mild spice. The chicken was moist and not dry which is always the problem and it had a really nice smokey grilled taste which I enjoyed.
–Sweet potato chips: Eh… not really a «chip.» They were pretty soggy and it had that nice grilled taste but too soggy and mushy for my liking. Would’ve wished they were cooked a bit longer so it could’ve been crispier on the outside.
–Steamed veggies: not great at all. Super super mushy which I expected for steamed veggies but it was way too over steamed. The veggies all looked super brown and it was very bland. I’m guessing no salt was added.
–Pita: not a fan either. Dyar’s is much better. The pita bread had a really flour-​y smell and taste so I had about half a piece and I was over it.
Finished the meal feeling still hungry… Not sure if that was worth it or not. only the chicken was good.
SERVICE
Staff was super friendly and helpful, giving me recommendations on what I might like and what they suggest. It helped a lot! Food took a while to come though, around 15 – 20 min which I wasn’t a fan of considering it’s such a small restaurant and there was only 1 table ahead of us.
OVERALL
MIGHT give it another try in the future but it’ll only be because a friend wants to go or something. Try the chicken though if you’re there! It’s good :)

Great lunch spot if you can grab a table. I had the beef and chicken with plantain and steamed veggies. The steamed veggies were over cooked, but way good, as you could taste the garlic in it.
My chicken and beef skewer were cooked and seasoned with jerk spice. Though not spicy, it did have kick to it. I liked the chicken more than the beef.
Glad I came and it definitely i s a take away place for me.

Stopped in here today for a quick lunch after the gym. Great decision. Wonderful little lunch spot, will be back.
I ordered a combo skewer meal with grilled corned, mixed veggies, and prawn/​chicken skewers. Can you say muy freakin’ delicioso?! The corn was amazing and the skewers were nice and plump with lots of meat. The only two things I i didnt much like were that the chicken was definitely dark meat, and the mixed veggies were pretty meh, a bit bland. Besides that it was great.
Notables: fresh, delicious food, simple yet lots of options, healthy servings, reasonably priced, friendly service, a little slow.

Suya used to be one of my favorite places to eat in Berkeley but recent declines in service and food quality have put a bad taste in my mouth. The last time I was here we had to wait almost forty minutes for our food (keep in mind this is generally a to-​go food establishment so forty minutes is unacceptable). When I got my food I noticed it was missing the included pita and aioli and the plantain was also extremely burnt. So, I told them the problem and the guy assured me it would be taken care of. By the time i got my food back we were in such a hurry to eat that I made the rookie mistake of not checking my food. When we got to our destination I finally opened the box and saw they didn’t change my plantain and everything had been haphazardly thrown back into the box.
Food: I generally get the chicken skewers with grilled plantains and sweet potato chips as my side. I love the sweet potato chips, they’re not fried like regular chips. Instead, they are soft like patties and go great with the included aioli (when they actually remember to give it to you). In the future I won’t order the plantain anymore, they used to be great but as of late they’ve been consistently small and burnt. Also, if you like spicy ask for the jerk seasoning not has a bit more of a kick.
Service: everything is made fresh so expect to wait a little bit. They’re usually really nice but the last couple of times I’ve been they’ve been weirdly offputting and seem to just want you to get out of there as soon as possible.
Conclusion: Suya used to be a unique and outstanding Berkeley establishment. However, recent cutbacks to service and food quality are keeping me from coming back. Until they get their act together I won’t be back.

I walk by Suya at least 3 times a week on my way to work but never really had the urge to check it out. I finally tried it during a lunch outing with a friend on a Friday afternoon. The service here is really great and the staff is extremely helpful. The food is a bit pricey but definitely worth it for the flavor!
This is a great spot for a quick catchup lunch with a friend between classes or work if your office is nearby!