Jrama’s Soulfood Grille & Barbecue Pit

Amazing bbq meal. We got the chopped bbq– pulled pork and fried chicken, both were delicious. The owner was very appreciative of the business and walked around checking in with customers. Great stop! If you are looking for a quick stop, this is not your place, it took a half hour to get our food.

Jrama’s Soulfood Grille is one of those places you come across and get excited to tell others about your find. If you want to experience legit, southern cooking with a rich seasoned taste, this is the place to eat. Eleven of us went their to celebrate my sons college graduation. Whoa, did we eat! Sides such as collard greens, rice and peas, baked beans with pulled pork were all extremely tasty. But the Mac and Cheese was tops! We also enjoyed Caribbean Jerk Chicken, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and Beef Links. The owners, Jamal and his wife, were very friendly and their love for this food and serving their guests, was extremely evident. This amazing comfort food gets served on styrofoam with plastic utensils. But that probably adds to keeping their prices low.
A perfect addition to the menu would be a nice slice of Pecan Pie. We all left Jrama’s full and happy. We will definitely be back!

Hands down the best place around to get GREAT food. You can tell everything is made with pure love just by the taste! I ordered the fried chicken with Mac and cheese, rice and peas and cornbread. Everything had great taste and was worth the wait! My girlfriend ordered BBQ chicken (even though she doesn’t like BBQ) and LOVED IT! We have no complaints. The owner came by to make sure all was okay and I couldn’t help but tell him how amazing everything was. Recently they were in the local news paper for having the best fried chicken!
We really wish we found this place earlier considering we will be graduating in a few weeks.

Honestly, my dinner came with 4 items and every single thing was phenomenal. The BBQ chicken dinner was well seasoned and worth the trip. Everyone else in the restaurant raved to the chef about their meals. Although there are only two people working they are incredibly sweet! As soon as you enter the restaurant you’re slapped in the face with all of these delicious smells. The lady working accidentally gave me coleslaw instead of the spicy cabbage so she just gave me both! We were also waiting for a little while and they gave us free drinks. They’re very sweet you can tell they take a lot of pride in what they do.
Tips: come prepared to wait a little while, they’re cash only but they have an ATM inside and there’s an M&T across the street. Come HUNGRY the portions are big!

Ordered take-​out from Jramas today and we were very very pleased! The BBQ Chicken was delicious as well as the spicy cabbage and potato salad sides. Oh and of course the rice and peas! Literally the best corn bread I’ve ever had. I cannot think of a single complaint and we will be eating here again for sure.

This is my second visit to Jrama’s & the food is amazing! There is no better barbecue around. We got the barbecue chicken which was to die for! When we got there the owner was cooking it on the grill so it was fresh off! The spicy cabbage was my favorite side & my sis in law loved the fried chicken! We will definitely be visiting again soon!

Great food. I love their ribs and fried chicken, the best I’ve ever had. They consistently run out of food on the menu. I’ve even called in to check one time but showed up and was told they didn’t have it. I really like this place and want it to succeed but running a restaurant requires consistency. Hopefully this doesn’t happen again with my experience.

This is some of the best soul food I’ve ever had, especially in NY. Fried chicken was top notch, jerk chicken was spectacular (especially the side sauce), and the bbq was excellent as well. Tried samples of every side they have and not a single one was disappointing. We were so full (with enough left over to eat a second time) and just didn’t want to stop eating it! The service is a bit on the slow side, but all of the fried food is cooked to order so you know it’s fresh. Definitely making this a regular stop!!!

Really good homestyle food. The cod over rice and peas was great, and all the sides I tried (especially the mac & cheese and the cornbread) were better than anything I’ve had around here. They also have the best sweet potato pie I’ve had anywhere. The staff and owner were really friendly as well, so this is definitely my go-​to spot now in Binghamton!

One of the most amazing BBQ places ever. I ended up here by accident on a road trip with 5 friends and we were so thankful we ended up here. I had the BBQ chicken, my friends had fried cod and a BBQ Cheeseburger. Everything was amazing. They have a big smoke grill that I’m sure could cook up some mean brisket.

I can’t say enough about this place! Awesome food prepared by really nice people. Absolutely worth a try! They’re still in their soft-​open and I hope to see them succeed. Binghamton needs more quality local places like this. I had the fried chicken which was outstanding and was allowed to sample each side, all of which were delicious!!!

I had to come back here and adjust my rating. While I still think the food is really good (catfish and collards especially) the service is awful. Every time I’ve been here it’s been at least 20 mins for food, with the last visit taking 45. I wouldnt mind waiting that long if this was a sit down and order place, but to wait around awkwardly for almost an hour is just too much. With that, and orders not being correct and items selling out after you order them, it’s frustrating. Want to love this place, but they desperately need a better system.

I just ate some of the best BBQ of my life, and it was char-​cooked FRESH from Jrama’s. I’ve driven by many times as I run most of my errands on Front Street in Binghamton, today I decided to try it out. Upon arrival I was greeted with a smile by the gentleman manning the grill out front. I knew I was in for a treat before I even entered the building because of the WONDERFUL smells coming from his grill along with the smiling faces of those enjoying their meals at the outdoor tables. I ordered the Chopped BBQ (pulled pork) dinner, which came with two sides, I opted for the slaw and turnip greens, as well as a portion of deliciously fresh cornbread. Everything was absolutely wonderful, the pork is so tender and succulent it melts in your mouth and the BBQ sauce they top it with is perfectly seasoned. Ten out of ten. A bit of a wait for the orders, but what do you expect when your order’s being cooked fresh just for you? Be patient. It’s well worth the wait and the proof is in the pork ;P ENJOY

Accidentally stumbled upon Jrama’s while getting gas on NY 17 — not the favorite route for exactly that reason, not too many good places to stop and enjoy a bite to eat.
Jrama’s is a small, quaint place (be careful not to miss it) but they do offer specials! Not only that, you also get to sample any side before you decide! Today, we got a fried pork chop with rice and peas and collard greens, as well as fried fish with green beans and cole slaw. Both came with corn bread. The pork chop was so moist with crispy outside (yum) and the fish … Oh the fish!!! So flaky and moist, seasoned well and was simply delicious — made to order (so you know it hasn’t been lying around somewhere). The sides — yummy, a definite compliment to the mains. Jrama is super friendly, makes it a point to come and check on his patrons and see if «everything to your liking». He makes you feel welcomed and at home… A man walked in with a little boy as we were eating and asked if there are burgers on the menu (the boy wanted a burger), unfortunately there aren’t any but Jrama said — «no worries, we’ll make him one». I don’t know about you but I think that when the owner accommodates his customers to a point of making something not off the menu just because … Definite recommendation!
P. S. The sweet potato pie is amazing!!! Get me a glass of milk and I’ll be in heaven!

My husband and I stopped at Jrama’s this afternoon, not a busy time of day so no crowd or line. Jrama was outside cooking at the grill and you could immediately smell the delicious aromas of barbeque. We opted for the bbq chicken and bbq rib dinners which come with rice and peas and cornbread. We ordered the collard greens and potato salad as sides. After getting our sides we went back outside to the grill where Jrama piled on our ribs and chicken. Talk about fresh! Right off the grill as he slathered on the bbq sauce! We had take out so we brought it all home and had an early dinner. Each and every bite was amazing. We both thought the ribs were a bit tastier than the chicken but it was all great. Highly recommended!

Awesome flavor. Friendly atmosphere. Great jerk chicken. Food must be served hotter however. Greens were warm not hot same with other sides… All in all a very good new restaurant. There was a line through tout the entire hour we were there. I wish this place well now and into the future.

I’ve been here a few times since they opened and haven’t been disappointed by the food. Granted, I’ve only tried the BBQ rib dinner and BBQ chicken dinner. Easily the best BBQ food in the area (actually I would also say it puts other places to shame). The smoke on the ribs/​chicken is spot on and their unique BBQ sauce is great too. The corn bread was never dry and the potato salad was simple, yet delicious.
As for the downside… I actually believe they’ll outgrow this location very soon. The few times I’ve been there, there has yet to be less than 6 customers at one time. Also, I know this is still the soft opening and there are rolling changes so, I can over look the slowish service (takes about 15 – 20 min). Once the service time is cut down to 5 – 10 min, I’ll update to 5 stars. The food is too good, to give it anything else.
Update: The service time are definitely better now.

i was pretty harsh on my review of Jrama’s BBQ stand on main street last year. i was judging the food for what it wasn’t instead of what it is. so while this is not authentic slow smoked bbq, it is actually pretty good. a lot of cooks have different palates, and the bbq here is definitely sweeter than other places around town. good thing i have a sweet tooth.
the chicken and ribs here are tender and they pick up a good flavor from the charcoal grill, but unfortunately the rib portions tend to vary. it’s $ 15 for a rib meal and sometimes the portions are big enough that it’s worth it, but other times i feel i should have gotten more for my money. i tried the fried chicken once at the new location. it was a leg/​thigh quarter that was pretty big. my first thought was that there’s no way it was going to be fully cooked, but fortunately it was, they did a good job. the breading was flavorful and while parts of it looked a little burnt, it didn’t taste burnt. i went a week later to get it again but unfortunately they were out. as of now though this is probably the best fried chicken in town in my opinion. the cornbread here is very good, and the mac n cheese is decent too but it’s not the creamy kind that most places serve, it literally just seems like 3 ingredients: macaroni, cheese, and the color orange. the noodles don’t overpower the cheese though, so overall it’s pretty good. the coleslaw was pretty good but the potato salad didn’t do much for me. it was a little sweet but i feel like it was missing something. the rice n peas are ok, not my favorite side but they automatically give it to you as one of your sides, which i wish they wouldn’t do, i’d rather be able to pick the 2 that i want. i tried a slice of the coconut pie too. it was decent but it tasted a little eggy to me. overall i would give the food a 4. so why is this review only 3 stars? the service.
i know the last few weeks have just been a soft opening, but they really need to figure out a better way to run this place. the service is S-​L-​O-​W. you go in and place your order and then they give you a takeout container with your sides in it and then you have to go back outside to get your meat and then back inside to eat (or there’s tables outside if you’d rather sit outside). the place itself is pretty small, so i see how that can be difficult, but in my opinion, instead of finishing all the meat outside, they should cook it in big batches outside and then bring it inside and put it in a steam table and then finish it off in the grill that they have in the kitchen. they would be able to fill orders much quicker and be more efficient. i know this is a soft opening, but there’s 2 different menus so it can be a little confusing as to what they actually have. one menu had pecan pie on it, but when i asked for a slice they didn’t have it. i really do hope they put it on the menu because i love pecan pie and no one around here serves it! they also have homemade sweet tea on the menu but when i ordered it i was told that all they have is canned products for now. i’ve never had rude service here, just unorganized and slow, so i’ll definitely go back, but i’m going to wait until they work some of the kinks out.