The Breadfruit & Rum Bar

So delicious!!! We had the jerk chicken and the shrimp salad. It was delightful. The drinks are amazing too. Great atmosphere.

This is a hidden treasure. An extremely romantic and soothing environment with delicious rum remedies! Candles really set the scene for an intimate outing. It’s so warm and welcoming that you would think you were right at home. The food is nothing less than amazing. It’s surprising that they offer this caliber of beautiful and delicious meals for such a great price. The waitress we had was very informative and suggested perfect items to try and ultimately fall in love with. I would highly suggest going!

Three stars for killer cocktails and a great wait staff. Dock two for the appalling hostessing. We walk in at 6, announce we’re going to have one drink, and ask to sit indoors. We’re told all the tables are reserved. We sit outdoors on the totally un-​temperature controlled cigar patio (in June, in Phoenix). We walk back in to leave, most of the tables in the bar are still totally unoccupied. There are too many other nice places to drink in Phoenix to tolerate that level of service.

Great drinks and great food. I can’t wait for my next trip to AZ because this will be on the list to visit again.

We went on a Friday night without a reservation and had a less than 10 minute wait. It’s a very nice and cute spot and the vibe is fun and eclectic! We got seated but ended up having to call another waiter to see where our waiter was… in the midst of good conversation we did not realize that no one had come to the table to get our drink order for 15 or so minutes.
Drinks were ordered and were absolutely amazing. My colleague liked her salmon dish and I ordered the jerk chicken — it was very good and flavorful, but the rice and beans turned it all off for me. The rice was super dry, which made the dish harder to eat. I’ve had better Jamaican food, so if you try Jerk Chicken here and aren’t pleased — try it again somewhere else, perhaps more authentic.

My girl and I have eaten here for years, despite the little negativities here and there (they won’tnlet you order to-​go food, waiters reluctant to bring table salt, etc).
We decided to eat there about a week-​and-​a-​half ago. when we arrived it was about an hour prior to closing. There were 3 tables open on the patio. When we asked about sitting on the patio, the host literally grimaced! Then explained that «there wasn’t seating for two» on the patio.
An hour before you close? Multiple tables open outside??? On a THURSDAY NIGHT? Really?
So, rather than dignifying the hosts response with an «oh okay» I said, «Thanks. We’ll check back.» (then finished that sentence to my gf with «when hell freezes over.»
So,
We actually walked right around the corner to Pomo Pizzeria and were served a world-​class meal, had an awesome server, were greeted by the chef himself because he brought us a complimentary dessert.
ALL without ever hearing a word about how the Breadfruit employ treated us earlier.
Last,
we drove past the Breadfruit on our way and saw that the 3 open tables were now 4. Guess they don’t care about our silly $ 100 2-​top but hey.
keep up that rep guys! :)

Had dinner at the Breadfruit & Rum bar this evening with a special friend. I googled best seafood restaurant in downtown Phoenix and they appeared. She loves seafood so there we went. The staff is extra attentive, very up to speed on the ingredients and it’s clear the chef takes pride in quality and details. I’m vegan and finding something was easy and it was delicious. Dwayne, Taylor, Tamra, Mila and Javier were outstanding. From walking in, to being seated, to answering every question, offering multiple recommendations… all good. And the energy is very positive. The owner «Dwayne» said they’re going on 9 years. I’ve only been here 9 months but I’m mad I didn’t hear about it sooner. A «must dine» if you haven’t already done so.

So, we walk in and ask to sit on the patio in one of the 3 open tables. They say «no» the patio is only for groups of 4. Then they ask us if we have a reservation. We say «no» and they ask us to wait to be seated, even though the whole place was practically empty.
Then we get the menu and order Mojitos. The mojitos were small for $ 10, but they had real spearmint (good, because the tap water tasted bad, so I used it for my water… which trust me you will need with the food).
Then we try to order, but 5 jerk options were unavailable and one pork chop option was replaced with Quail. So we go for the scallops appetizer, the shredded pork jerk and the coconut curry.
We asked for some bread while we waited, they do a garlic bread appetizer (not good). The wait bothered my date a little, because they served the people who walked in after us right away. I didn’t like that it was super freezing inside and really loud so I couldn’t hear the waiter (bad acoustics). We managed to have some loud but good conversation over mojitos and convinced them to light our tea light for warmth/​comic relief.
They play a lot of Bob Marley to make up for the bad acoustics, otherwise we would definitely hear word for word everything being said.
Eventually food came. It was presented really well, but not easy to eat. The scallops caused a histamine reaction right away for me (not sure if it was the sauce… maybe liquid smoke… I’m not allergic to sea food). They serve a really cute palate cleanse in-​between courses.
I had trouble with the curry dish items, cabbage didn’t lend itself to be cut, or as finger food. The tofu was a change of pace, sauce was mild, rice super bland, and tiny bit of candied plantain were super good.
I tried my date’s sweet potato side and that was pretty mellow. But my date got an upset stomach later, had some pepto bismouth and his tongue turned scary black from the reaction of all the charcoal in the food and the bismouth. (In response to comments on this post, we are aware Bismouth can cause this reaction alone, but it had not happened before. The goal is to not need Pepto Bismouth after dinner.)
We had a nice time anyway; that’s how we roll. But it was $ 80 for both of us with tip and it just didn’t seem worth it. —It’s like they’re trying to be something in L.A. or NYC. (No SF restaurant would act so pompous about seating.) Although I did appreciate the local sourced food. Their deserts sounded fantastic so if I go back it will just be for desert.

What great time on Saturday night. Loved the whole fried red snapper and pina coladas. The drinks were tasty, the food was delicious, the restaurant is cool and charming. Would go back in a heartbeat.

This place is amazing! Food, drinks, atmosphere… All very good! They are a rum exclusive bar/​restaurant, and all of the drinks sound amazing. We had the Punch Bowl Special (some kind of spiced rum punch) and the Bourbon Masquerade (strong, in a good way!) As an appetizer, we had the Rum glazed Prawns and Roti flatbread. It was sooo good! That sauce! Then for dinner we ordered the Escovitch Fish & Festival (red snapper) and Jerk Pork and Polenta (shredded pork over polenta), and a side of the Roasted Plantains & Mango Dip (yum yum yum!). It was all very good, but the Escovitch Fish was by far the best. It was very fresh and had almost a sweetness to it, like fresh crab. I’d definitely recommend going there for a nice night out. Not too fancy, but not your average neighborhood grill. I’m already planning to go back soon!

Came for cigars/​drinks on the back patio. Service was top notch, and by God were the mixed drinks tasty. Not your traditional mixed drinks, either. Was very impressed with what I ordered (shim sham). Would come back for a nightcap again.
Side note: the host was a little odd, noticed that mentioned in a few reviews. He had us sit and wait to be taken back to an empty patio? Oh well, minor inconvenience.

Group of 4 dined at the Breadfruit on a Friday night. I had initially made reservations for 2 at 8:15, but then when another couple wanted to join us, open table would no longer let me edit our reservation so I called to change the number dining; However, no one there answered the phone at 5:45 pm and their voicemail says «Do not leave a voicemail» umm okay. Anyway so we get there at 8:00pm and they are able to modify our reservation for us even though they were «completely packed» per the host, they could seat us at 8:15. The table the sat us at was actually empty the 15 minutes we were waiting so not sure why we couldn’t be sat right away.
Table ordered drinks, the rum punch is extremely delicious and is made fresh and different every day. Table also tried multiple other drinks and all were great, if you are willing to wait 20 – 30 min per cocktail. We even tried ordering our next drink while our original was nearly full hoping to make up for the extremely long cocktail wait, but we still would wait forever with empty drinks in front of us.
Appetizers that were ordered came out quick and were tasty. However, Our actual meal took nearly an hour and half. So if you are in any sort of rush I do not recommend this place. Our server was nice and tried, and I do not feel our incredibly long waits were anything in his control, but the kitchen and bar need to get their act together.
The host there is also incredibly rude, as stated he was able to modify the reservation, but made it a big deal first and acted like we were causing a huge inconvenience to his night. My husband went in to use the restroom and was accused of not actually being a customer there, even though this is the same guy that sat us and we had been on the patio waiting forever. Not really a great way to treat your customers who are pretty irritated to begin with.

If you want to impress a date this is the place to start. The ambiance is classy and yet cozy. We indulged once upon a night and had the hot buttered rum as well as other creative run cocktails.
The food is excellent but what really made me comfortable was the service. Our server was knowledgable, attentive and professional. I liked that he wasn’t interrupting our conversation and asking every 5 minutes if everything was ok or if we needed a refill… So many restaurants make it difficult to enjoy a peaceful evening with constant interruptions.
We will definitely return!

This place is great! We went here as a part of my Brithday Bar Crawl! We showed up as a party of 7 with no notice on a Friday night and they got us seated pretty quickly, I do recommend though making a reservation or calling ahead if you plan on taking a larger party as it is a pretty small place. It was an unexpected stop on our tour though. The rum drinks are amazing! Our server was very knowledgeable and made great suggestions for everyone at the table who had questions. I had a Hemingway Daiquiri which is one of my favorites and it was excellent!

I had been wanting to try this place for a while and am so glad that I did. First off I am no stranger to The Caribbean, Jamaica or Rum. This is extremely creative food in a very hip funky space. The staff has it going on. Very organized, almost orchestrated to make your dining experience flow as smoothly as the sweet reggae music in the background. We had 3 small plates and then split an entrée. The plantains with a mango dipping sauce were terrific as were the scallops. The heat of the Scotch bonnet peppers was evident and went very well with the most excellent cocktails that they serve. We had Hemingway’s Daiquiri and the punch bowl special. Truly magical! next came the jerk shrimp small plate and the Jerk Pork entrée. Amazing shrimp that had a sweet hot fruity sauce around the bowl to go with the Johnny cakes and a home made tarter sauce for the shrimp. Very good. The Jerk Pork over polenta was a very creative dish. Not a large portion but we found it to be just right. Decided to have 1 more cocktail before leaving for the Symphony. Asked the waiter to bring me a sipping rum over ice. He asked me a few flavor questions and a price range (the range is from 8 to 2500, yes two thousand five hundred, dollars per glass. The rum collection is vast and comes from all over the world!!) the glass of rum arrived with a single large cube of ice and was the best rum I have ever tasted. M had the Velvet and vinyl which she loved. We decided right then to return after the Symphony for desert! We did and sitting at the amazing bar she had a desert cocktail, a sea salt and caramel rum desert drink that was wild and rum cake while I sipped another daiquiri. I can’t recommend this place strongly enough. The bartenders will educate you about rum and you get to watch them make some great cocktails as well. Do go here and try it all!

I absolutely love this place!!! Great spot for a date, the atmosphere is off the chain! This is the cleanest restaurant in the Phoenix Metropolitan area… A piece home for anyone that understands… Check them out! The food has so much flavor and I can taste the professionalism and skill… The service is adult and so attentive yet respectful of personal space and time… I come here often… The drinks are great also whether you want to keep it simple or fancy it up a bit.
Tonight I tried the. Chilean Sea Bass … If you don’t believe me try them out and prove me wrong! I don’t rate or post much because I’m hard to impress… This place is impressive!!!

The food is ok but the service is absolutely terrible. Recently I stopped by the restaurant with a party of 7 on a Friday night at 9 p.m. The restaurant was near empty and we inquired for a table but the host was extremely snobby and impatient. He told us there was a 1.5 hour wait even though there were at least three tables available that could accommodate us. When I asked to be put on the waiting list he rolled his eyes and said that he would only accept a waitlist for a party of 6. When I asked whether they could even seat 7, he again rolled his eyes that it’s there was a pizzeria down the street that this restaurant was for a more intimate setting.
His explanation was perfectly reasonable but his tone was extremely condescending. This is Downtown Phoenix not LA and we certainly are not at a Michelin star restaurant.

I’ve had mixed experiences at the Breadfruit & Rum Bar before, but this last one has pushed me to the «maybe come for drinks, but definitely not food» category.
The problem is the service and the speed at which the food comes out. Now, I understand if the restaurant is busy that it may take the kitchen a little longer to get the orders out, but to wait 1.5 hours before ANY food hits the table is beyond ridiculous. The waitress never kept us abreast as to what the hold up was, and we had to hunt her down in order to find out what happened to our order. When we finally got to her, she went and checked with the kitchen and said it’d be 10 more minutes. More than 20 minutes later, the food came. This situation could have easily been handled by a) letting us know that the kitchen was very backed up, and b) offering to bring us something to eat in the interim. Neither of those things happened, so we were left twiddling our thumbs in hunger for waaaaay too long. By the time the food finally arrived, everyone was a bit cranky, so the joy of the atmosphere had been spoiled.
It’s really too bad because the food (once you actually get it) is actually quite good. We had the guava pork belly, red curry shrimp, and jerk pork and all were quite delicious. Same goes for the drinks. If you’re a rum fan, and particularly a Caribbean rum fan, then you will absolutely love the cocktail menu. They even serve a rum punch of the day, which the bartenders change daily, so that is always fun.
I wish we had had a better service experience at the Breadfruit, but alas it was not to be had, and without a beach view to distract me from the unnecessarily long wait for food, this has pushed me overboard and is probably the final time we visit the island food at the Rum Bar.

This is my double review.
My wife and I participate in a monthly dinner club with a small group of 5 couples. We go in alphabetical order, and each couple gets to pick a spot for dinner basically twice per year. After doing a date night at Breadfruit not too long ago, we decided to make this the spot for our month and we all descended upon Breadfruit.
So this, friends, is the tale of two visits. 5 stars for our date night for sure. My girlfriend and I ubered it that night so indulged in what I might call a wonderfully intoxicating evening :) The selection of rums at Breadfruit and… duh…RUM BAR is nothing short of amazing. In fact, they do a fine job of proving that you can make just about anything with rum.
I was fortunate to have sealed the deal with lucrative new client at work that week as well, so I treated us to a couple of glasses of $ 2,500-per-shot Appleton Estate Rum. I must say my girlfriend was so smitten with my confident, seemingly incredible knowledge of rums that she accepted my marriage proposal…
OK OK, that last part was mostly fantasy. We did get engaged AND married since that date night, but it’s not because I’m a rum expert (I’m not). It’s not because I can afford a couple of $ 2,500 shots of rare rum either (I can’t). Regardless, try the rum cocktails and if you won the powerball, or are just having a great day, try some of the pricier rums you’ve never heard of before.
Of course, date night included a wonderful meal at a small table for two as well. Love the atmosphere, and love the food. We were seated promptly, shared a small plate, a couple of entrees and desert and it was all delicious. We had lots of leftovers to enjoy later!
Our dinner club was mostly the same story. We had some confusion when we arrived though. The restaurant is small. There’s a small bar near the entrance, with a waiting area /​lounge and one long table (which ended up being where our party was seated for dinner). Then there’s the dining room which is not much larger, and straight out from the back of the bar is a nice patio with a waterfall, some heaters and booth areas. Sort of has a loungy feel outside. Breadfruit also has a nice selection of cigars and this is where you can enjoy them.
The two of us enjoyed a cocktail outside while we waited for our table to be prepared, then were seated for dinner as the rest of our table arrived. But you can’t just go out onto the patio yourself, you have to be seated out there as well. So it was a bit much for the hostess to first prepare a table for us outside, while also preparing a table for us inside. We misunderstood some of the things she said as well, and it was confusing at first when we began to follow her to one place or another because we thought we were supposed to, but were then told to go back up front and wait, then be shuttled out back, then be shuttled back inside to our dinner table.
I again, very much enjoyed my dinner. Kimberly and I shared the salt fish fritters (nothing short of awesome), and I had the Pimiento Wood Jerk Chicken, which was half a game hen. It was rubbed with a house jerk seasoning and it was absolutely delicious.
I’d probably give the dinner club visit 4 stars, because of the confusion up front, but in my opinion the food and drink were once again top notch, so I’m leaving my tale of two visits as a 5 star review! Enjoy Breadfruit!!!

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya. Bermuda, Bahama
If you want any type of rum from any of the above, cmon on pretty mama. You DON’T have to go to Kokomo. BUT, if you or you’re AmX is really pretty, there is a 50 year old Appleton Estate Rum for $ 2500 per. Now, if your pocket book isn’t feeling oh-​so Hemingway, The Breadfruit claims to have the most extensive Rum menu in all of Arizona. and after seeing it for myself, I happen to believe this claim. The drinks here are all worthy starting as described by our attentive waiter as ‘fruit forward’ to more ‘heavy and serious’ and after dinner as the drink menu follows on. The bartenders at The Breadfruit have a romance with rum, which is regarded as the most versatile spirit. There is a Rum Punch of the day. The evening we were there, it was a light, fruity, rum concoction of hibiscus and roasted smoked pineapple. The punch carried PUNCH. Do not come expecting a full wine list here, as there are only two from Southern Arizona. This is a Rum Bar. Be prepared to take an Über. :-) The next drink I had for dinner, in lieu of wine, was a Velvet and Vinyl. This drink was almost too pretty to drink! The waiter delivered this deep pink to red libation to my table in a beautiful little glass, don’t be fooled by its beauty. On first sip, I decided to do just that: sip it. The Velvet and Vinyl is a beauty of Appleton Estate VX Rum, hibiscus liquor, (which is house made!), ginger, pineapple, lime, bitters and a touch of rose mist. If you are the DD on your night here, don’t worry, there are nice libations that carry sans alcohol for you too!
Key Largo, baby why don’t we go to Kokomo?
Speaking of Kokomo. If you have ever been in the Florida Keys and had a corn fritter than you will appreciate some of Breadfruits appetizers. We noshed on the delicious Salt Fish Fritter. It was a flat fritter of cod fish served with a crème fraîche of dill and coconut. There are two served warm on a plate and a good way to offset some of that rum before dinner.
Montego. why don’t we go, Jamaica.
Jamaican Jerk. The Breadfruit and Rum Bar has that too. For dinner, I had the Jerk Pork and Polenta: a slowly smoked pork shoulder that had been marinated in rum, (what else?), jerk rub and smoked over pimento woods and served over tasty warm polenta and seasonal farm vegetables. The pork is more of a pulled type dish over the polenta. My date, my husband, also wanted to relive our vacation to the Caribbean with some tastes of jerk and rum and opted for the Pimento Wood Jerk Chicken, which was a HUGE serving of game hen smoked over pimento wood, rubbed with house jerk rub and served over rice and small peas. This dish had some spice to it! It comes as a hen on a bone and was amazing! The table of us being 6 had various plates that included the Blue Mountain Curried Goat over Basmati Rice and it was said to be yummy and tender and looked like a generous portion. The Guava Glazed Pork Belly was also ordered on our table and there were about 5 – 6 slices of the Pork Belly two being super fatty with not much meat, which can happen with pork belly and one reason, I personally don’t order it. Our friends ordered a dessert to share and for $ 9 it was a super small ramekin of dessert which is a little on the pricey side to me. Whereas, I felt the rest of the menu was on point for pricing. The menu is ever changing and uses local farms and sources such as Mayas Farms, 2 Wash Ranch, Pillsbury Wines and The Meat Shop, JUST to name a few.
A couple of things to know. The Breadfruit and Rum Bar is small. Make a reservation if you are having dinner. We had a party of 6 for our monthly little dinner club and were asked to secure with a credit card. They will confirm on the day of the reservation and I like that. There was a mix up with our reservation when we arrived despite the confirmation via telephone earlier in the day for what was to be a half and hour later than was logged into the reservation system when we arrived, SO I am glad we decided to arrive early for a drink! There was also some confusion over wanting a drink at the bar and the girl wanting to take us out to the cigar area patio out back. It all worked out and I didn’t care either way because we ended up loving our waiter who carried us through the first drink to the last drink after our dinner was served. Parking is somewhat a bear in this area, also. Allow time for that! The patio, should you want to sit out there for the Cigar and Rum Manifest, (a separate menu all its own!), has patio heaters for the winter and is expansive.
Our service, (from order to getting entrees), was slow but my husband and I don’t mind that after having lived in France and knowing that food is what makes social times the best ! The wait staff made up for the slowness ten fold anyway.
Everybody knows a little place like Kokomo…
(Well, at least if you order that Appleton Estate Vintage, you will :)) …

Awesome concept with consistent quality, but I just wish there was a bit more too it.
Their drinks are very good, but your choices are limited to either straight rum, or whatever few drinks they have decided that they are going to make on that particular day. I find it incredibly odd that a Rum bar won’t serve a mai tai everyday of the week.
The food is very good & flavorful, but the choices are limited & the menu doesnt change much so I dont have an inclination to return and eat the same thing again.
Service is good, pricing is fair, décor is nice & classy, and the restaurant is small so you better make a reservation.

This was a great place to have a dinner.
We arrived, ordered a number of different cocktails, appetizers and entrees, and we were not disappointed.
Frankly, I’d go back if I lived in the neighborhood.

This is a cute little place for dinner and a drink but make reservations! I was with a party of four, two in the group had been here before. We decided to wait the 30 minutes for a table because they said the food was that good even though the Unilocal ranking was a little low.
The waitress and a sidekick with a mustache that reminded me of Salvador Dali’s arrived at the table. They had that aura about them that made my dining experience entertaining and brings a smile to my face every time I think about their performance.
My entrée was the three stripe shrimp, and it was spicy and full of what I would expect to find in a flavorful Jamaican dish. I also tasted all of the entrees at my table and found none lacking. My table also ordered the two desserts that were offered by the waitstaff duo, a breadfruit and a chocolate Crème brûlée. Both were very good and worth any health risks from sugar or caloric waste.
Tasting all the drinks at my table, my favorites were the piña colada and the ginger infused rum drink. My lovely waitress suggested that the piña colada would be the best that I have ever tasted, and yes, it ranks up there particularly since the trips to the rum factory in the Caribbean are a little hazy to recall.
So, a solid 4 star food and drink experience, but the outstanding performance of sophistication from the waitstaff takes this to a 5 star standout.