On Christmas Day, the places that serve a meal are mostly hotels and resorts that announce a holiday buffet or dinner. Many businesses close for the public holiday, and independent restaurants often change their hours, so a sit-down meal on 25 December takes planning.
Start with the town where you are staying. Then find a hotel or restaurant that has published a Christmas Day service, and check the date, the seating time and the price before you plan the day around it. A normal menu is not the same as a holiday menu, so a restaurant that serves lunch every other day may not serve a Christmas meal at all.
Kingston: hotel dining on Christmas Day
The clearest Christmas Day options in Kingston are hotel dining rooms. AC Hotel Kingston ran a Christmas Day Special on 25 December 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Adults paid US$70 and children under 12 paid US$40. The buffet included gungo peas soup, Jamaican goat soup, salads, charcuterie, smoked fish and other dishes. Those prices were set in US dollars in 2024, so they stay in US dollars here.
A Christmas Day buffet at a Kingston hotel mixes Jamaican dishes with international ones.
Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel offered a full Christmas Day programme in 2024. In December 2024, the Jamaica Observer reported breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., a brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a dinner buffet from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Those are the 2024 times, so call the hotel for its 2026 holiday schedule and price before you plan around them.
Blue Window at Jamaica Pegasus is another Kingston hotel dining room worth a call for 25 December. Jamaica Pegasus is open for 2026, but an open hotel does not automatically mean a holiday meal is on offer.
For an independent restaurant in Kingston, phoning the restaurant is the surest check. Ask whether it opens on 25 December and what hours it keeps, and do not assume a normal weekday schedule applies. Browse restaurants in Kingston to find independent places, then call the ones that interest you.
Montego Bay: Round Hill and Half Moon
Round Hill Hotel & Villas announced its 2025 holiday programme on 22 November 2025. Its Christmas Day dinner buffet offered roasted turkey, ham, local wahoo, tomahawk steak, seafood, local cheeses, vegetarian dishes and desserts. Reservations go through the hotel. The announcement gave no dinner price, so get the total, including tax and service, before you book. Check whether guests of other hotels can reserve a table too.
Half Moon's 2025 events included a Christmas Day Lunch Buffet at Hayward's Restaurant from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and a Christmas Gala Feast at Seagrape Terrace from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on 25 December 2025. The event details had no prices. Both events have passed, but they show the kind of holiday service a Montego Bay resort puts on, so call Half Moon for its 2026 dates and rates. For other Montego Bay options, browse restaurants in St James.
Negril and Hanover: resort holiday programmes
Azul Beach Resort Negril advertises Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts on its holiday events page, with Santa arriving on the beach on Christmas Day. The page gives no price and no exact dining times. Reserve through the resort, and check whether non-guests can dine there.
Negril and the Hanover coast are resort country, so holiday dinners are tied to the hotels.
Princess Grand Jamaica, in Green Island in Hanover near Negril, has a 2026 Christmas offer. Christmas dinner is included for guests whose stay covers 24 December 2026. The offer needs a four-night minimum stay, includes a free airport transfer and must be booked by 7 January 2027. Its advertised saving of up to 40% applies to the stay, not to a dinner, so it is not a meal price. For other Negril options, see restaurants in Westmoreland.
Ocho Rios: Jamaica Inn and Miss T's Kitchen
Ocho Rios is a resort town, so start with its hotels. Jamaica Inn serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it arranges dine-around meals for guests. For a 25 December dinner, call the hotel and ask whether visitors who are not guests can book a table. More places are in restaurants in St Ann.
Miss T's Kitchen is closed on Christmas Day, so plan a different meal if you are staying in Ocho Rios. Many Ocho Rios resorts are open for 2026, but that only tells you a hotel is operating, not that it serves a holiday dinner.
Christmas Eve, Grand Market and Boxing Day
Grand Market is a Christmas Eve tradition in major towns. Shoppers, food vendors, musicians and street activity fill the streets, and the action often runs into the early hours of Christmas Day. In 2025, Falmouth announced a Grand Market at Water Square from 24 to 28 December, and Kingston planned a controlled Christmas Eve event at St William Grant Park with vendors and music. For a meal near Falmouth's port on other days, see where to eat near Falmouth cruise port.
Christmas Eve Grand Market fills town streets with food vendors, music and shoppers.
Santa Cruz in St Elizabeth normally ranks among the island's largest Grand Markets. The Jamaica Observer reported that the 2025 market was expected to be smaller after Hurricane Melissa, with many businesses damaged or not trading. Vendors might still appear, but the event was expected to be subdued.
Boxing Day, 26 December, is a busy day for family visits, beaches, shopping and food outings. A Grand Market on Christmas Eve does not tell you whether a particular restaurant will be open on 26 December, so check that venue's own hours.
The Christmas dishes to look for on a holiday menu
Holiday menus draw on a short list of traditional dishes. Ham, often glazed and decorated with pineapple, is a centrepiece on many Jamaican Christmas tables. Roast or baked chicken, curried goat, oxtail, rice and peas, and salads or vegetables also turn up often. For where to get a plate year-round, see where to get oxtail in Jamaica.
Sorrel and black cake are the drink and dessert most tied to a Jamaican Christmas.
Sorrel is Jamaica's traditional Christmas drink. It is a spiced hibiscus drink, usually flavoured with ginger and sugar and sometimes made with rum or wine. Christmas cake, also called black cake, is a dark, moist fruit cake made with fruit soaked in wine or rum. Rum punch and eggnog appear at some family gatherings and parties. For more on the season, read our Jamaican Christmas food guide.
Restaurants may serve only some of these dishes, so look for a holiday menu rather than assuming every traditional item will be there.
Before you book a Christmas Day table
Run through these questions with any venue, so the details are settled before you arrive:
- Is the Christmas meal open to people who are not hotel guests?
- Is a reservation required, and is there a deposit or prepayment?
- What is the cancellation deadline?
- Is the price per person, and are tax and service included?
- Are children charged a different price?
- What time is the assigned seating?
- Does the venue take cash, card or both?
Carry Jamaican dollars for smaller places, and do not assume a foreign card will be accepted. Because Christmas Day is a public holiday, the venue's own holiday page or phone line is the best guide to its 2026 plan.
Plan your Christmas Day meal
Christmas Day dinner works best when you choose one venue early, get its holiday hours and price in writing, and reconfirm the seating time a day or two before. Confirm before you go: holiday menus and prices change from year to year, so check each venue's 2026 details rather than relying on the 2024 and 2025 figures above.
To find places to eat in every parish, use our restaurant directory.
Common questions
What do people eat on Christmas Day in Jamaica?
A Jamaican Christmas Day meal often includes ham, roast or baked chicken, rice and peas with gungo peas, curried goat or oxtail, salads, sorrel and Christmas cake. Households vary, and hotel buffets often mix Jamaican dishes with international ones. The AC Hotel Kingston buffet in 2024 showed that mix, with gungo peas soup and goat soup beside smoked fish and salads.
Is Jamaica a good place to go for Christmas?
Yes, if you plan ahead. December falls within Jamaica's dry season, which runs from December to April, and the holidays bring family gatherings, church services, music and food traditions. Book meals, rooms and transport before you arrive, because Christmas is a busy and expensive period.
What is Christmas like in Jamaica?
Christmas mixes family visits, church services, parties, music and special food. Christmas Eve brings Grand Market, Christmas Day centres on family meals, and Boxing Day brings community fairs, dances and beach trips. Hotels often add their own buffets and entertainment, while many independent restaurants close.
What foods do Jamaicans eat for Christmas?
Common choices include glazed ham, roast or baked chicken, curried goat, oxtail, rice and peas, gungo peas, sorrel and black cake. Some families serve rum punch or eggnog too. A restaurant may offer only some of these, so look for its holiday menu.
Is going to Jamaica in December a good idea?
It can be. You get the dry-season weather and the Christmas atmosphere, but you also get busier travel and higher demand for rooms. Reserve Christmas Day dining early, arrange transport between the airport and your stay, and keep a backup meal plan in case a restaurant closes for the holiday.
Which restaurants are open on Christmas Day in Kingston?
Hotel dining rooms are the clearest choice. AC Hotel Kingston and Terra Nova ran Christmas Day menus in 2024, and Blue Window at Jamaica Pegasus is a hotel dining room to call for 2026. For independent Kingston restaurants, phoning the restaurant is the only reliable check.
Which restaurants are open on Christmas Day in Montego Bay?
Round Hill Hotel & Villas announced a Christmas Day dinner buffet for 2025, and Half Moon's events that year included a lunch buffet and a gala feast. Both are 2025 programmes, so check each hotel for its 2026 holiday service and reservation rules.
Are restaurants open on Boxing Day in Jamaica?
Some are. Boxing Day is a busy family and beach day, and some restaurants and food businesses trade on it. Opening is not the same everywhere, so check the 26 December hours of the specific place you plan to visit.
Where can I get Christmas dinner in Ocho Rios or Negril?
In Negril, Azul Beach Resort describes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dining and entertainment, and Princess Grand Jamaica offers Christmas dinner for guests whose 2026 stay covers 24 December. In Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you should call about a 25 December dinner. Miss T's Kitchen is closed on Christmas Day.
Do Jamaican restaurants need reservations for Christmas?
There is no single rule. Treat hotel buffets and resort dinners as bookings, since Round Hill directs guests to reserve. Independent restaurants may not need a reservation, but Christmas Day capacity can be limited and hours can be shorter, so a booking still protects your plan.