Portland is known for jerk and fresh seafood, and Port Antonio is the practical base for eating across Portland restaurants by town. Most of the restaurants, the public market and the main transport links sit in or near town. Jovi's Seafood, in the Port Antonio Craft Village on Allan Avenue, serves classic Jamaican dishes with outdoor seating over one of the twin harbours. For jerk, go east to Boston Bay, where Boston Jerk Centre sells jerk chicken, pork, fish, lobster and shrimp. Visit Jamaica says the commercial jerk pits in the area date to the 1940s.
Port Antonio has the widest choice in one place. Boston Bay is the jerk stop, Winnifred Beach has cook shops, and Frenchman's Cove has a beach bar. Long Bay, Hope Bay and Buff Bay each have a few restaurants to start with.
Port Antonio, the base for eating in Portland
Port Antonio has the widest choice, from a bakery to seafood and Jamaican plates. Port Antonio restaurants are the place to start. Portland Jerk Centre serves Jamaican food and a bar on Harbour Street and at its Di Hip Strip branch on Folly Road. The Hip Strip branch opened in June 2022, the Jamaica Observer reported.
Fruit and vegetables on a market table, the kind of everyday food Port Antonio's public market is known for.
The Hub is a Jamaican restaurant on the A4 in Port Antonio, open Monday to Saturday from 7 am to 6 pm and closed on Sunday. Fusion Bites is a fine dining restaurant at Shop #43, Fort George Street, open every day, with Sunday hours from 1 pm to 1 am. Coronation Bakery is a bakery that sells patties. It is open Monday to Thursday until 6 pm, until 6:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, and closed on Sunday.
For everyday food, the public market at 1 Gideon Avenue has cook-shop and fish-stall spaces (Portland Municipal Corporation).
Drapers and San San
Drapers restaurants sit a short drive east of Port Antonio on the main road. Woody's Low Bridge Place serves homemade burgers and traditional Jamaican meals. The food is cooked to order, so request special meals in the morning. The restaurant opened in 1986, Visit Jamaica reports.
Paulette's Cook Shop is a family restaurant in Drapers, open every day from noon to 9 pm.
Frenchman's Cove, near San San, is a beach bar and restaurant that serves jerk chicken and burgers. Its 2024 menu lists jerk chicken at J$1,600 (about US$10). That is one menu, so it shows the price at that beach in 2024, not what jerk costs across the parish.
Boston Bay, the jerk stop
Boston Bay restaurants are where Portland's jerk tradition is strongest. Visit Jamaica credits Portland as the birthplace of jerk cooking and says the first commercial jerk cooking in Jamaica took place around Boston. The older Boston meal was jerk pork with roasted breadfruit. Vendors now sell jerk pork, chicken, fish, lobster and shrimp, usually with festival or hard-dough bread.
Jerk cooking over pimento wood, the method Boston Bay is known for.
Ivy's Jerk Centre and Shaggy's Jerk Shop sit on the grounds associated with Boston's third and fourth historic jerk pits.
Lobster Bob is a Jamaican restaurant open every day from 11 am to 10 pm. Bernie's Pastry is a cafe open every day from 9:30 am to 10:30 pm.
Boston Jerk Centre had temporary stall closures in September and October 2024, so confirm before you go which vendors are open. The closures were reported on October 12, 2024 (Jamaica Information Service).
Fairy Hill and Winnifred Beach
Fairy Hill restaurants start with Ghong's Place I Café & Vintage, a cafe open Tuesday to Friday from 11 am to 4:30 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 3:30 pm. It is closed on Monday and Saturday.
Fried fish and festival, the food sold by the cook shops at Winnifred Beach.
Winnifred Beach is the beach stop. Its cook shops sell fried fish, festival and soup. The road down from the Fairy Hill main road is steep, so allow time to walk from the top if driving is hard. Lonely Planet describes food and drink stands and a weekend local atmosphere.
Long Bay and Manchioneal
Long Bay restaurants sit along the A4. Cover's Bar & Grill is a Jamaican restaurant on the A4 at Long Bay, open Thursday to Sunday from 11 am to midnight and closed Monday to Wednesday. Carby's Sport Bar BBQ & Grill is a bar and grill open every day from 10 am to 11:30 pm. Cliff Hanger is a seafood restaurant with an address on the A4 at Long Bay. It is open daily from noon to 9 pm, and until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.
Manchioneal is a fishing community, and seafood from the coast around it is part of Portland's food. Lasco cook shop is a chicken restaurant for fast food and takeout. It opens Monday from 10:30 am to 11 pm, Tuesday to Friday from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, and Saturday from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. It is closed on Sunday. Ebbies Candied Fruits is a dessert shop for ice cream, desserts and juice, open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.
Hope Bay and Buff Bay
Hope Bay restaurants include three places along the A4 coast. Likkle Portie is a Jamaican restaurant open every day from 10 am to 5 pm. Snack Haven By Lisa is a snack bar with takeout, open every day from 6 am and closing between 10:30 pm and midnight. Yankonko prandes is a bar and grill open every day from 11 am to midnight.
Belinda's Riverside Restaurant is reached by bamboo raft on the Rio Grande. It serves curry goat and freshly caught crayfish cooked over a wood fire.
Buff Bay restaurants sit at the western end of this coast. Ragbars Resturant is a Jamaican restaurant open Monday to Saturday from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, and closed on Sunday. Monk Fast Food, at Lot 11, Second Avenue, is a fast food restaurant open Monday to Saturday from 6 am to 10 pm. Creative Layers I-scream is an ice cream shop open Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 6 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm.
The rebuilt Buff Bay Market reopened in August 2025 as an open-air market with natural lighting. Its space includes cook shops and fish stalls (Jamaica Information Service).
Portland's food specialities
Jerk is the food Portland is most strongly linked with. Fresh seafood comes from the fishing communities around Port Antonio, Manchioneal and the coast, and lobster, shrimp, conch, crayfish and lionfish turn up at waterfront and hotel restaurants. Escoveitch fish with bammy is a Port Antonio seafood favourite (Visit Jamaica). Fresh fruit and natural juices are sold in Port Antonio and along the roads.
Escoveitch fish with bammy, the Port Antonio seafood favourite.
Bussu is a freshwater mollusc from Portland's rivers. Bussu comes as soup, patty, curry, jerked, stewed and punch. Bussu soup at Reach Falls is a Portland cultural food landmark (Jamaica Gleaner). An annual Bussu Festival in August at Swift River celebrates bussu dishes and community tourism (Jamaica55).
The Portland Jerk Festival has traditionally been held in July around Port Antonio and Boston. It is placed on the first Sunday in July at Folly Oval in Port Antonio (Moon Jamaica). Earlier notices from 2008 and 2010 put the festival in the first week of July. Check with the organisers for the current year's dates before you plan a trip around it.
Practical tips for eating in Portland
Route taxis serve the towns and are often shared, so agree the fare before you board. Food stops farther east are spread along the coast road, and some need a taxi or private driver.
Jerk can be hot because scotch bonnet pepper is part of the seasoning. Ask for mild, medium or hot if the vendor offers a choice. Pepper sauce may come on the side.
Portions can be large, especially at cook shops and Jamaican plate restaurants. Find out what comes with the meal, since rice and peas, white rice, festival, bammy, vegetables or plantain may be included or charged separately. Seafood and special dishes may be cooked to order, so allow extra time.
At a cook-shop counter, look at the pots and trays, choose a main and sides, check the price, and say whether you are eating in or taking away. At a jerk centre, name the meat you want, chicken, pork or fish, pick your festival or bread, and check whether the price is per piece, portion or plate.
Carry Jamaican dollars and small notes, especially for beaches, markets, route taxis and roadside vendors. Ask whether a restaurant takes cards before you order.
Order these local staples by name:
- Jerk pork or jerk chicken, preferably cooked over pimento wood
- Festival with jerk
- Jerk fish, lobster, shrimp or conch in Boston
- Escoveitch fish with bammy
- Ackee and saltfish
- Curry goat, oxtail, brown-stew chicken or rundown
- Fish tea, conch soup, mannish water or bussu soup
- Fried fish and festival at Winnifred Beach
- Fresh fruit juice, coconut water and seasonal fruit
Common questions
Four common questions about eating in Portland.
Where can I eat in Portland, Jamaica?
Start in Port Antonio, where most of the restaurants and the public market are. From there, go east to Boston Bay for jerk, or to Winnifred Beach for fried fish, festival and soup. Woody's Low Bridge Place in Drapers, which cooks to order, is a good stop for burgers and traditional Jamaican meals on the way.
What food is Portland famous for?
Jerk is the food Portland is most strongly linked with, and Visit Jamaica credits the parish as the birthplace of jerk cooking. Seafood, escoveitch fish with bammy and bussu from the rivers come next. If you want bussu, the soup is the version tied to the Reach Falls area.
Where can I get jerk, seafood or a cheap local meal in Portland?
For jerk, try Boston Jerk Centre, Ivy's Jerk Centre or Shaggy's Jerk Shop in Boston Bay, or Portland Jerk Centre in Port Antonio. For seafood, go to Jovi's Seafood in Port Antonio or to Cliff Hanger at Long Bay. For a lower-cost meal, the cook shops at Winnifred Beach and the Port Antonio market are the everyday choices, and you should check the price before you order, since one menu's prices cannot stand in for the whole parish.
What is there to eat near Portland's main sights?
Boston Beach and Boston Bay have jerk stops, including Boston Jerk Centre and Ivy's Jerk Centre. Frenchman's Cove has a beach bar whose 2024 menu lists jerk chicken at J$1,600 (about US$10). On the Rio Grande, Belinda's Riverside Restaurant serves curry goat and crayfish, and you reach it by bamboo raft.
To find more places by town and by kind of food, use the Portland restaurants by town and food type page in the directory.