A new Jamaican restaurant, Island Rootz, that is owned and operated by a married couple originally from New York, has opened up on the corner of Davis and Main in Watertown. The couple, tired of the daily commute back and forth from the husband’s chef job in the Bronx, decided to look for places to settle, when they eventually landed in Watertown. For months, places would pop up but there were none that ever really caught their eye. One day the listing in Watertown showed up and the entire family knew that it was the perfect place for them. The owner said she felt like, “Watertown pulled us in. Watertown took what it wanted and for us it was what we needed.” 

The customer service at the establishment was amazing. The couple and the entire staff do a great job at making you feel welcome, being sure to remember your face. When they moved into what was once The Pasta Gallery and Ray’s Place, they brought a Caribbean vibe with them. “We wanted to give it the same kind of vibe to match the flavor we would be bringing with our service and food.” The wife has a strong passion for food and some formal training and her husband worked as a chef for years in the Bronx. They have truly done an excellent job at bringing new and much needed culture to Watertown. 

The menu has various Caribbean cuisine ranging from ackee and saltfish to curried goat. The chef himself recommends the jerk chicken, beef patties, and the oxtail. The jerk chicken is very aromatic and offers a sweet yet smokey flavor. The meat is extremely tender as it practically falls off the bone. The crust of the beef patty is very flakey and crunchy just like a pie crust. You can smell the melange of spices coming from the filling and when you finally take that first bite you’re hit with the flavor of many spices and the richness of the ground beef. The oxtail tastes like beef however with a much deeper and richer flavor. The oxtail is also very tender and silky, but has a very high fat percentage making it necessary to eat around parts. The chef himself says that these recipes are original but that, “Things change from my fathers days so the sauce may be different.” 

The owner really wants to be active with the community and form more of a relationship between the restaurant, its patrons, and Watertown itself. When asked what future goals the owner has, she responded with “…as we grow we do have some ideas we would like to put out to make the restaurant more interesting and enticing. We want to offer variety in the service, we want to try to do weekend stuff that will pull people in and will make us a spot.” Watertown certainly needs a new spot for people to go and Island Rootz feels perfect. 

Island Rootz, having recently opened in early September, has certainly received a well deserved warm welcome to Watertown. The owners are very happy to have such a great start here in town and the owner showed her immense gratitude when she said, “I want to take this opportunity to say thank you Watertown. You have all welcomed this business with raving reviews and great support and I’m truly grateful. I’m also going to take this opportunity to say we will continue to put our best foot forward because Watertown needs us and we need Watertown.” We look forward to seeing what else Island Rootz and this family has to offer Watertown in the years to come.