Reggae Jamaica Restaurant & Bakery

Reggae Jamaica Restaurant & Bakery is a family-run Jamaican restaurant and scratch bakery at the corner of Dewey and Ridgeway Avenues in Rochester, NY. Co-owners Everton Ramsay, his brother Erickson, and nephew Orville operate the business out of two side-by-side storefronts. Everton Ramsay grew up in Kingston and Portmore, Jamaica, where he learned patty-making as a teenager and went on to open several eateries across the island. He immigrated to Rochester in 2009 and launched Reggae Jamaica about two years later at Lightfoot Square on Jefferson Avenue. After moving through a few locations, the restaurant settled into its current Dewey Avenue home.

The menu centers on traditional Jamaican dishes prepared from scratch with fresh ingredients. Diners choose a portion size, pick a protein, and select rice and peas or white rice as a base. Core entrées include:

• Jerk chicken
• Oxtail
• Curry goat
• Curry chicken
• Pepper steak

The on-site bakery produces Jamaican beef patties in several varieties — beef, beef and cheese, curry chicken, jerk chicken, and stewed vegetable. A signature option is the "Full House" patty, which is split open and filled with fresh cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Coco bread and made-to-order birthday cakes round out the bakery side. The restaurant offers dine-in, take-out, curbside pickup, and delivery within a five-mile radius. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.

Reggae Jamaica has built its identity around its handmade Jamaican beef patties — the storefront sign reads "Home of the Best Jamaican Beef Patty." The Ramsay family draws on decades of patty-making experience rooted in Jamaica's commercial bakery tradition, and the restaurant has stated plans to scale up patty production for distribution across New York State. The jerk chicken, prepared with a smoky, seasoned crust, is another staple that defines the menu.

The restaurant sits at 1485 Dewey Avenue at the intersection with Ridgeway Avenue, in Rochester's Maplewood area on the city's northwest side. Street parking is available directly outside. The Dewey-Ridgeway corridor is part of a broader stretch of Caribbean food establishments in Rochester, and Reggae Jamaica anchors that presence on this commercial block. The location is accessible from several surrounding neighborhoods including Lyell-Otis and the 19th Ward.