Back A Yard Caribbean Grill

I can’t believe I waited so long to try this place! Their chicken is delicious. The staff here are really nice too, very pleasant and helpful. Thank you 🤩

This food was incredible. I’ve lived in the area my whole life, kicking myself for not finding this place sooner.

It was my first time here and I had an excellent experience! I ordered the yard salmon & oxtail combo and a beef patty. Both are soooooo good. Also, The server is super patient with all my questions since it was my first time there and I didn’t know what to order. A huge plus, the price is very affordable considering we’re in the Bay Area 😜 I would love to bring my family back. I highly recommend this location if you like to eat a little bit spicy food!!!

Good food and so good to see a branch of this chain with plenty of seating. Portion size was decently big for the price. Friendly staff and quick service.

Great good, oxtail was amazing

One of our family favorites. The chicken plate with the coconut rice and plantains is so good.

By far the best food of all their locations to date. I've been to them all! The taste, temp, portion, and appearance was excellent. Stumbled onto the Campbell location via a Mercury News article when doing a search on Google for a phone number on a different location. Such a pleasant surprise and a welcoming location with parking. Will be back for sure! So happy to find this convenient location.

Tasty fare. Fast and friendly service, Definitely going back to sample other dishes.

We love backayard. This is the second location we have gone to and both have fantastic food. Get the combo with the amazing rice and nice plantains... Whatever combo you get should be delicious but we've had any combo of chicken, pork, and salmon and have not been disappointed whenever we've gotten any of those (usually chicken and pork).

Salad was bomb, great rice and chicken. Bbq plate was simple but fantastic, great bbq taste. Soup of the day is always the same, some pumpkin thing. Plantain was great

They were able to accommodate my gluten free dairy free requests. I took a plate with salmon and chicken with rice and beans (I skipped the plaintains and cole slaw though according to their advice). My plate is on the top of the picture I uploaded. I also tried ox trails that my friend took. Husband took the fish festival plate (swahi fish) and the drink. Everything is excellent, we will be back.

Arrived at 12nn on a tuesday. No problems with free street parking, and immediately had seats available. Food was nice, ordered jerk chicken, a few beef patties, and the special of the day which was jamaican curry chicken. Everything tasted wonderful Service was solid, after ordering at the counter a person brought over our food. Very accommodating in possible recommendations while we were ordering as well. Atmosphere was nice, some seemingly jamaican music in the background but not intrusive and no problems with typical conversation volume among groups in a table.

Theee Best Caribbean food in my hometown. This restaurant is loved by the community. Great Service Great Food, Great Atmosphere. Enjoy lunch or dinner. Dine in or try take out orders. Their Food is Cooked to Perfection and tastes very much like a home cooked meal. They've been around for years and they also have delicious desserts and a few special drinks. They also do catering for events. They prepared catered foods for my niece's 30th birthday party in Oakland near the lake. You can't go wrong if you choose to try them out for yourselves. The plantains are my favorite. 😋😋😋 Okay, so the photos that follow the 1st photograph were taken @ the Winchester location in San Jose that I didn't really know existed. I tried everything vegetarian I could find. Didn't care for the sautéed vegetables they totally lacked flavor and my sister told me but, I had already placed my order. Bland veggies are not for me but, everything else was delicious. Hopefully, they have honest customers that suggest more seasoning or a flavorful sauce for the vegetables.

Caribbean and Jamaican, as well as BBQ on the menu. Freshly made plantains, great specials, good prices, and lots of room to sit and enjoy! They are quick in the kitchen, so it works well for take out, too! Try the fresh juices, like mango, guava or ginger. We thoroughly enjoyed it all! Four other locations in the area, and all of them are equally as delicious.

Edit: we came back for more. I do feel like the quality isn’t as good as it was last year, but the food is still good. Seems to be more mistakes either with the orders now. — The jerk chicken here is so good! It’s savory, tangy, spicy, and all wonderful things. The secret is in the jerk sauce, which you can also buy to take home if you so desire, but it’s not the same!! (I think it’s a dollar per ounce for the bottles) The plantains are also *chefs kiss*. Good stuff. I don’t really recommend the desserts here, though. I’ve tried them and they’re just alright. The cornbread is ok. The Mac and cheese is ok. The hot link is good, too, but I don’t think it’s really worth buying from here when you can get jerk chicken 🐔

First time eating here I'll have to say that it's really good. I got the salmon and ox tails combo. I love the music and the fast service. This has to be one of my top 3 food place to eat. I usually eat Asian food and this is a great substitute. I like the plantain also. Highly recommended this place. Caribbean food is so delicious 😋🤤

had been wanting to try back a yard after being recommended it by SO many people and was NOT disappointed at all! what a gem. tried the oxtail plate and jerk chicken plate and both were insane. the oxtail was so tender, and the sauce was so rich and savory, it went perfectly with the rice (i do wish the oxtails were a liiitle bigger but they were not offensively small haha). jerk chicken was maybe a Tad (JUST a tad) on the drier side BUT the flavor and the sauce made up for it easily. the fried plantains were delicious as well. everything was very reasonably priced as well!! overall, it was a delicious meal—i need to come back here ASAP!

We've finally had an opportunity to try their food and it was amazing! The oxtail, pork and chicken was so tender with so much flavor. The fried plantains were so delicious. Would have been great, if they offered a small bucket of them with our meals. Definitely be back to try the rest of their menu!

Had friends tell me how good this chain was so went to try it. Overall it was pretty solid, I did give them five stars but it's closer to four and a half. Nothing I tried was bad and the beef Jamaican patty was great but it's hype isn't that justified. Still for the pricing and what they offer they are unique and is worth a try if you like chicken.

So I just moved to campbell from MA and was missing my local Ali’s roti and flames for my good Caribbean food. Stumbled upon this while looking for apts and I knew I had to live here. I’ve been in ca for 2 weeks and have already been here 4 times lol. I tried different things each time and all have been amazing. Oxtail, goat, festival bread and plantains are bussin. I got the jerk pork yard bowl today. Also amazing. Although I’m gonna need like 6 more sauces because it’s sooooo good 😂. Get the mango habanero hot sauce. It’s homeade and fantastic. Lunch isn’t complete with a ting! Yum!

Maverick Sy

Arrived at 12nn on a tuesday. No problems with free street parking, and immediately had seats available. Food was nice, ordered jerk chicken, a few beef patties, and the special of the day which was jamaican curry chicken. Everything tasted wonderful Service was solid, after ordering at the counter a person brought over our food. Very accommodating in possible recommendations while we were ordering as well. Atmosphere was nice, some seemingly jamaican music in the background but not intrusive and no problems with typical conversation volume among groups in a table.

Kimberly Russell

Theee Best Caribbean food in my hometown. This restaurant is loved by the community. Great Service Great Food, Great Atmosphere. Enjoy lunch or dinner. Dine in or try take out orders. Their Food is Cooked to Perfection and tastes very much like a home cooked meal. They've been around for years and they also have delicious desserts and a few special drinks. They also do catering for events. They prepared catered foods for my niece's 30th birthday party in Oakland near the lake. You can't go wrong if you choose to try them out for yourselves. The plantains are my favorite. 😋😋😋 Okay, so the photos that follow the 1st photograph were taken @ the Winchester location in San Jose that I didn't really know existed. I tried everything vegetarian I could find. Didn't care for the sautéed vegetables they totally lacked flavor and my sister told me but, I had already placed my order. Bland veggies are not for me but, everything else was delicious. Hopefully, they have honest customers that suggest more seasoning or a flavorful sauce for the vegetables.

Ali Hanks

Caribbean and Jamaican, as well as BBQ on the menu. Freshly made plantains, great specials, good prices, and lots of room to sit and enjoy! They are quick in the kitchen, so it works well for take out, too! Try the fresh juices, like mango, guava or ginger. We thoroughly enjoyed it all! Four other locations in the area, and all of them are equally as delicious.

Dan Kim

Had friends tell me how good this chain was so went to try it. Overall it was pretty solid, I did give them five stars but it's closer to four and a half. Nothing I tried was bad and the beef Jamaican patty was great but it's hype isn't that justified. Still for the pricing and what they offer they are unique and is worth a try if you like chicken.

Vivian Lee

Edit: we came back for more. I do feel like the quality isn’t as good as it was last year, but the food is still good. Seems to be more mistakes either with the orders now. — The jerk chicken here is so good! It’s savory, tangy, spicy, and all wonderful things. The secret is in the jerk sauce, which you can also buy to take home if you so desire, but it’s not the same!! (I think it’s a dollar per ounce for the bottles) The plantains are also *chefs kiss*. Good stuff. I don’t really recommend the desserts here, though. I’ve tried them and they’re just alright. The cornbread is ok. The Mac and cheese is ok. The hot link is good, too, but I don’t think it’s really worth buying from here when you can get jerk chicken 🐔

Volark Keo

First time eating here I'll have to say that it's really good. I got the salmon and ox tails combo. I love the music and the fast service. This has to be one of my top 3 food place to eat. I usually eat Asian food and this is a great substitute. I like the plantain also. Highly recommended this place. Caribbean food is so delicious 😋🤤

Serena He

had been wanting to try back a yard after being recommended it by SO many people and was NOT disappointed at all! what a gem. tried the oxtail plate and jerk chicken plate and both were insane. the oxtail was so tender, and the sauce was so rich and savory, it went perfectly with the rice (i do wish the oxtails were a liiitle bigger but they were not offensively small haha). jerk chicken was maybe a Tad (JUST a tad) on the drier side BUT the flavor and the sauce made up for it easily. the fried plantains were delicious as well. everything was very reasonably priced as well!! overall, it was a delicious meal—i need to come back here ASAP!

Cisco L

We've finally had an opportunity to try their food and it was amazing! The oxtail, pork and chicken was so tender with so much flavor. The fried plantains were so delicious. Would have been great, if they offered a small bucket of them with our meals. Definitely be back to try the rest of their menu!

alex cooper

So I just moved to campbell from MA and was missing my local Ali’s roti and flames for my good Caribbean food. Stumbled upon this while looking for apts and I knew I had to live here. I’ve been in ca for 2 weeks and have already been here 4 times lol. I tried different things each time and all have been amazing. Oxtail, goat, festival bread and plantains are bussin. I got the jerk pork yard bowl today. Also amazing. Although I’m gonna need like 6 more sauces because it’s sooooo good 😂. Get the mango habanero hot sauce. It’s homeade and fantastic. Lunch isn’t complete with a ting! Yum!

Really appreciate the hard work of the staff here. RE: the food. The high reviews are correct. Not just in general awesome food but this is exactly like Jamaican jerk I had over 20 years ago. Better, actually.

Large portions, two of us split the jerk chicken and pork combo plate. Just enough for two to enjoy all the flavors or the chicken, park, rice bean and coconut side dish with a taste of plantains to finish it off. We split the dish which was about $20 with tax and tip, so $10 person. 👍

Diana Garbarino

Large portions, two of us split the jerk chicken and pork combo plate. Just enough for two to enjoy all the flavors or the chicken, park, rice bean and coconut side dish with a taste of plantains to finish it off. We split the dish which was about $20 with tax and tip, so $10 person. 👍

Renee P

Traveled from 50+ miles for some Caribbean food and they never miss. Carmen was amazing and very helpful. She recommended the patties which are now a new favorite 😍. My family and I look forward to returning in the near future.

Mitchell P

The food here is always delicious. My go-to is the chicken and pork combo. From the smell and the taste hits me just right every time. Love the jerk sauce. I always keep a bottle in the fridge to spice up the meat I grill at home. I wish I knew how to get plantains to taste this good when I make them. The rice and beans are very good as well. My wife enjoyed the Thursday special of Coconut Curry Shrimp with vegetables. It had a mild curry flavor that went nicely with the shrimp. The vegetables consisted of squash, carrots, zucchini, green beans, and broccoli. It was a nice combination.

It's an understatement to say I love Caribbean food, and this has always been one of my favorite places to eat. This was my 1st time at this location. I ordered the curry goat and oxtail combo. They forgot the curry goat, and when I notified them, it was taken care of. My friend and I ate in the restaurant, and I joked that all Jamaican restaurants must be the same. Same tables and chairs etc. The atmosphere is casual and very comfortable and includes a traditional reggae music mix. The restaurant was empty, with the exception of a mother and her son and us. The oxtail was a bit on the salty side but still delicious. I recommend this place not just as a favorite but also as a place to enjoy Jamaican culture away from the island. Take family and hang out with friends and enjoy good food and music.

Great for a quick lunch b/c food is ready pretty fast. Jerk chicken had good flavour and portions were good.

Pretty good place to get Caribbean food. We especially like their jerk chicken and the corn festival. This location is very spacious with many tables inside.

+4

Nice aesthetic of the interior with beautiful colors all around. My party entered with zero people in the restaurant around 3pm, so we were able to take our time in deciding since it was our first time. We ordered the BBQ pork spare ribs and BBQ chicken and ribs combo with sides of fries, coleslaw, and cornbread. Both meals were good portions of meat with flavorful sauce. Tender, juicy, and overall good. The cornbread was a nice dry side that complemented the taste of the ribs. If I had a side of rice, this meal would have been perfect! Would come again!

Vincent L

Pretty good place to get Caribbean food. We especially like their jerk chicken and the corn festival. This location is very spacious with many tables inside.

Marc Adrian Santos

Nice aesthetic of the interior with beautiful colors all around. My party entered with zero people in the restaurant around 3pm, so we were able to take our time in deciding since it was our first time. We ordered the BBQ pork spare ribs and BBQ chicken and ribs combo with sides of fries, coleslaw, and cornbread. Both meals were good portions of meat with flavorful sauce. Tender, juicy, and overall good. The cornbread was a nice dry side that complemented the taste of the ribs. If I had a side of rice, this meal would have been perfect! Would come again!

Ordered jerk chicken and Jamaican oxtail with corn festivals on the side. I don't like to say it, but food was not what it used to be at the original Backayard in San Jose. Food was very salty, except for the festivals! Chicken seemed to be cooked a few hours prior to our meal and the oxtail, while tender, was so salty. Salt can be added to a dish but unable to be removed. My husband said his meal was ok, but I don't want just ok food for his birthday meal, I would appreciate delicious food, this location needs to lower their salt content and concentrate on tasty but not so salty dishes! The old restaurant used to be packed, this place only had 3 tables occupied, that's saying something.😥. Liz from Fremont, a bit of a drive to get to Campbell in heavy traffic.

I ordered the oxtail and beef patty. The oxtail was not bad and fixed the craving I had (but I have been eating oxtail since I could eat so I know It’s hard to beat being on the Island and eating it) The patty was not it (maybe it wasn’t fresh enough?). Prices were reasonable and I would probably come back if I was in the area and try other things on the menu :).

6/16/23 good joint. grab the oxtail with rice and bean on the side, plantain. great tender and spiced up meat. plate is massive, so yea, its safe.

Good food but very small portions compared to other locations. Rolls were not fresh. Clean place but customer service needs improvement. The girl just halfway smiled when I walked up to the register and I told her I was there to pick up an order. When I grabbed my order, she did not say anything after I said thank you. I ordered à la carte jerk, pork pieces and that was the item that was pretty skimpy. Posting a picture for reference and two pieces were eaten by me from the picture taken but overall portion compared to other locations is less for sure.

As a Jamaican I was immediately concerned when I walked in so I decided to try small items. The beef patty is not bad but it is not Jamaican. The Chicken soup was close. I will say that the food is more affordable in comparison to the usual prices for Caribbean food.

1/4/24 Decided to eat a Back A Yard Caribbean Grill and after reviewing the menu, I ordered BBQ chicken (2 legs, 1 thigh) which came with small coleslaw, crinkle Fries, and small Barbecue sauce. In addition I ordered the Macaroni and cheese. The chicken was flavored good but the coleslaw was missing that crunch. Macaroni and cheese was average tasted kind of bland. I also had a fountain soda with my order. Total cost $ 23.68 + $5.00 tip=$30.68 1/5/24: 2nd day in a row eating here. Today I tried the Combo plate (Ribs & Chicken) comes with crinkle fries, added corn bread and fountain soda. Ribs were flavored okay and the good thing not a lot of fat pretty much all meat. Chicken was a leg and a thigh. Fries were okay used BBQ sauce as a dipping sauce. 1/24/24: Been coming back several times and today I ordered Combo (Jerk chicken & Oxtails) which comes in a large serving dish with rice and plaintain. Oh my the jerk chicken is spiced so good (not too spicy but has a little kick to it) Other things that I’ve tried is the Cornbread, Festival (great with the oxtails to dip into sauce), hotlinks, ribs and macaroni and cheese. You place your order at the counter and they will call your # and you pick up your food.

MD

Good food but very small portions compared to other locations. Rolls were not fresh. Clean place but customer service needs improvement. The girl just halfway smiled when I walked up to the register and I told her I was there to pick up an order. When I grabbed my order, she did not say anything after I said thank you. I ordered à la carte jerk, pork pieces and that was the item that was pretty skimpy. Posting a picture for reference and two pieces were eaten by me from the picture taken but overall portion compared to other locations is less for sure.

Symantha Rhodes

As a Jamaican I was immediately concerned when I walked in so I decided to try small items. The beef patty is not bad but it is not Jamaican. The Chicken soup was close. I will say that the food is more affordable in comparison to the usual prices for Caribbean food.

Gary C. Rosales

1/4/24 Decided to eat a Back A Yard Caribbean Grill and after reviewing the menu, I ordered BBQ chicken (2 legs, 1 thigh) which came with small coleslaw, crinkle Fries, and small Barbecue sauce. In addition I ordered the Macaroni and cheese. The chicken was flavored good but the coleslaw was missing that crunch. Macaroni and cheese was average tasted kind of bland. I also had a fountain soda with my order. Total cost $ 23.68 + $5.00 tip=$30.68 1/5/24: 2nd day in a row eating here. Today I tried the Combo plate (Ribs & Chicken) comes with crinkle fries, added corn bread and fountain soda. Ribs were flavored okay and the good thing not a lot of fat pretty much all meat. Chicken was a leg and a thigh. Fries were okay used BBQ sauce as a dipping sauce. 1/24/24: Been coming back several times and today I ordered Combo (Jerk chicken & Oxtails) which comes in a large serving dish with rice and plaintain. Oh my the jerk chicken is spiced so good (not too spicy but has a little kick to it) Other things that I’ve tried is the Cornbread, Festival (great with the oxtails to dip into sauce), hotlinks, ribs and macaroni and cheese. You place your order at the counter and they will call your # and you pick up your food.

We’ve been going to the other Back-A-Yard locations for a long time, and the food is delicious. This location is most convienent for us however, the portion sizes are small and the food is nearly always dry or over cooked.

The meat is constantly burnt, the rice and peas is overcooked and lacks flavor. Surprising because the original place was fantastic. Please with the lack of Caribbean/Jamaican spots in the bay, I really hope that this can get better but it’s been consistently poor quality.

Super disappointing experience. Ordered the curry goat + jerk chicken combo and got literally less than 2 bites of goat & the rest was all bone. Brought this to the attention of the staff and they claimed there was “nothing they could do” because the manager wasn’t there?? & had “no idea” when the manager would be in? Ironically the people at the table next to us had been waiting for a manager as well when we sat down and they were told the same thing “manager isn’t here, there’s nothing we can do”. Very off-putting as this is the cook’s responsibility, along with the staff to uphold the standard of the restaurant in the absence of the manager. Might not be returning here anymore (we’ve been regulars for years—definitely have spent probably over a thousand dollars here and were about to book them to cater a large family reunion but after the complete lack of concern/empathy for their mess up we won’t be moving forward with that). Lastly the cook continuously shot us dirty looks the whole time we were there—super off putting experience overall. Disappointed, and miss the old cook.

Brittney

Super disappointing experience. Ordered the curry goat + jerk chicken combo and got literally less than 2 bites of goat & the rest was all bone. Brought this to the attention of the staff and they claimed there was “nothing they could do” because the manager wasn’t there?? & had “no idea” when the manager would be in? Ironically the people at the table next to us had been waiting for a manager as well when we sat down and they were told the same thing “manager isn’t here, there’s nothing we can do”. Very off-putting as this is the cook’s responsibility, along with the staff to uphold the standard of the restaurant in the absence of the manager. Might not be returning here anymore (we’ve been regulars for years—definitely have spent probably over a thousand dollars here and were about to book them to cater a large family reunion but after the complete lack of concern/empathy for their mess up we won’t be moving forward with that). Lastly the cook continuously shot us dirty looks the whole time we were there—super off putting experience overall. Disappointed, and miss the old cook.

First time I ordered the jerk chicken and oxtails it was great, nice portion and delicious. Today I ordered it and the ox tails were tiny and under done. Tough meat, barely anything, it was a rip off. Not sure I’ll go back.

The food here is great, which makes this disappointing to share. During my last visit, I noticed an additional charge on my card for an order I didn’t place, a few hours after my original purchase. My card never left my possession. I’m unsure how this happened, but wanted to give others a heads-up to keep an eye on their transactions.

GT T

The meat is constantly burnt, the rice and peas is overcooked and lacks flavor. Surprising because the original place was fantastic. Please with the lack of Caribbean/Jamaican spots in the bay, I really hope that this can get better but it’s been consistently poor quality.

Got the goat and jerk pork plate today, my usual for the past 2 years ordering from this place. The food is very very good but the service could be lacking but I didn't mind because I get takeouts most of the time since the dining room always seems so drab. All of this changed today when I was enjoying my meal and I noticed that the goat portion of the plate(which is usually a lot of meat) is not mostly bones. I didn't mind because I thought I had the bottom of the pot draw but what really made this all unsatisfying is that I found a piece of aluminum foil in the plate. I didn't order anything with the foil and certainly didn't get charged for adding extra aluminum foil to my plate. Quality just went down the drain, sad to see.

Staff had the POS service down, bummer but no big deal... But they had ATTITUDE about fielding any questions from customers... you'd think that they understand the connection between having happy customers and their income... They do not.

As a long time customer of 3 locations (OG market st, SJSU and this location) The staff here keeps changing and so is the quality of their service. Sometimes the food takes ages. Today was a bit disrespectful even. Lady was so engrossed behind the register using her iPad. If u need to focus on it and not do cashier service,don’t stand there. As a major inconvenience she finally acknowledges me as a paying customer. Just collects my payment. No thank you. All this time - on the same iPad. I guess that iPad is paying her more than a real customer. As a real Jamaican, this attitude wouldn’t even pass back in Kingston. Ok folks - food is good, but customer facing manners needs work. I think I made a mistake coming to lunch here - clearly they don’t need your business. I should pass this to the owner - we share a mutual friend.

Tim Ch

As a long time customer of 3 locations (OG market st, SJSU and this location) The staff here keeps changing and so is the quality of their service. Sometimes the food takes ages. Today was a bit disrespectful even. Lady was so engrossed behind the register using her iPad. If u need to focus on it and not do cashier service,don’t stand there. As a major inconvenience she finally acknowledges me as a paying customer. Just collects my payment. No thank you. All this time - on the same iPad. I guess that iPad is paying her more than a real customer. As a real Jamaican, this attitude wouldn’t even pass back in Kingston. Ok folks - food is good, but customer facing manners needs work. I think I made a mistake coming to lunch here - clearly they don’t need your business. I should pass this to the owner - we share a mutual friend.