Jambo Cafe

Wonderful unique food. The "special " is always pretty much exactly that, special, I recommend it.

The owner is very friendly and comes around to visit. My wife and I have been to Africa on safari. Jambo Cafe is worth a regular repeat visit on your schedule.

We were in town for a short visit and this place looked intriguing. And we were right! The ambiance in the restaurant is casual but innovative - lots of African influences. My wife and I enjoyed an appetizer of Hummus - with fresh vegetables and warm pita. Very good.
Then we each tried one of the house-made beverages. I had the tamarind drink, which was tart and refreshing. My wife had the ginger-mango drink, also very tasty, although a little bit sweeter than she wanted.
We then tried kebabs - Moroccan chicken for me and Kenyan beef for her. Both really flavorful and served with sides of green beans and a starch (potatoes with the beef, couscous with the chicken). They were spiced just right and just the kinds of flavors you're not going to get anywhere else. If you like a taste bud adventure, try Jambo Cafe!

Tried the lamb burger with the mixed fries basket today for lunch, plus a cup of the soup of the day. Everything was seasoned to perfection!

Waitress was sweet and very helpful.

We love the atmosphere here.

MUST TRY!!! Warm welcome upon entry the owner/kitchen lead makes a point to check in to see how satisfied you are so the service is impeccable! Food wise my partner had the plantains (he prefers them well done) he also had the chicken curry omg all over the country and the flavor was immaculate!!! I had the kabobs the flavors extremely tasty I only wish it was filet meat. Plate presentation was nice the environment gives off the ambiance of Africa again a must try.

OVERALL
In search of something unique and that I had never tried in Santa Fe, NM, I found Jambo Cafe scouring Google Earth like I usually do. From their Yelp page, they pride themselves in offering "Pan-African and Caribbean cuisine in a vibrant, spacious setting." Definitely add this place to your bookmarks.

RATING BREAKDOWN
Food: 4 | Service: 5 | Ambiance: 4 | Price: 3

PARKING
There was ample free parking in the plaza lot.

LOCATION/AMBIANCE
The Jambo sign was easily visible from Cerrillos Road. When I walked in I noticed a podium so I waited for the host/hostess. The restaurant was at about 75% capacity at around 8PM. I was immediately guided to the back to the takeout area which was viewable from the entrance. Splashes of African & Caribbean decor accented the walls and ceilings.

Takeout orders aren't announced when they set them on that back counter. You just have to keep checking the tickets to see if it's yours.

THE GRUB
Kenyan Style Beef Kabobs (kebabs) were just under $23. This dinner entailed "marinated beef tenderloin tips with herb garlic saffron potatoes, sauteed haricot verts topped with a pomegranate sauce." They threw in a couple of bone marrow pieces in my to-go box. The tanginess of the pomegranate sauce was a bit intense alone, but it complemented the tenderloin cuts extremely well.

I'd definitely go back to try other dishes unique to Africa.

LITTLE YELPER'S CLUB
I don't recall seeing a kid's menu or any children in the dining room for that matter.

SERVICE
The crew was all very welcoming & friendly when I walked in to place a takeout order on 2/16/2024.

MY FAVORITE PART...
The beef kebabs dinner.

NOT SO FAVORITE PART...
They would not answer the phone during my three attempts.

TIP
Definitely order the kebabs medium rare or rarer as their beef is very lean.

We have had several friends recommend and we finally got up to Santa Fa to try it!
Service was quick and very friendly and helpful with recommendations!
Love the vibe of the inside, the chairs we sat in at our table were very comfortable or at last I thought so.

We got the coconut tofu curry and the East African coconut lentil strew. We got one with rice and one with roti! Both were delicious, enjoyed the roti and the rice side and both complement either dish.
We also go their Jamaican rum pecan pie, yum!! The flavor was amazing my husband also said they gave just the right amount of ice cream too.

Overall I would go back again and would like to try more things!

Wow wow wow! Amazing flavors, huge portions, superior service, easy parking, reasonable prices, comfortable setting. My wife and I were in Santa Fe for a couple of days and wish we were there longer so we could try more entrees at Jambo Cafe!

She was not quite sure about African and/or Caribbean flavors, so tried the BBQ Chicken Sandwich and said it was great. I had the Lamb Sandwich with mixed fries, and both were excellent. The lamb portion was huge with nice flavors, and my "mixed" fries were sweet potato and also harissa lemon, which were very tasty. We also ordered the cinnamon-dusted plantains appetizer but for dessert, and it was very good also - but had to eat it the next day since we were too full from the entrees.

A must stop if in Santa Fe!

For a town that already is already blessed with a slew of eateries serving great versions of the native New Mexican cuisine and a number of superb higher-end restaurants of various sorts, Santa Fe is almost piling it on with this excellent pan-African place.

Jambo Cafe is off the beaten tourist path in a nondescript shopping center on teeming Cerrillos Road, its storefront sort of looking like another big-box store along with Office Depot and Burlington Coat Factory. Inside, though, is a pleasant and convivial--and quite large--restaurant doing great things with a wide range of equatorial and tropical cuisines. (The chef is a native of an island off the coast of Kenya, which evidently makes for a stew of influences.)

Given my relative lack of familiarity with much of this cuisine, a combination plate made good sense: Chickpea berbere stew (Ethiopian) and Island Spice Chicken coconut stew were both fragrant, tasty, and hearty. To be honest, though, both could have used a modest flavor bump. But the Caribbean goat stew absolutely crushed it and kind of left me wishing I'd ordered that as my sole entree. The goat stew had deliciously concentrated flavor and was among the two or three best things I ate in a great week-plus of New Mexico eating. Served with delicious roti. We also had the Savory Stuffed Phyllo appetizer, which seemed high at $14 but was a massive portion--a couple of big spanakopita-like numbers filled not only with spinach and feta but also black olives, red peppers, and chick peas, and served with a little salad. That was pretty great also.

There are some nice bottled hot sauces on the table to spice things up even more, if you are so inclined.

Highly recommended.

I grew up eating African as well as Caribbean food in Jersey City, NJ. I heard that Jambo is "amazing" and "out of this world". I honestly thought it was okay. Something was missing in the food. It didn't pack any punch of complex flavors that I was used to growing up. I tried Jambo three times, but each time I was a bit disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, Jambo is not bad. I think it is a good introduction to African cuisine. So if you've never had African food before this is like the mild version that's a nice and easy intro to the cuisine. Try it out for yourself.

Incredibly delicious food! This was our first restaraunt stop on our trip to Santa Fe. The place was lively but not noisy at 2pm on a Wednesday. The food was delicious - we will most likely make another stop on our way back home!