Lala Caribbean restaurant

I'm from the Caribbean and eaten my fair share of Haitian dishes. When we arrived, we felt like we were bothering the lady from the counter. We kept the interaction at a minimum and ordered two different plates. We waited between 20-30 minutes for our food. Upon receiving our order, the lady gave us the same plate and nothing looked fresh (i.e. cold/dried plantain) and then charged us $40+. Like a prior review, I think they assumed we wouldn't noticed. We were going to give this place another go but unfortunately one of our family members suffered a similar experience (she was given the incorrect plate) and disputed it without any success. Please save your money. There's much better options in Dorchester.

Placed an order on DoorDash to go to the store to be told they’re not accepting DoorDash orders and to order it through Uber. I did that and waited 45 minutes for it to be ready. Got into the store for them to ask me if I wanted chicken or turkey. What?!?!? Lady told me to cancel the order and in doing that I was still charged $40.

This was my first time getting Haitian food, so I can’t say how it ranks overall compared to other Haitian places, but this is definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had. The pork was amazing and crispy and the fat melted in my mouth, and the portion size was great, especially with the plantains. If I lived here I would eat here all the time!

I googled Haitian restaurants nearby and spotted this one. I parked my car and said hmmmm this is a tiny place…hey let me try it anyways. I went in and the gentlemen behind the counter was so professional and kind. I’ve complimented him because in my opinion it is very hard to find an all around great Haitian restaurant or Haitian food business. I came in and didn’t know what I wanted. He walked me through making up my mind. He had patience, a great tone of voice, honesty, great listening skills and such a positive energy. This is exactly what ANY restaurant should be like. The food was amazing - GREAT PORTION ⭐️ I ordered du ri jon jon ( black rice - most people call it but the correct name is dried mushroom rice ) with legumes and baked macaroni and Soup Joumou! YUMMY !!!!!! The legumes was amazing because it didn’t have too much acid in it. Some places love to add acid or too much spice to the legumes but this one was perfect! The rice was amazing also because it was fully cooked. I really don’t like ordering this kind of dish or ANY and Haitian food that is not fully cooked! I applaud this place! I rarely write reviews but when I do it’s serious! I would like to also say I applaud the owner for believing in him and hiring him. This man will go far in life. Please continue to support employees like him. I have to also give a round of applause to the people in the back who put their work in making the food as well. I just can’t write this review and forget the employees in the back. They are part of the business as well! It’s not easy waking up everyday cooking and serving people - it can be challenging. I applaud this place. For such a small place to eat-the service and food is amazing! This goes to say never judge a book by its cover. You never know the greatness it has. Please continue to do well in the community. I appreciate your business! Sincerely, A loyal customer

Worst food ever. Gave me fried rice instead of black rice. The rice grains were mixed and not the usual. Unbelievable I assume they didn't think I would notice. Mac n cheese was cold. Waited 25 minutes for fried drums and they just threw peppers on it.

Really good food and extremely good service. Their griot is wonderful. NB: It is a small place, not the ideal to eat over there, especially in groups. Update of my review, from 5 stars to 1: the staff changed and I had one of the worst customer experience of my life. My husband ordered over the phone, they tell us to come in 45 minutes. We arrive a hour later, and we wait about 20 minutes just to talk to someone, other customers were already complaining. The cooker finally arrives (she was outside of the restaurant...okkkk) and doesn’t greet back any customers. Then, my husband finally gets the chance to talk to someone (the cooker), and she tells him to wait 40 minutes they are starting to cook our order.... My husband tells her that he is leaving and she complains “we are cooking your order, is that serious? You can’t leave like that”... What a joke. That’s the problem with most Haitian restaurants in the area, they have 0 respect for their customers, 0.

The food is pretty good most days but the service is horrible. Expect at least a 20 minute wait. I actually waited about 15 minutes just to have the person behind me served first because somehow the employee forgot she never took my order… This place actually used to have pretty fast service but as of 2025 it’s atrocious. If you’re already hungry don’t stop by, save yourself the frustration and go someplace else.

First- everytime I eat from here my stomach hurts or I get diarrhea and I have a friend that said the same thing. Second- all of a sudden they don’t take card, only cash. The machine they use for card looks like it works perfectly fine (An iPad, the square app so it could’ve been got fixed) and I always call and when I get there I still have to wait 15-25 minutes

I called the place prior to going I wouldn't have to wait. But Ofcourse when I walk in the young lady is on her phone, not even wearing a mask, and my food was not done, so I had to wait. Then it gets to the paying part. I pull out my debit card and she says it's a $10 minimum so I told her to charge me for another plate. I got charged the $10 and no second plate

Normally I order from here don't really have much complaints. But today baby is not the day I don't have a complaint. I ordered food from here , to be exact this was my order Legume , rice with beans. To receive an order that was mind blowing. Maybe you guys think Haitian Americans are stupid or that you can get a pass on serving the wrong order and say oh well they'll get over it but this is not the case. My legume was bright orange. I thought I was tripping so I googled all images of legume thinking that I got a wrong one or maybe there was a diff way of cooking it. NAH ! They simply didn't care they were serving the wrong food and carelessly sent it out. When I called to complain through grub hub they had the audacity to keep calling me back harassing me because I complained and wanted my money back. Like nah this "LEGUME" was simply chicken sauce cabbage and pikliz. Good job Lala's GOOD JOB , you lost a paying customer

The food is outstanding. Especially her pikliz. But the service is so utterly ridiculous. It's laughable. Imagine doing an Uber eats order for pick up. 40 minutes later they tell you it's ready so you can you go to the restaurant. You wait an extra 20 minutes just to give them extra time You get there, the food is not ready. You wait 20 minutes for them to prepare it and after that 20 minutes they haven't even prepared the whole order. You wait another 20 minutes for your food order to be complete. It took you a total of 1 hour 40 minutes to get your food. At that point you coulda just cooked.

Look on their website to check opening hours, and drive there and guess they are close. Least they could do is make sure there hours are correct online.

I don't know but this is not it. You would think that's a whole scoop of macaroni, look at that....Cheap. $15 down the drain. Don't waste your money or time! Lost yall mind serving me something like that.

Pros: Lemonade Cons: Everything else Not good at all. I threw my plate away. I'm disappointed this what some people have as a representation of Haitian food. I wish I could give them zero stars. But I should have know better when they said it was a $5 plate.

First off, CASH ONLY!!!! Okay, so I really wanted to support this business, because they've catered for my cousin's events in the past and they have the BEST restaurant Picklis... Placed my order over the phone, I arrive, not only is my order not ready (ordered 50 mins prior), the guy proceeds to tell me that the reason it's not ready, is because he didn't take the order. Huh? Explained a woman took the order, he could care less, he didn't take it, wasn't his problem, he can put in the request now. But, yet, will ask me how much the woman quoted me...smh, done. Just told my cousin, I'll enjoy the Picklis at her next event. Even the guy, who received his order before me, wished me good luck, smh, rans!

My fiancé and I stopped by here for dinner tonight. Being very pick people, I must say the food was really good! We got a tasso bef Fritay and a side of griot everything was just as we asked for and hot!. The customer service was always well appreciated as good customer service is hard to find in the Haitian community. We hope u you guys keep up the good work and if we're ever in the neighborhood again we will definitely stop by!

A good friend said the food here was very good so I went down with the wife and boys to check it out. Sadly to say I need to have my friend's head examined because the food was not good! Then they are a cash only business and it seems like nobody told them that it's 2015 and not 1950. The black rice was not good but I will say the legume and grio were the only good things that we had in our meals. Hopefully they will get it together and work on their food which is critical in the Hatian Restaurant success business.

Every time I order from this place delivery ALWAYS takes close to 2hrs no matter what platform I use to order. Food is delicious just not sure why it takes them so long to prepare the food I'm sure that they are not preparing each order as they come. If you plan on ordering here be prepared to wait!!

Always poor service when I come in. Food is decent on occasion. It's a hit or miss, out of 3 times only once was the food decent. So not worth the attitude and lack of customer service. The least you can do is speak when a customer comes in.

The place is tiny and the outside will make you question the place. The inside will make you question too!! Maybe a few tables on the side. It's mainly a takeout catering place but make the trip here. Call first and let them know what time you'll be there. They get 4 stars just due to not being timely. The food is well worth the wait though. I ask for it every time I come to Boston. There are cars outside jumping in and out waiting for take out. You know it's good when local Haitians recommend it! We get the legumes which has veggies like cabbage, carrots and spinach and whatever meat of your choice. It's a stew- think ratatouille. Then you can pick a side of white rice or rice and beans. We also ordered the stewed turkey. He also gave us macaroni with it! The food is very flavorful!! If you like bland and light, this is not for you. I'll be back Lala!!

I don't understand why certain restaurants are serving onions marinated in franks red hot sauce as Pickliz firstly.... secondly I ordered soup joumou and... It smelled like It was old... so disappointed

NEVER AGAIN!!! This is the last time I give Lala's, located at 792 Washington Street in Dorchester next to the Dorchester YMCA, my business. My son wanted a plate of white rice and legume. Lala said they didn't have any white rice and when I asked "why" since it was only 5P she looks at me with this bulls$%t smile and proceeds to tell me that they only have rice and beans "okay fine I'll take that" as if I had a choice! Not only did I wait 30 minutes for this plate but when we got home and my son started eating and he asks me "what's this?" They put chicken livers instead of beef in the legume. ARE YOU SH#$%ING ME!!!!!! CHICKEN LIVERS IN LEGUME?????????? I've never in my life heard of such a thing. I was tempted to go back up there and THROW that bulls#$t a$$ plate on the counter and give Lala a piece of my mind but why bother she's been cursed out several times in the past and nothing has changed. Instead I'm putting her and her establishment on blast and best believe she will never see a penny of our money again...POOR SERVICE AND HORRIBLE FOOD! SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

Their food is fresh, like FRESH! and so good, shocked me to see 2.5 stars because i did not want to eat here at first but someone at work convinced me and i've been hooked.

This place is a hit or miss. Some days the food is delicious other days it tastes old and reheated. Once my chicken tastes like it had already rotted and was reheated. The customer service isn't the best only because you will call for an order and no matter when you arrive it will not be ready. It's mainly takeout because there aren't much seats. Go to this place on your own discretion and you'll either LOVE IT OR HATE IT!

Thank you Bon Appetite for being so horrible at customer service and ruining food so much that you forced me to have to find this hidden gem.. Oh thank the Haitian food GAWDS honey cuz the food here is so good u woulda thought Jesus whipped it up himself. Hallelujah! Amen! And expect great customer service (unlike some other restaurant located on blue hill Ave which shall remain unnamed.. for now). The ppl there are so nice and u can tell they appreciate ur service.. well lala's, I appreciate u.. your service is more refreshing than ur delicious passion fruit juice..welcome to the neighborhood....

Some of the best Haitian food you've ever had. Its really delicious and excellecnt presentation. Great prices. But wow the customer service on the phone is bad. You'll call, place your order and get "okay hold on one second", (hear some creole speaking in the back, wait 5-10 minutes, and then they'll hang up the phone on you) From there you just have to pray that they go your order. They don't ask for your name, or anyway to identify you. When you go to pick up your food theres so much confusion. (They usually ask you to open up your plate to make sure its the right order) If theres more then one person waiting for food, expect more confusion. Still worth it because its so good. But guys please. Improve the experience on the phone.

I will never come back to this place again. My food took about 30 minutes for a plate of white rice and chicken!! Why?? Oh, and the woman taking orders could barely speak English. I was able to communicate with her (I speak Haitian creole) but, she couldn't communicate with other people. I had to repeat my order several times even in her language to try to get her to pay attention to me. The customer service in here is just off. Never again..

I went in here on Saturday to try this restaurant since I've heard so many great reviews about this place. Most Caribbean restaurants are known for their horrible customer service, But this place may take the cake. Don't even bother thinking of staying to eat there there are hardly any tables. I got in there and there was a woman who barely made eye contact with me or told me to hold on before she can take my order. They're tide up or understaffed I understand but my goodness that woman had an attitude. I waited a good 15 minutes before I could even place an order. I was about to walk out when another man took my order and there was a line of behind me also waiting. Another man came in and said that he ordered over the phone. He waited the same amount a time as a matter of fact I got my meal before he did. He started getting upset the man never knew what he ordered over the phone. This place is a hot mess. I was also embarassed because there were people who were not of Haitian descent order trying to order. They gave them the same mess. They waited and waited with no acknowlegments idk. After waiting a good 30 minutes for my food. The food didn't match the hype on these reviews. I will say I paid $5 for my meal, but there wasn't alot of food and I still felt hungry right after. I'll just stick to my usual Haitian restaurants that I go to Lelenes, Las Vegas, Sunrise and La Perle. At least I won't receive MEDIOCRE FOOD AND with HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. And oh one more thing its 2015 and they only accept cash no cards.