Kedemah and Melissa McHugh Credit: Photo by Doug Trattner

Kedemah McHugh was doing all the right things. The Jamaican-born cook enrolled in the EDWINS culinary training program to gain the knowledge needed to one day open his own restaurant. He started off small, running a modest food stand inside the Kabas African Market on Lee Road, where he sold items like jerk chicken and curried goat. From there he went to work in area clubs like Sir-Rah House and Epic, cultivating a following for his Caribbean foods one hearty plate at a time.

McHugh was well on the way to achieving his dream when the “altercation” took place. Both he and his wife, Melissa, were the victims of an aggravated assault. After months of recuperation, McHugh found himself back at square one. Before long, however, the cook started cooking. He fired up the drum grill, busted out the stewpots, and returned to making the foods of his native Kingston. McHugh transformed the garage at his Union-Miles home into a makeshift restaurant and began posting the day’s offerings on social media. Rich Caribbean was back in business.

The couple operated this way for about two years when McHugh’s dream came to fruition. Late last year he got the keys to a space at the Shoppes at Buckeye, less than a mile from the EDWINS campus. In early December, the McHughs celebrated the grand opening, with Cleveland City Council President Blaine A. Griffin on hand to personally congratulate them.

As a diehard Jamaican food fan, I didn’t wait long to visit. The shop is colorful and welcoming, with a warm mix of assorted woods covering many surfaces. Reggae music played on the sound system and tropical spices filled the air. In typical fast-casual fashion, guests work their way down the line, with a clear view of the day’s dishes on the other side of the glass. An easy-to-read menu is displayed on a large wall-mounted monitor.

Most Jamaican restaurants in town offer largely identical menus, but that doesn’t mean they’re indistinguishable from one another. McHugh has built a devoted following over these past five years because his food stands out: the ingredients are better, the techniques are textbook, and the chef’s work ethic is unmatched.

“This is traditional Jamaican food – what I was raised on,” McHugh says in his rhythmic Caribbean accent. “I learned it from my mama and my grandmother back home in Kingston. We just try to keep it as authentic as can be.”

Many of the spices, seasonings, and curry blends are imported from Jamaica, giving the food a vibrancy and allure that seems lacking in some of the competition. McHugh’s intensely flavored jerk chicken ($15), grilled out back over wood, is dark as night. The meat comes easily off the bone while still retaining some chew and there’s a building, persistent heat.

I’ve eaten oxtail ($20) all over town and these rank at or near the top. After a long, slow braise, the jiggly beef releases from the bone with zero fight. The gelatin-rich gravy is sticky and sweet, and the stew is fortified with spinners (dumplings) and butter beans. The oxtail is placed in the box with warm cabbage and rice and peas (kidney beans), then capped with a few extra ladles of sauce. If jerk is too spicy and oxtail too adventurous, there’s no shame in ordering the appealing curry chicken ($14). The yellow-hued meat is tender and bathed in a mellow curry-scented sauce. As wonderful as all those dishes are, it’s the dreamy curry goat ($18) that will keep me coming back. For the meager price of navigating a few small, sharp bones, the diner is rewarded with heaps of mild, sweet goat meat and creamy spuds in an aromatic Caribbean-spiced gravy.

“You say goat and they stop, but once people try it, it ends up being their favorite,” says Melissa.

In addition to the regular items, McHugh offers one or two daily specials, such as jerk pork, steamed fish, curry-coconut conch, and shrimp pasta. Although I haven’t tried it, the fried chicken has been receiving a lot of positive attention. You’ll find it in the warm-food display alongside the beef patties, veggie patties and fry dumplings. Soups are on a rotating schedule, with options like seafood soup, fish tea soup and mannish water soup, the famous goat’s-head brew that inspired the Rolling Stones album of the same name. On Saturdays, the shop busts out classic Jamaican breakfast dishes like silky peanut porridge and ackee and saltfish.

Considering the path it took to get here, the McHughs are rightfully proud of their new establishment. In most situations it feels trite to say that the food is made with love, but at Rich Caribbean, there’s really no other way to put it.

Rich Caribbean Cuisine
11351 Buckeye Rd., Cleveland
216-417-4067

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This article appears in Feb 14-27, 2024.

Food & Drink

The Long Journey to Open Rich Caribbean Cuisine is Paying Off With Some of the Best Jamaican in Town

“This is traditional Jamaican food – what I was raised on. I learned it from my mama and my grandmother back home in Kingston”

by Douglas Trattner February 14, 2024August 4, 2025

Douglas Trattner

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

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