Garifuna Flava on West 63rd Street in Chicago’s Marquette Park neighborhood has been serving the food of the Garifuna people — an Afro-Indigenous Caribbean culture centered in Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala — to Chicago’s Belizean community and the curious eaters who discovered it since it opened. It appeared in Season 12, Episode 3 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, “You Can Only Get It Here,” which aired May 23, 2011. Guy Fieri found a Chicago kitchen producing Garifuna cooking that genuinely cannot be found anywhere else in the city — hudut, serre, and the cassava-based dishes that the Garifuna tradition has carried from the Caribbean coast to the South Side of Chicago.
Quick Facts
Restaurant: Garifuna Flava
City: Chicago, Illinois
Cuisine: Caribbean / Belizean
DDD Season: 12
DDD Episode: 3
Episode Title: You Can Only Get It Here
Original Air Date: May 23, 2011
Address: 2516-2518 W. 63rd St., Chicago, IL 60629
Phone: 773-776-7440
Website: https://garifunaflava.net
Status: Open
What to Eat
The Hudut is the Garifuna national dish and the must-order — a rich coconut fish stew served with mashed plantains (fufu) that you break off and dip into the broth. It is the dish that defines the cuisine and the reason the episode title was “You Can Only Get It Here.” The Serre, another coconut-based seafood stew with a different spice profile, is the other flagship soup that earns repeat visits. The Tapou, a one-pot fish and root vegetable dish slow-cooked with coconut milk, reflects the Garifuna tradition of using the whole catch. The Fried Plantains and Cassava Bread are the accompaniments that complete every proper Garifuna meal. Find a Chicago hotel on Trivago.
Plan Your Visit
Check the website for current hours.
Address: 2516-2518 W. 63rd St., Chicago, IL 60629
Phone: 773-776-7440
Website: https://garifunaflava.net
Status: Open
Triple D Essentials
Stream the You Can Only Get It Here episode on Amazon.
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Garifuna Flava appeared in Season 12, Episode 3 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, “You Can Only Get It Here,” originally aired May 23, 2011.