Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Pearl Island Catering and Cafe creates captivating Caribbean cuisine. We offer a distinctive and flavorful dining experience that is unmatched in our region - but we pride ourselves for having something for everyone. Innovative, impeccable, incredible - on this Island, food reigns supreme.
Menus created for events are not limited to the taste of the tropics, but show the evolution of Caribbean food. What we create highlights the incredible and distinct island flavors - and leave you and your guests full. Give us a few details, including any budget constraints or targets, and we'll get back to you!
Menus created for events are not limited to the taste of the tropics, but show the evolution of Caribbean food. What we create highlights the incredible and distinct island flavors - and leave you and your guests full. Give us a few details, including any budget constraints or targets, and we'll get back to you!
Services
Pearl Island Catering is the vision of Sober Pierre, owner and operator of Pearl Island Foods and Executive Chef Javier Figueroa-Ray. For years, Sober focused on creating and selling a unique brand of Haitian-style coleslaw, known as Pikliz, while Javier worked as a highly coveted private chef in the area.
At Pearl Island, we are here to make your celebration easy. We take a hands-on approach to planning your event and will take care of every detail so that you can sit back, relax, and celebrate your special day. Whether you need a lunch buffet for a corporate event or a plated dinner for your wedding, we can infuse some vibrancy from the islands to make any party special.
Located inside the historic Jefferson School City Center in the heart of Charlottesville, Pearl Island's international cafe - offers all of our best-selling catering items and more! We are committed to ecological stewardship and utilize eco-friendly packaging, containers and supplies whenever possible.
We are currently offering Brunch at the cafe every Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, find us at the Jefferson School City Center. On Reserve is modeled as a pay-it-forward program through which customers at participating restaurants can pay for a meal "On Reserve" in order to provide a meal for someone in need.
Reviews (19)
Beth Seliga
Dec 31, 2021
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Morgan Price
Dec 07, 2021
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Marley P.
Nov 13, 2021
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Oxtail Friday's!!! restaurants that serve oxtail are not common in Charlottesville, but over at @pearlislandcatering every Friday, the dish is delicious and ready for pick up for $20! It's a labor of love to take a tough cut of meat and make it so tender it falls off the bone. The oxtail gravy is savoury with a little hint of sweet, which brings a nice balance. Don't be afraid of a little fat! Oxtail when done right, is a decadent meal with layers of flavor and is such a treat. Pearl Island is Black owned and located in the historic Jefferson School, when walking up to order my lunch
Pachamama Lex
Oct 24, 2021
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Christina W.
Oct 17, 2021
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Darryl Rojas
Sep 16, 2021
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Drea Tchal
Sep 07, 2021
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Cara M.
Jun 02, 2021
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Eric Kim
May 05, 2021
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Maria Niechwiadowicz
Feb 21, 2021
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Marc G.
Dec 19, 2020
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I continue to love this place. Just visited to pick up my order from Grubhub and love the new interior. Longer serving area and new video displays of their food. Prices remain the same and still affordable. Always come for the Friday oxtail special and today's portions were big. Sober, one of the owners, was kind enough to offer me a cafe con leche brownie, so good.
Ryan K.
Jun 28, 2020
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Annalisa M.
Jun 27, 2020
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After taking a very long hiatus from Yelp, I return with great joy. Pearl Island Foods is delicious.
I recently moved to Cville about a year ago and waited patiently to find a decent Carribean restaurant serving all the specialities (curry chicken, oxtail, tostones). After looking high and low and convincing myself that no such place existed, I found Pearl Island Foods. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many small businesses and restaurants, but I was happy to spend my money at such a fine establishment. While you cannot expect the most expedient service since the folks here are drowning
I recently moved to Cville about a year ago and waited patiently to find a decent Carribean restaurant serving all the specialities (curry chicken, oxtail, tostones). After looking high and low and convincing myself that no such place existed, I found Pearl Island Foods. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many small businesses and restaurants, but I was happy to spend my money at such a fine establishment. While you cannot expect the most expedient service since the folks here are drowning
Alexis P.
Jun 10, 2020
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Christina Z.
Jun 05, 2020
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Pearl Island Foods is a great option for delivery/curbside pickup even outside of COVID times! I've had their catering at work events, and the food has consistently been delicious and flavorful. For individual meals, the portions are big at $9.50-13/plate, and we typically have leftovers. Our typical go-to is the Sous Poulet (chicken cooked in a light sweet and spicy sauce) Half Platter which includes kale salad, rice with pigeon peas, plantains, and pikliz (Caribbean slaw). The plantains are so good that we usually get an extra side - they are sliced and lightly fried, and the garlic lemon
Morolake T.
Apr 23, 2020
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I have not been in person but have had Pearl Island for school events and ordered off of Grubhub during this socially isolated time. The food has been amazing! I never thought I would go back for 2nd and third servings of a tofu scramble. I'm currently obsessed with ordering the oxtail special (only Friday's) off of Grubhub. It comes with rice and peas, a kale salad, plantains, and pickled veges. Everything about this platter will send your tastebuds to a very good place-- it's a nice mix of tart and sweet flavors. It's SO good and nicely priced for the amount of food you get
Lisa H.
Oct 22, 2019
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Pearl Island is a pearl of place! My friends insisted that I have a meal there, and I was later glad about their persistence that I try this fast casual Caribbean cafe in the Jefferson School City Center.
The woman taking our orders was helpful and quite pleasant. I decided to get the pulled pork ($8.75) since it's my friend's favorite. My friend actually ended up ordering off the Vietnamese/Thai menu from Vu Noodles which is in the same place. We picked out a table, sipped on our apple infused waters, and waited briefly for our orders.
Everything on the colorful plate was delicious
The woman taking our orders was helpful and quite pleasant. I decided to get the pulled pork ($8.75) since it's my friend's favorite. My friend actually ended up ordering off the Vietnamese/Thai menu from Vu Noodles which is in the same place. We picked out a table, sipped on our apple infused waters, and waited briefly for our orders.
Everything on the colorful plate was delicious
Connie L.
Sep 29, 2019
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This place (along with the Vu Noodles that shares its space) was truly a hidden gem in the area. I stopped by several times during the summer of 2019 for weeknight dinners while staying in the nearby Residence Inn for business. It was so convenient, and was never busy when I was there. I generally took my food to go, but there's a pretty nice seating area if you have your food to stay. (I started doing this towards the end of my stay in Charlottesville and found it to be very pleasant and calm.)
My favorite item on the Pearl Island menu was the vegan creole beans, and I got it basically every
My favorite item on the Pearl Island menu was the vegan creole beans, and I got it basically every
Amanda P.
Jul 20, 2019
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Oh my goodness. This is one of Charlottesville's best kept secrets! Everything here is incredible. Super friendly staff. A great place to grab a bite to eat at any time of the day.
Pork- Oh. My. Gosh. Super flavorful. Melt in your mouth delicious.
Vegan beans- consistently delicious
Sides- The kale salad has a great vinaigrette on it, plantains come with a bit of a spicy sauce but it's good (I'm just a whimp)
Portions are rockin'. Had leftovers to spare.
In short, everything is full of flavor and you cannot pick wrong. The wait time can sometimes be extremely long but
Pork- Oh. My. Gosh. Super flavorful. Melt in your mouth delicious.
Vegan beans- consistently delicious
Sides- The kale salad has a great vinaigrette on it, plantains come with a bit of a spicy sauce but it's good (I'm just a whimp)
Portions are rockin'. Had leftovers to spare.
In short, everything is full of flavor and you cannot pick wrong. The wait time can sometimes be extremely long but
