TV Restaurants

Where Is Island Frydays Now? Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Update

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 21 Cincinnati, Ohio

Current status

Relocated

As of October 2026, citybeat.com indicates Island Frydays relocated to 5920 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH; reviewed by our team, not yet independently confirmed.

What the source shows: CityBeat and Fox19 report that owner Leo Morgan closed the original Short Vine location at the end of 2024 and is reopening Island Frydays at 5920 Hamilton Avenue in College Hill. How we decide a status →

What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives? 2 episodes

Part 1 — Season 21, Episode 4 Aired

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Island Frydays for its Worldwide Flavorfest episode (aired 2014-09-26), highlighting the restaurant's fried Caribbean seafood and jerk-style dishes rooted in Jamaican home cooking. The eatery opened in 2009 on Cincinnati's Short Vine strip near the University of Cincinnati and built a following as a neighborhood Caribbean spot. According to CityBeat, owner Leo Morgan closed the original Short Vine location at the end of 2024 after the business struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox19 reported on 2025-08-26 that Morgan announced Island Frydays would return, and CityBeat reported on 2026-05-13 that he is opening a larger, 5,200-square-foot location at 5920 Hamilton Avenue in College Hill, adding a catering operation and a nightlife lounge called the Paradise Room. A grand-opening date had not yet been announced as of that article's publication.

Part 2 — Season 34, Episode 3 Aired

In the June 2021 episode 'Takeout: All Over the Menu,' Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives paired past guest restaurants with Guy Fieri and Hunter Fieri by video chat for a takeout-themed show, and Cincinnati's Island Frydays contributed Jamaican oxtail and wings to the episode's takeout menu, according to Pies 'n' Thighs' press page recapping the episode. Island Frydays, a Caribbean restaurant in the Corryville neighborhood at 2826 Short Vine St., first appeared on the show in 2014, when owner Leo Morgan's jerk chicken and spicy snapper were approved by Fieri, according to Flavortown USA.

The episodes Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Episode 4
Aired
Title: Worldwide Flavorfest · What was featured: fried Caribbean seafood and jerk-style dishes
Season 34, Episode 3
Aired
Title: Takeout: All Over the Menu · What was featured: Jamaican oxtail and wings for the takeout special
How Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 21 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season 21: 48 of 75 still open · 6 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 18 Season 21 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 5920 Hamilton Avenue

All 113 TV restaurants in Ohio →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 5 references

  1. citybeat.com https://www.citybeat.com/food-drink/island-frydays-expands-new-restaurant-nightlife-lounge/
  2. fox19.com https://www.fox19.com/2025/08/26/local-caribbean-restaurant-featured-guy-fieris-show-announces-return/
  3. islandfrydays.com https://islandfrydays.com/
  4. piesnthighs.com https://piesnthighs.com/blogs/press/press-diners-drive-ins-and-dives
  5. flavortownusa.com https://www.flavortownusa.com/locations/766/island-frydays
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Record ddd-0725 · checked by Cal Marchetti.