The Jerk Pit — Restaurant in College Park

A Rollercoaster of Flavors and Frustrations at The Jerk Pit

My recent visit to The Jerk Pit in College Park, Maryland, was a true mixed bag – a tantalizing glimpse of what could be, marred by significant service and order accuracy issues. From the moment I pulled up, the sight of a bustling parking lot and a lively queue of patrons ignited a spark of excitement. This, I thought, was the unmistakable sign of a culinary gem, a public institution for authentic Jamaican fare, drawing a diverse crowd. I placed my order, number 193, at 9:18 PM, settling in with eager anticipation. As the minutes ticked by and I watched numerous other customers receive their meals, my initial excitement began to wane. By 9:43 PM, my patience had worn thin, and I politely inquired about my order. The hostess, commendably professional and courteous throughout, immediately went to investigate. She returned with an update – a brief discussion with what appeared to be a lead chef revealed they were out of pigeon peas, an easily resolvable issue. I agreed to substitute with white rice, and was assured my meal would be ready in just 10 more minutes.

Finally, at approximately 9:50 PM, my food was handed over, and I rushed home, eager to savor what I hoped would be a delicious Jamaican feast. However, my excitement quickly turned to profound disappointment. Upon opening the container, I was met with a perplexing sight: wings and macaroni, items I absolutely did not order. The most egregious omission, however, was the large order of oxtails, a premium item I had specifically paid an extra $5 for, nowhere to be found. Essentially, I paid for an order I didn't receive and was left with food I never requested. Considering the significant cost of oxtails, this was not just disappointing, but frankly infuriating. It felt like a substantial investment yielded nothing but a mix-up.

It's clear The Jerk Pit boasts a significant following, and my singular experience might be an anomaly. However, as a first-time customer, being shortchanged and having my time wasted in such a manner leaves a sour taste.

So, the quintessential question: would I return? Surprisingly, despite the frustrating ordeal, I find myself willing to give The Jerk Pit another chance. The accidental macaroni I received, despite not being what I ordered, was undeniably delicious. And the wings, while intensely spicy, were packed with excellent flavor. These unexpected culinary bright spots hint at the potential for truly great food, making me wonder if my experience was simply a fluke in an otherwise well-regarded establishment. My hope is that on a future visit, the kitchen's execution can match the deliciousness of their accidental offerings, and I can finally enjoy the oxtails I...

The atmosphere I did not rate and the service rating is based on my observations of responses to customers and what I have heard since I ordered online. However, what I can say is that the inside looks like it would be a decent spot to wait for food and outside is pretty vibrant, it will catch your eye when you drive past. However, based on seeing responses to other customers, I would give the service a low rating, especially when customers are not satisfied with their order or experience. With that being said, this has to be the worst Caribbean food I have ever tasted in my entire existence. Not only was my food lacking taste, and seasoning. Some of my food items were dry and hard. I would even say in-edible, because I was unable to eat all of it. I ordered oxtails with rice and peas, fried dumpling, and jerk chicken wings. Starting with the oxtail, it was not that flavorful, and the meat was not very tender, I base my experience on having eaten Caribbean food for all of my life, and this was not a great representation of that in any way, shape or form. The fried dumpling was actually so hard that I was only able to take one bite from one and one bite from another (to give a fair review) however after both being the same, I decided to throw the rest of it away because I did not want to deal with that kind of effort for no reward. In fact I don’t even think I fully finished the second bite, I took because it was literally more effort to eat it than it was to actually enjoy it. Lastly, the jerk chicken in my opinion, was a sad representation of what jerk chicken should be. It is just unseasoned chicken with a spicy jerk sauce on top of it. Which if anyone actually understands food/ jerk chicken they would clearly be able to see past this mirage of spice and heat being passed off as jerk chicken. This food was so bad that I couldn’t actually leave a review immediately after trying it. I had to let some time pass, so that I could actually process the food that I experienced and leave a non emotional response, However even with time having passed, my feelings are unchanged and my review is honest. I will never forget this experience, so if there is one other positive thing I can say, it’s that this place is memorable, despite the reason. I will never eat at this establishment ever again. Not only was the food disappointing, but I also ordered food for someone else as well, and with this experience, mainly the quality of food, it also provided me with embarrassment for...

After moving from New York City where there are many Caribbean food options, I was excited to know that there was a restaurant not too far from where I lived in Maryland that had really good food. My first few stops were during the day or during their off peak times because we got everything in a really good time and the flavors were amazing. Since then, it's been everything but. Don't get me wrong the food is still good but the last time my wife and I tried to get food from there it was a circus. It was a Saturday evening and we knew there would probably be a lot of traffic so we decided to put our order in on Doordash so that we would spemd minimal time waiting on line or waiting for our food. Well the order went in around 7:45 and we were coming from a march in DC and had to drop off a friend on the way. We got to the restaurant at 9 pm and didn't leave the restaurant until after 10:30pm. Worst part is that I witnessed the ladies at the front desk have lie to people about how much time their order wait time and then after continuing to hold off waiting customers, to then have to tell them that the food they've ordered and paid for wouldn't be available. I believe on that day, they ran out of goat and/or oxtail. I completely understand food running out but don't have people pay their money and wait over an hour only to be disappointed. Figure out your inventory system. On top of that there's an influx of delivery drivers trying to get their customer's orders in as well and they're dealing with the ridiculous wait time as well which I'm sure is horrible for them. I think it's unfair to the ladies at the desk and to the kitchen staff to manage all of these orders without a proper system to manage them all. You have a long line of customers who also have to wait outside because of limited people inside, a steady influx of delivery drivers, and then people like me who try to order ahead to avoid all of this but none of it works. We've called ahead and used both grubhub and doordash all ending the same way..waiting extra time for our food. No one should have to deal with that stress; not the customers nor the workers. There's a pattern here and I'm not a fan of it. I want to continue to support this local black establishment but for right now I can't do that because they don't respect me, my money or my time. I wish this business all the best and maybe things will get better but for right now, I can't commit over an hour of my time for $20 worth of jerk chicken....I just...