Dat Jerk Lansdowne — Restaurant in Maryland

I had been aiming a long time to go check this place out but somehow despite it just being a couple of miles from my house just didn’t. Well, I was yearning for Jamaican food and so I decided to try this place. Finally I make it and am excited. The welcome and ambiance is amazing. I was also so glad at the time I arrived the place was not full- that started to change soon after. The menu is right up front and quite attractive, had family friendly, kid and vegetarian options. That was impressive.

What I really wanted was my mom’s Ackee but they didn’t have ackee or some other Jamaican options my husband likes. However, I ended up buying about $40+ worth of food to try. The rice and peas was pretty good, covered with Jamaican jerk sauce. I also ordered what I thought was stew peas but I couldn’t find the “run dung” - gravy. This one was instead a disappointing large serving of canned red beans. The plantain was delicious, the cabbage was okay. I also thought it would be nice to have patties - so I ordered three chick peas and lentils because it sounded different. I did not like that filling. It seemed bland to me, and was hoping they had the other spinach, but I checked twice - those ran out. The crust however was crusty’s best. And the cocoa bread was awesome.

As a tribute to my god mom, I ordered two roti skins which I was going to stuff myself. Didn’t like those as much either. They were a bit undercooked and inflexible. I was thinking Channa roti. To cap it all, I ordered a pineapple coconut cake, which was delicious. I was going to order my favorite drink-ting but there were none. However there was plenty of ginger beer for ginger beer lovers.

For an average business today, customer service is A-1. One item was missing and they were very gracious and polite about the mistake. Overall, I think Dat Jerk is doing a good job - some food are more authentic than others but for the average American palate the food would be top tier, and the restaurant dine in setup amazing. Go...

I have been a long time customer of this location since the grand opening, however today the evening of 10/17/25 I went for a take out order. I walked in ordered my food with a pleasant young lady and once complete I walked down to the end register to pay. As I was paying I noticed there was a young gentleman at the end of the food assembly eating French friends dipping them in ketchup a paper plate with his bare hands. It was an immediate turn off but because he was not handling my order I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until he grabbed a brown paper back to pack up my order that I did say something. I told him that I could bag up my own order because he is eating and working on a food establishment it was inappropriate. He politely said ok but kept eating. Once my order was complete he proceeded to pick up the container handed off by the MANAGER for him to package it last. I then spoke up again which resulted in myself and the MANAGER getting into a ready heated exchange. I told her that he belonged in the dining areas of the restaurant if he’s eating. She proceeded to tell me “he was good” she stated “he good because I said he was good” this was totally disgusting and unsanitary. I am a paying customer and do not want to see anyone eating food behind the front line counter where food is being prepared. I will be escalating this matter as the exchange between the manager and myself was unprofessional and inappropriate! I don’t want anyone to loose their job but this manager and the guy who was eating needs to be fired or warned that this is...

This was a very interesting experience. An Instagram food critic recommended the Dat Jerk in Columbia but I went to this one because it was in route of where I was headed. As soon as I walked in you could tell the vibe was off and the crew seemed irritated. I heard a woman that I assumed was the lead/supervisor explain that the computers had been down. I expected the mood to improve from there. I noticed there was confusion while a man ahead of me ordered his food and I felt like the man taking the order was very snappy and dismissive of the very polite man that just wanted to get his order right. When it was my turn I had some questions with it being my first time there and the man taking my orders attitude about it was obvious and off putting. He didn’t ask my name for the order but lead me to the cashier. I watched the team snap and fuss at each other while sorting out the increasing amount of orders when I hear the rude man taking orders fussing with a woman placing an order. He tried to dismiss her and over talk her instead of trying to hear out her concerns. The situation escalated mostly because the team and staff had horrible attitudes. The only exception was the cashier who did her best to maintain a polite and professional demeanor despite the chaos around her. I will admit that the food was good. However I will not be back to this location ever again. If you want to try this franchise, go to another one!! This...