Comments on: Tropicana Jamaican Eatery Closes in Shaw by U Street

By: brian

brian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:36:07 +0000

are you all you haters idiots as well? i loved tropicana, and will miss it sorely in the neighborhood. i only went there once every month or two (for 10+ years), but always found the food good and reasonably priced, and the service nice. i understand that it’s wrong if it truly was operating with without a license, but not once did i feel like the food was disappointing or unclean. also, i cant believe people bother to post negativity without having even been there. btw, there’s a difference between operating without a license, and a health code violation.

By: soulshadow55

soulshadow55 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:11:07 +0000

I totally disagree with Anonymous. Tropicana is a very much watered-down version of Jamaican food. Get Jerked has got the most authentic jerk and Jamaican food. My family is from Jamaica (Westmoreland Parish) and we can’t get enough of Get Jerked. The only gaving grace Tropicana had going for them was that they gave you huge portions of food. But it wasn’t as authentic, spicy and well-prepared as home-cooked Jamaican food. I tried Get Jerked about a month ago and now it’s like I dream about their food in my sleep. Take it from a native, Get Jerked has very, very good Jamaican food.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:14:34 +0000

I don’t work at Tropicana, but sometimes I wish I did. I could do some serious damage with an employee discount! Maybe I’ll see if the other locations are hiring.

Also, for what it’s worth, it has lots of good reviews on Yelp. A lot of people really loved it. http://www.yelp.com/biz/tropicana-carryout-washington-2

By: Bloomingdude

Bloomingdude — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:10:28 +0000

Not many people must have shared your love for the place.

Given that it’s located in a very diverse area, it wasn’t just gentrifiers who avoided it.

By: Bloomingdude

Bloomingdude — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:05:45 +0000

No way. I love Jam Doung.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:49:34 +0000

Ryan, do you work for Tropicana?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:45:04 +0000

Rya, do you work for Tropicana?

By: anonynonnyiliketopotty

anonynonnyiliketopotty — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:28:29 +0000

Yes! Horrible horrible food. Found a full sized roach in my stewed chicken once and was told by the employees that the roach came from my house…Firstly, I dont have roaches thanks, and what were they trying to say,that it crawled into the container and was swimming in the tasteless gravy and drowned there when I put it on my kitchen table. Horrid place and I am happy to see it go.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:18:48 +0000

Also, for the record, I’ve eaten there about 30 times and never once got food poisoning. I think that’s a pretty good track record.

Here are the other locations: http://www.tropicanaeatery.com/

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:15:46 +0000

This place is my favorite carryout place in D.C. I go there once a week and I’m really sad to see it go. I’ve never thought it seemed unclean. I looked up their latest health code reports and they haven’t had any major violations. I can’t speak to the veracity that they are currently operating without a license (very charming to anonymously accuse on the Internet someone of breaking the law without evidence, btw) but in the past they certainly have had their license.

What I think is weird is that people say “gross, it’s so dirty, I would never go there.” But then how do you know it’s dirty?

Also, the person who said it’s always empty is being a nincompoop. It’s a carryout restaurant. There’s no chairs or tables. That may be the reason why you don’t see people dining there. Whenever I go — and I’ve gone once a week for a year — there’s always been at least one other person in line.

This place, in addition to being tasty as hell, had an awesome looking exterior and a friendly staff that gave some character to a corner that’s otherwise pretty depressing looking. Rest in Peace, Florida Ave. Tropicana. I’ll be visiting you soon.