The Jerk Pit

I’m in Adams Morgan minding my business, & I see a name of a restaurant that I’ve only seen in College Park Maryland. Let me find out The Jerk Pit is in D.C.! You know me…I went in!! . Where I am: @myjerkpitdc . Location Reviewed: 2436 18th St., N.W. Washington D.C. . Items Reviewed: STAMP!! Their Jerk Wings ($10 5 wings with their jerk sauce). Well cooked, the spicy jerk was infused with these wings!! STAMP!! Their Jerk Chicken Patty ($4.50 a flaky pastry with jerk chicken inside). The BEST jerk chicken Patty I’ve ever had!! STAMP!! Their Beef Patty ($4.50 a flaky pastry with minced flavored beef). Flavorful, flaky, & tasty!! STAMP!! Their Brown Stew Chicken ($15 medium size with white rice, gravy, cabbage, & mixed veggies). Get extra gravy, & put it on that rice!! Trust me!! STAMP!! Jerk Chicken ($22 half a chicken with rice, & peas, & plantains). Well seasoned chicken, no sauce necessary, the rice, & plantains were LIKE THAT!! STAMP!! Their Rum Cake ($5). Thick, moist, sweet & warm Justin like my ladies!! STAMP!! Their Peardax Drink ($4.50). A sweet pear drink!! STAMP!! Their Ting ($4.50). Citrusy, & carbonated!! . Customer Service: On Point . Parking: Rough . Recommendations: Can’t go wrong here!! . Accessibility: It’s wheelchair friendly, & it’s differently abled persons friendly. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️=STAMP ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️➕=LIKE THAT ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️=DELICIOUS ⭐️⭐️⭐️=DECENT ⭐️⭐️=PASS ⭐️=NAH #Bigschlimsreviews

My friend and I had the bottomless Sunday brunch. The food was very good and flavorful. You can order as many items from the menu as you would like. My favorites were the rasta pasta, the jerk chicken and steamed vegetables. The full size beef patties are also delicious. I tried one when I stopped in for a late bite to eat a couple nights before but with the brunch they serve a smaller version with not as much filling. The Dj kept the vibes going with reggae and afrobeats at the perfect volume to dance in your seat but still hear and chat with other guests at your table. The service was a little slow and the taste of the rum punch should be consistent regardless of who makes it but outside of those small things we enjoyed ourselves and I plan to come back to check out the rooftop and happy hour.

The food is excellent, and the owner and employees are very accommodating. It is an excellent location to have events... very spacious! There are 2 locations. These pics were taken at the Wash, DC location. I had a BLAST! ❤️💯

I would NOT recommend Sunday Brunch because of 1) too pricey 2) smelly restaurant 3) 30 min wait for each bottomless refill. We visited this restaurant yesterday. Cute spot, good music, good food. But the waiter tells us that the brunch is $60 for adults - I brought my teenage son and they charge him $50 for bottomless brunch without mimosas. When he rung up the order he charged us $62/adult and $52/child. I hate when prices aren’t written on the menu!! The only option on Sunday is the bottomless brunch which sucks. They also charged us for my kid’s sodas. If it bottomless brunch, I think it should come with bottomless sodas too! The restaurant had a bad bathroom smell. When we reordered, the wait seemed to be exactly 30 minutes. In my opinion, if the menu is limited — the re-up should not take 30 minutes to fill. The portions that are brought are sample size, which is fine. The problem is the time between ordering another sample and them Bringing it to the table should be shorter. Bad customer service. We spent the majority of our “2hour window” looking at the waitstaff walk around. The bad service overshadows the food. Btw..the jerk chicken is dry and needed the sauce, the ackee is delicious, the callaloo delicious.

The Jerk Pit is a gem around the corner. I’ve always gone to the College Park location but this DC girl who doesn’t like to leave this city is ELATED for this location. The place is vibes! Food is 😋, music is great (definitely takes you back to the island) and service is phenomenal - Dirty Harry provided us with such a great experience when we sat at the bar. Live band on Sundays from 6pm - 10pm. The location is multi level and they have “The Jerk Pit Oasis Lounge” which I look forward to checking out in the future. They have TVs at the bar which is 😍😍😍 for this football fan. They also have a happy hour from 5pm-8pm 7 days per week. Definitely will be a regular at this place.

Jerk Pit in DC is the real deal! Their jerk chicken is absolutely **drill** – the flavor is intense, smoky, and perfectly spiced. You can taste the authenticity in every bite. If you're looking for genuine, mouthwatering jerk chicken that transports you straight to the Caribbean, this is the spot. Highly recommend! 🔥🍗

If you follow what I do, there are certain places that get a lot of grace. Well, I pulled out truck load full of grace. Perhaps 2 semi truck loads of grace. I will start with the most offensive and that's the baby piece of sweet potato cake that tastes like carrot cake. And it's waaay too sweet. And seemed a bit old and yall charged $5. That's crazy. You're called the Jerk pit and you were out of Jerk chicken before 1pm. It tasted okay for brown stew chicken. If you're not going to be authentic then new customers will stop patronizing you. Not hot or spicy about it. When people try ethnic foods they want it with both barrels. They can buy baked chicken with seasoning on it anywhere. I'm a tourist, but I don't mind going back again and again. Unfortunately, I won't visit this place again. The plantains were the best thing going. Rice and peas should you know have peas in it. My hope is you take my advice, put heat where it needs to be, take all that sugar out of the cake and focus on focusing on your food. Also, you had a 9.95 lunch special and I paid like $23.85 for a quarter piece of chicken, rice and peas and plantains and a baby slice of cake. I didn't realize there was an automatic 20% service charge on all checks so they got another 20%.

Anybody that’s leaving less than a four star review is tripping, a lot of people get hung up on their mama or grandma’s cooking which I get, but cooking for 3 to 4 people is way different from cooking for hundreds of people daily with West Indian food. The level of consistency I’ve gotten each time I went to both locations is on point AND the prices are on point 🙌🏾

Yum!!! Brown stew chicken Steamed cabbage Great service Great size portions Soooo happy this is in my neighborhood Haven't eaten yummy brown stew chicken since The Pepper Pot was open! Wonderful menu, so many choices Go there!

I can't, in good faith, as a Caribbean who has had THE BEST OF THE BEST Jamaican food, endorse this spot with more than three stars. And I'm being generous. First of all, when I visited, there was a horribleeeee sewage smell in the restaurant. No! Not appetizing. Food: Ackee and salt fish: ackee was good, not overcooked and in big chunks. Minimal saltfish... with bones Callaloo: please, sweet baby Jesus, put the black pepper down. This is callaloo, not Greens. Jamaicans don't go heavy on BLACK pepper like that in callaloo. Too muchhhh. Cornmeal porridge: BABY! This was the best item on the menu! I could eat this on repeat. Rice and peas: STOP PLAYING WITH ME. I couldn't eat what they served. Dry, very bland, no coconut flavor. Service: good. Nothing outstanding but not bad Worth mentioning: they were not serving soup On Saturday, the day we went.

Basic mediocre Jamaican food. I had heard of the OG Jerk Pit location in College Park, but never had a reason to try it because Just Jerk in Lanham exists. I decided to bite the bullet today and give the Admo Jerk Pit location a try. When we walked in around 5:30 pm, the restaurant was basically empty. I ordered the combo platter with jerk chicken, oxtail, rice & peas, and plantains. The first thing that I noticed was that none of the food was hot and fresh -- it was lukewarm at best. For an empty restaurant at the start of the dinner hours, I was expecting some freshly made dishes. I assume that everything had been made in advance and just reheated. The jerk chicken was ok - not much flavor other than the taste of char and salt. The "jerk sauce" that it came with tasted like spicy Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce -- not impressed. Oxtail was mediocre and mostly bone; I really had to work to get some meat out of it. Plantains were probably the best thing I had, but they weren't crispy and caramelized -- mostly just sweet and limp, but at least they were warm. The rice & peas were a total waste of time, as the peas were like dried little dog droppings and the rice had no flavor. Not even mixing in the oxtail sauce could save those rice & peas. There is a mandatory 20% service charge on all dine in orders, so keep that in mind when it comes time to tip. For me, if you're charging me 20% for service already, I am not tipping a second time. Looking at the OG Jerk Pit's reviews, this location is largely on par with that -- 3/5 on Yelp. If you're looking for some elite Jamaican food in DC proper, look for the Wi Jammin food truck. If you can make the trek out to Lanham, Just Jerk is the best Jamaican in the DMV area. Skip this place unless you are in Admo and fiending for some Jamaican food

Yes yes yes. It has been a few years since I have had good Jerk. The Jerk pit hit the nail on the head. Great flavor, tender and the peas and rice were spot on.

Coming from a family of Jamaicans, I am very critical of Jamaican food. This food was delicious. Hot, fresh, flavorful. I highly, highly recommend.

New location....now, in DC and the food does not disappoint!! I came here during the grand opening last Saturday and must say, I left with all smiles.The food and vibe was excellent! I've been to the College Park location many times and this location falls right in line with their food and actually, better-faster service. The vibe is a sit down restaurant, with a local bar feel downstairs with casual dining upstairs. . I remember this place formerly being Mello Mushroom Pizza but you can't even tell they even existed here once, with the vibe and decor The Jerk Pit has. There's three floors of seating, a roof top and a full bar area. It was crowded on the night I came here but the customer service was exceptional and fast. Casey, the head bartender assisted me with my order and introducing me to the place. She was great and made me feel right at home...not to mention made a mean rum punch to start things off. lol. I placed my order to-go because it was crowded and thought it would take longer for full-service but to my surprise, my order came out fast. As I received my order shortly after ordering, I was planning to race home so that I can dive in on the food and enjoy the Steelers game. But, those plans changed quickly. The food smells coming from my takeout bag had me at full attention and I couldn't resist. I politely asked the bartender for some utensils and dived in on my meal straight from the bag! It was some of the most delicious oxtails, jerk chicken, mac & cheese, peas n' rice and steamed mixed vegetables that I've had in a long time from a Jamaican joint in the city.....And, these are strong claims because there are many in the DC area to contend with. I can honestly say The Jerk Pit can hang with the best of them. My jerk chicken was excellent....so tender juicy, full of flavor and finger-licking, bone sucking-crunching good!! The jerk sauce on the side was addictive and had just the right kick. Next time I know to definitely as for extra sauce. Shout to the mac n chesse also...it was good too. Honorable mention goes out to the oxtails tho'. They were tender and seasoned to perfection. I also like the way that they cook their oxtails, in that they stew and cook them with added favorites like carrots, butter beans and dumplings! I mean, do you hear me!?? Yes...Dumplings!! You don't find this often at most Jamaican spots in the DMV. This takes me back to my childhood days of enjoying my Grandmother's oxtails. And, I will not say here which is better. lol. Just know that they both are on point and The Jerk Pit way of cooking them reminds me of her every time. In all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time here vibing at the bar over good eats, music, the Steelers game and great conversation. Kudos to Casey for the excellent customer service. I left feeling full and happy from both the libation and good eats I most definitely will be back and recommend you get a taste for yourself.

- good wings - entrees are large - spacious 3 floors with rooftop and outdoor space on bottom level each floor has different bar and different music - great dj - great ambiance music - bottomless brunches ftw! - amazing service - good patties I had jerk chicken, and also beef - patties ($3) sell out fast, but they restock every 30 minutes or so

I was impressed with the service and quality of this late-nite spot. My friends and I stepped in because I was getting hangry before our night out in AdMo. I split my meal with a friend and ordered a pomegranate margarita. The food came out quickly and was hot. It was seasoned well and just what I needed! The ambiance-- the music was nice but the patrons seemed out of it. The staff, however, was very friendly and accommodating. I was too focused on satisfying my hunger that I forgot about the drink. My friend went to check on it and apparently they ran out of the pomegranate mix. We were refunded without question. Thanks for the welcoming experience!

Just ordered from here on uber eats and only one item came. They don't answer the phone save yourself the time.

The waiter told us they were out of Jerk Chicken and Jerk wings. Then they said they were out of Mac and Cheese.

Ordered oxtails, curry chicken, cabbage , red beans and rice. Only received 4 small oxtails and only a very small portion of curry chicken. It didn't taste that good and the food was very bland. Bad customer service and the food was priced very high. I hope they go out of business. Please stay away from....

Nice portions, fast service, decent price. I'll definitely try them again. Parking wasn't too bad but it was also a Sunday.

Wow am I glad they opened a second location and it's in my neighborhood in DC! My boyfriend and I split two takeout entrees and both clamshell boxes were packed to the lids. The jerk white chicken (they were sold out of dark) and curry goat were standout meats as well as the Mac and cheese. Both great recs by Kaci who couldn't have been more helpful. Looking forward to trying the cabbage and oxtail next, tho this is enough food to keep us going through another meal or two lol.

My family took a car service to the restaurant today based on the reviews. Once we started to order we were told that they were out of Jerk Chicken & Wings. After switching to Ox tails w/ Mac & Cheese -- we were told they had no Mac & Cheese. This was at 3pm - if you do not have the staples of the business - why are you open. We were very disappointed to say the least.

The Manager stole money from me!!! Horrible customer service and non-empathetic and non-truthful Manager. How can you steal money from a patron and not even try and compensate her back? That's foul & i cannot support an establishment that is not honest.

I cried literal tears of joy when my friend told me The Jerk Pit was opening a second location in DC. I ordered delivery last night and we ate in complete silence. Everything was delicious (just as I expected based on college park). This city finally has jerk chicken that is actually jerk chicken

Friendly servers and good oxtail. Don't sleep on some chicken or beef patties on a late night - better option than empanadas or jumbo slice in my opinion

This place will be closed in 2 weeks. Staff is just rude....food tastes like some store purchased reheated things, and. Again...the staff is inexcusable.