Jerk Pit

I ordered toto with a side of rice &a peas. The flavor was awesome! But they gave me flour tortilla and called it roti. That really threw me off because I was hoping to get traditional chapati roti so that was a bit of a disappointment.

They call themselves Jamaican but it’s not authentic. Ordered chicken soup. It was the worst its like some microwave overnite cocksoup mix with some carrots and left over chicken. Go to Jerk hut this place ain’t ready

All food was old and micro waved
Chicken-​old, meat crusty, dry, chalky, no flavor
rice and beans– old, crusty, dry, no flavor, week-​old Uncle Ben’s (?)
plantains — old, from back of fridge
chicken pattie — chicken soup filling in a cake-​like biscuit.

The food here is Always great with flavors that takes you back to the islands. I love the oxtails!

This place was horrible. I order oxtail and jerk chicken lunch size meal combo. The total for the order was $ 23. Having lived in NY before I have tasted great Jamaican food and thus have high expectation. Sadly, my expectation was not met by this place. The oxtail was over cooked and the sauce was black, I have never seen that before. The jerk chicken was dry and salty and the cabbage was bitter. We ended up throwing the food away. I will never visit this place again nor recommend it to anyone.

Had pork with rice and peas. Everything was dry. I enjoyed the salad and especially the dressing but that’s kind of hard to mess up. Maybe the quality was so bad because they were close to closing. I don’t think I will eat here again.

We got the jerk chicken, a lil spicy but great, i would definitely come back, yeahh monnnnnnnn

Authentic Jamaican food in an environment that supports both eat in and take out, with the former being very popular at lunch time. We had Jamaican beef patties wrapped in coco bread (definitely recommend) followed with a Jerk Chicken Sandwich wrapped in coco bread with a side of fried plantains (very good) and Escovitche Shrimp with rice and peas (really good). For drinks we had Peanut Punch (pricey but excellent) and Ting (not a real fan of grapefruits but if I had it would have been very good). The Jamaican Rum Cake finished it off in style.
The service, although a bit slow due to extreme busyness at lunch hour, was pleasant and solid. We’ll definitely be back.
Note: I’ve submitted a correction to Unilocal as this place is definitely not Closed, nor has it been. Not sure what the person (s) were thinking when they submitted that.

The food is great. Very authentic and not commercial. Jerk chicken is actually grilled and not baked.

We had the jerk chicken, rice and peas, and chicken patty with coco bread. Everything was very delicious. I’ve been trying to find a good patty place around Tampa and I finally found it. And the sauce is amazing! Love love love this place; very authentic.

Let’s see we order curry veggie roti only one roti curry vegetables salty as hell rice & no peas customer service sucks

I love this place! You’ve gotta try Marvin’s signature sauce! All that I ever order is the bbq jerk, because I love it so much, so that’s what I recommend. I’ve visited with friends though and they enjoyed the regular jerk chicken and curry.
For photos, read here:

I am originally from Boston Ma, I’m also a former of resident Queens New York. I mention this because these two great cities though different in many respects do share some commonalities. Both Boston and New York share a thriving West Indian community. Where there is a strong West Indian ethnic presence there is culture which includes but is not limited to dialect, lingo, music, dance, and most notably food.
In late October of the year 2000 I moved my family from Boston to Tampa. While I have no regrets I often find my self missing many of the conveniences of a large city as well as the many cultural differences that help to define its character. In fact, suffice it to say Boston literally dwarfs Tampa in population density which, in my experience is reflected in its West Indian community among others. When I lived in Boston and New York there were no shortage of Jamaican restaurants, there were seven as I recall within 5 – 10 minutes driving distance of our Dorchester home in Boston. In contrast, to put things into perspective, since our having lived in the greater Tampa Bay area from 2000 my wife (the most finicky critic of Jamaican cuisine) and I have discovered four restaurants one of which merited return visits.
My wife and I had all but given up hope of finding Boston or New York caliber Jamaican restaurants in Tampa in terms of authenticity and taste. I am no authority but am adept and qualified enough to make the distinction, I am of West Indian descent and, am married to a Jamaican born princess who knows her way around the kitchen. Another dilemma I faced living in Tampa was finding a barber that could take care of my cosmetic needs. Being groomed ranks almost as high as being fed, almost. Fortunately for me I was able to proverbially kill two birds with one stone. I found a barber. After several years of haircuts my barber was doing well enough to expand his horizons which included, securing a larger venue to accommodate patrons and venturing into restaurant ownership.
I must admit that when my barber announced the grand opening of his restaurant I had my reservations. You can certainly understand my skepticism after all, what on earth would a barber possibly know about running a Jamaican restaurant? Surely there are more requisites than just being Jamaican, right? Nevertheless, with a healthy amount of cynicism we decided to add Marvin’s Jerk Pit to the list of West Indian restaurants that we have visited in Tampa. Authenticity and taste turned our apprehensions into instant culinary gratification. While we’ve had better or comparable dining experiences in Boston and New York it was rather refreshing to know that a restaurant existed in Tampa Bay that brought the taste of great delicious authentic Jamaican entrees closer to home.
The environment is warm and inviting. Large store front windows allow for ample natural lighting to flow in during the day. While there is moderate seating for groups the restaurant is small which allows the friendly staff to be responsive. The menu has your usual suspects comparable to offerings of other Bay Area establishments; however, there was one item that had caught my eye. I hadn’t seen Roti grace any menu since leaving the Northeast and although I was enthused with helping myself to a healthy serving, I decided against it in favor of my favorite. Our first visit was as a family I don’t recall what the children had but, I do remember that I had the Escovitch fish and my wife played it safe and ordered the Brown Stewed chicken (very few people can mess up chicken). The food can be described in one word, delicious! We were particularly and pleasantly surprised with presentation of the meal as it was served to us, of course it goes without saying, but it looked appetizing. In addition, the chef adds a touch of elegance by garnishing the plate with a tomato cut an fashioned in to a rose bud. We found ourselves doing what most satisfied patrons do, returning as often as we could. I eventually treated myself to the Roti now every time I have it my stomach and taste buds thank me.
Much more can be said but the dining experience is more memorable than any words that could ever be written. I invite you to go to Jerk Pit and create your own memories.

I ordered the jerk chicken dinner for take out with rice, beans and steamed vegetables. The total came out to around $ 9. The chicken was rather dry, and the beans + rice were generic tasting. Maybe Caribbean food just isn’t my thing.
However, the service was very good and the employees were all very nice.

Best Jamaican food I’ve eaten in a long time. Presentation, service and cleanliness all 5 stars. Ferris you were a great sport. Nice service.