Caribbean communities in San Diego? (El Cajon, Trinidad: restaurants, military, shop)

[zoogyd]

Hey,

For you San Diego residents, is there a Caribbean presence there? A quick google search showed a couple of restaurants but is there a decent population of people who are from the Caribbean? Are there communities like "little Jamaica" or "little Trinidad", etc?

Thanks all

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by zoogyd

Hey,

For you San Diego residents, is there a Caribbean presence there? A quick google search showed a couple of restaurants but is there a decent population of people who are from the Caribbean? Are there communities like "little Jamaica" or "little Trinidad", etc?

Thanks all

Not to my knowledge. SD isn't really big enough for any 'little anything'. Also, it's not urban layout, so there's never urban enclaves in the traditional sense of 'little whatever'. There is one section of the city that is more walkable and older, but most is suburban plazas and malls. In the urban section, there is a little italy, and that is more recently gentrified for touristy type things. It's very small and doesn't feel historic, though it is a nice area to stroll around.

Otherwise, there are certain parts of the city that have multiples of a certain kind of food-ie, Kearny Mesa for japanese, chinese and vietnamese, mira mesa has a lot of indian and part of el cajon blvd has several ethiopian and african places, as well as vietnamese. Several areas are Mexican dominated restaurants. Though, you'll still find various restaurants of different types scattered throughout the city, just more of them in certain areas. SD doesn't have Chinatown, Japantown, Koreatown, little india, etc, and also no little jamaica or trinidad (unfortunately-they would be nice to have....(:]

I will add that SD's population is about 6% African American and I'm not sure of the percentage from the Caribbean-but I'm guessing pretty low. A quick check on wikipedia would give you basic demographics. LA would be the nearest city with a larger presence of both the culture and restaurants. [It's about 2 hours from SD]. SD has about 1.5 people, 3.5 in the county as a whole.

[8to32characters]

No, sweetie, this is California, not Flahrida.

[malcorub16]

Here in SD I've met more than a few Puerto Ricans from New York and from the Island.
I've even met a couple of Cubans.

I also meet people from all over the world in San Diego, but I have never met any Dominicans, Jamaicans, Haitans, or other Carribean people in San Diego to be honest...and if I have, I never knew it.

And in spite of this, Bob Marley's music is very popular here in SD, when compared to other parts of the US.

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

It's pretty low, most Caribbean folks I've met are in or either were in the military so they're here but the numbers are small.

The best place to get info is to hit up the restaurants like

Island Spice Island Spice Jamaican Restaurant - Grant Hill - San Diego, CA | Yelp

Caribbean Taste Caribbean Taste - South Encanto - San Diego, CA | Yelp

Laylah's Laylahs Jamaican Food - San Diego, CA | Yelp

I know a few bars/clubs like u-31 had reggae nights on Sunday nights, don't know if they're still doing that tho.

Outside of this just up north in LA there's a decent size Belizian community up there which might be what you're looking for.

[sschibuola]

Originally Posted by eastsandiegobornandraised

It's pretty low, most Caribbean folks I've met are in or either were in the military so they're here but the numbers are small.

The best place to get info is to hit up the restaurants like

Island Spice Island Spice Jamaican Restaurant - Grant Hill - San Diego, CA | Yelp

Caribbean Taste Caribbean Taste - South Encanto - San Diego, CA | Yelp

Laylah's Laylahs Jamaican Food - San Diego, CA | Yelp

I know a few bars/clubs like u-31 had reggae nights on Sunday nights, don't know if they're still doing that tho.

Outside of this just up north in LA there's a decent size Belizian community up there which might be what you're looking for.

Those are all good places . . . .but MAN do I miss just walking down the street and getting a goat roti from a local shop . . improbably, given the weather, but Toronto has a HUGE Caribbean community . . .

[hitman619]

City Heights at one time in the mid 80's did, but sadly most of that community moved away

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

Originally Posted by sschibuola

Those are all good places . . . .but MAN do I miss just walking down the street and getting a goat roti from a local shop . . improbably, given the weather, but Toronto has a HUGE Caribbean community . . .

Yeah you're definitely not gonna find that in SD lol.

I forgot to mention there's a store on 38th and El Cajon that sells African and Caribbean products, cant think of the name tho

[sschibuola]

Originally Posted by eastsandiegobornandraised

Yeah you're definitely not gonna find that in SD lol.

I forgot to mention there's a store on 38th and El Cajon that sells African and Caribbean products, cant think of the name tho

Close . . .ECB and 48th . . . African-Caribbean Market . . .great little place . . .reminds me I'm overdue to pick up another couple bottles of Scotch Bonnet sauce . . .eyaaaaa

[djcampers]

Depends on what "Caribbean" means to you? (ie Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Bahamas....etc!)

House of Puerto Rico is a good place to start to learn about PR events - House of Puerto Rico - Welcome to Borinquen in San Diego