Penny’s Caribbean Cafe

Caribbean food at its best.
Penny’s hand-​rolled Rotis, fresh mauby drink (yumm!!)
and fantastic Goat curry.
Nobody — and I mean nobody comes close.
There’s a bad imitator «Back-​A-​Yard» in Menlo Park, but they’re total rip-​offs.
Have jerk chicken at Penny’s, and you’ll know.
Ok — I’m raving because I used to visit this place when I was pregnant, and I loved it.
Plus Penny is super-​nice.
Don’t go there for the ambiance though

Though I had a very weird experience at this place, the jerk chicken was one of the best meals I’ve had in long time… the kind of meal that you think about for ages after. It breaks my heart to hear they closed. That woman could cook like no other… Does anyone know where Penny has gone??? If you’re out there, Penny, please know you are missed!

Surprisingly yummy spicy and interesting home-​style cooking. The Caribbean food here is oddly reminiscent of India. Penny is a real personality. You would never guess this small hole in the wall could have such good food. The only thing is the place is temporarily closed «Until Further Notice.» I went on ¹⁄₂₅ and saw the sign. You’ve been warned…

Finding a place like Penny’s Caribean Café is the very reason why I love Unilocal.And despite the reviews mentioning this as an obscure hole in the wall, I was still in for a surprise. What this place lacks in décor, it makes up for in flavor, authenticity and personality.
I had the curry chicken roti and Jeff had the pelau chicken rice plate. It was HUGE plates of food and it felt like I was eating in someone’s kitchen. I’d like to come back again with my sister and have her test the intensity of the spicy-​ness.
There is only one person working and she does everything — but she does it with a smile. If you’re looking for fast service — this probably isn’t the best place to go in case it’s busy. But if you are looking for some good eatin’ with vibrant flavors and willing to take a chance, check it out.
It is evident that she enjoys what she does and takes pride in her food. I did learn that Penny’s will be shutting down in a few months because she is moving back to the islands … so visit before it’s gone!

This is GREAT FOOD and not expansive for the portion that they serve ($ 10) !!! I wish I found this place long long longgg time ago!
The atmosphere is absolutely not great but this is why I love this restaurant so authentic.
The location is a little bit funky because out of no where and you see this big sign «Penny’s Caribean»
Service is humm. only one person who take an order, serve and cook but the lady is very friendly!
I WILL COME BACK!

I love big momma’s house! This place is awesome. I think Caribbean food is just like Mexican food, the dirtier the place, the better!
This establishment will never win any awards for its décor, but it’s food is absolutely orgasmic! The flaky roti will just melt away in your mouth, and the jerk chicken is an explosion of flavor! Try the rice pilaf too… man o man, I am getting hungry from just writing this review.
It’s so filling for such a reasonable price ($ 10).
And free with each order, you get a warm, traditional helping of Caribbean hospitality and charm. Penny is so layback and loves to sit with her customers and shoot the shit with them. But never ask her how long it’ll take, as she will slap you… verbally. Once I asked her when it would be done, and she said, «when im finished!» haha it was actually funny… i felt like a fool for asking, and proceeded to wait for my food outside. haha jk
but yeah, this place is money every time. you’ll end up with leftovers which rivals phở as the best post drinking morning hangover cure.

The Michelin people would be upset with every one of us for disregarding any standards of hygiene, dcor, service or atmosphere in our reviews. But I say le’ screw them!
If any of you have spent any time in Los Angeles you may have, no doubt, noticed big obnoxious posters on the window of every restaurant grading it with an A, B, C… etc. for cleanliness. As a sidenote to the inspectors, this is a terrible system as most cooks have never even received C’s in school and could be quite excited to be given a solid C (not C-​) for their kitchen.
These grades represent something of a warning sign at times, though if you have ever frequented the authentic Mexican and Korean joints in the area you may believe C is some secret code for: «Completely Authentic Cuisine Here.» Penny’s is a classic C joint — dirty, ugly and absolutely heartwarming with its food.
Penny herself is a hoot. Go ahead and ask her what she recommends or even what is her favorite item on the menu and she looks at you like a madman and with the accent she taught to Miss Cleo exclaims, «Every-​ting is good. What da matta wit’ you? Is all good!» So I grab the Jerk Chicken and the Veggie Roti and wait. And wait. And then wait some more.
Over forty minutes later (and, mind you, after her son has come in 20 minutes after us, eaten, and moved on to playing one of the many instruments scattered around this pleasant dump) we receive our food in amazingly large portions. And it’s good. It is really, really good.
The Jerk Chicken is exactly as it should be, sweet, spicy and of a cinnamon and caramel aroma which anybody who has spent any time in the Caribbean has etched permanently into their memory. The rice on the side has a nice paella like crust and some deliciously curious flavors of allspice and pepper. The fried plantains are imparted with something only friends of old French ladies know: the flavor from a well seasoned skillet! The collards kick the crap out of every BBQ joint in this hemispheres. My only complaint is that the chicken thighs were a bit dry. How on Blackbeard’s blue see do you make chicken thighs dry?
The Veggie Roti makes me cry just thinking about it. The bread is deliciously crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, splitting perfectly in the center to make what I feel to be the best eating utensil after the hand. Topped is a golden combination of chickpeas, greens and a potato curry, it goes down like sin.
The hot-​sauce, by the way, is a yellow curry-​like mixture of gut wrenching strength. In my book, that’s a good thing. That is a very, very good thing. Try to get that recipe from Martha Stewart.
This place is open from noon to two pm and we were there that entire time along with only one other person — Penny’s son. Suffice it to say there isn’t a line coming from the next block as one might find in a similarly crappy atmosphere joint called Bakesale Betty’s. My two professional words of advice: 1. Put the pedal to the metal and lets get some more cooks to speed up the kitchen. 2. I like my nap time as much as the next cook but 12 — 2pm? Do you even care about paying rent or is this a hobby after winning the lottery? C’mon, it’s a business. Add about 15 more hours to those operating hours and you got yourself a profitable business with a line down the street. Who knows, might even improve the neighborhood.

A terrific place for curry chicken/​goat roti. If you like it spicy ask for it extra spicy. The prices are around $ 7 – 8 for a roti meal. Packed with curry chickpeas as well. I’m salivating thinking about my meal. This is more of a take out place than eating in. They have a couple of tables total.
I walked in and ordered curry goat roti and felt like I was in Trinidad. The food was cooked to order including the roti dough. Everything tasted fresh.
God I love this place and will probably go back on Friday. This is a great find and you shouldn’t tell everyone about this place unless they’ll truely appreciate the authentic nature of this place.
Did I mention I love this place?

I can officially give this place 5 stars because I’ve eaten there three times! Yay. =)
Penny’s is no frills, unpretentious, home-​cooked food at it’s best.
Thanks to all the fabulous Unilocalers, I decided to give this place a try. Once upon a time, I was craving some good Jamaican food, and I was blind to think that Jamaican Soul and Caribbean Cove (which is now closed) were the only places around. But this Trinidadian joint probably has the best Caribbean in the Bay Area.
People keep saying this place is in a ghetto neighborhood, but I don’t really think it’s that bad, especially in the daytime. Now, to the food:
Everything I’ve had (except for this deep fried potato thing that I tried for an appetizer) has been excellent. I’ve had the jerk chicken, chicken curry, rice and peas and the spinach and coconut rice.
The last time I went I had the jerk chicken, which came with rice, a side of greens (which she changes up, that particular time it was spinach), macaroni pie, and fried-​to-​perfection plantains.
Now most places will serve dried up jerk chicken breast or leg, but Penny’s was a whole new experience. She actually bakes the chicken to seal in the moisture, and the chicken is drenched in the most flavorful jerk chicken sauce I’ve ever tasted. She typically uses dark meat, which in my opinion, is more tasty (and authentic). So if you’re looking for chicken breast with all the fat trimmed off, you probably won’t be satisfied with Penny’s. Nonetheless, I’m really picky about what kind of meat I eat and where I eat it, and although there are occasional bones and skin you have to push aside, they add tremendous flavor to the dish.
The sides: The macaroni pie was delicious. It was like an oven-​backed casserole smothered with buttery goodness with an outer surface of slightly hardened, melted cheese. The greens were so flavorful yet simple, and really complemented the strong flavors of the jerk chicken. You know you’re at a good spot when the greens are actually on point. The rice had some lentils in it, and it wasn’t your typical Jamaican style rice and peas. The plantains were sweet, rich, and melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious.
A lot of the flavors and dishes reminded me of Indian food (the curry, lentils, roti and even the names of some of the dishes are derived from India: alou=aloo=potato, pelau=pulav=rice pilaf), but of course, it stood out and was delicious in it’s own right.
To wash all the goodness down, I had a sorrel, which was too sweet for my taste, but then again, it was a good contrast to the spiciness of the food (which I intensified by adding too much hot sauce). **BEWARE:** THAT HOT SAUCE WILL BITE YOU IN THE ASS LATER — LITERALLY. Don’t ask. When Penny says it’s hot and to be careful, she means it! I thought we brown folk are supposed to be immune to spicy food getting the best of us, but this takes it to an entirely new level. Let me reiterate: A few drops of this stuff will suffice for the ENTIRE dish.
PLEASE NOTE: The food can take up to 30 minutes or more to make, depending on how busy it is. If you’re stomach is eating itself, don’t go here. But, in my opinion, the food is totally worth the wait. I would also recommend calling ahead of time. She is not always there and doesn’t work regular hours, so call to make sure it’s open.
Other noteworthy things to try: spinach and coconut rice, chicken or veggie roti, sea moss (basically a mild seaweed-​like milkshake). I haven’t had the mauby yet, but I hear it’s for the adventurous. I also tried the ginger beer, which was too gingery/​spicy for me. It was making me drip sweat. I thought I liked strong ginger flavor, but this was almost unbearable. But some reviewers really liked it, so who knows.
Penny was nice and friendly. She was always smiling, and you can tell she takes pride and joy in cooking meals. Her warm spirit is infectious. She introduced my dining companion and me to Chutney, which is the new musical rave in Trinidad. It’s a mix of bollywood and soca. Ask her if she has it on hand. It’s pretty cool music, and if she has it, she’ll be more than happy to play it for you.
SO I’ve totally dragged this thing out. In a nutshell, go to Penny’s. Affordable (plates range from $ 6 – 12), tasty, filling (I only ate half of my jerk chicken plate. I love leftovers!), warm vibes. What more could you want?

Finding awesome places to eat like Penny’s is exactly what Unilocalin’ is about! I work right by here but don’t think I ever would have discovered this place otherwise — what a treat!
This place is the epitome of what a family restaurant should be: Delicious food, generous portions, reasonable prices, and an unmistakable warm friendly vibe. I really dig interacting with people that share their food and culture through their hospitality. Penny’s offered me a big-​time serving of THAT so now I can’t wait to come back for more!
The only reason for the 4 stars is that my team of Unilocal-​ploration (exploration Unilocal-​style, that is) comrades decided by consensus that 5 stars can only be awarded after a second visit. I’m hungry to find out what happens… *hint hint to Lee and Elena — lets go again!*

5 stars don’t come lightly from me.
forrest y. and i headed over here on a friday night and we arrived at the perfect time to grab a table, review the menu, and order. we sat down and played a little chess while chatting with penny’s cute little son (i got my ass kicked in chess and it entertained him). penny was the only one working there AND she cooks to order, so we saw her cook our items while taking orders, cleaning tables, making sure we were doing ok, and being a good mom to her son.
food was AMAZING — we had the fried snapper dinner (2 fillets of snapper with plaintains, super flavorful rice, spinach, and homemade mac&cheese) and jerk chicken roti — both were so flavorful and amazing! we consider ourselves decent eaters but we couldn’t finish and had to take half a dish to go. we also got the hibiscus drink, which was ok — a little strong for me but amazing flavor — but i’m definitely holding out for the sea moss (with condensed milk!) next time.
the cutest darn restaurant… not in the best neighborhood but definitely has character, friendly people, and most importantly, absolutely yummy food.

Good homestyle food, intimate place to eat, just three tables, so you are bound to get friendly with the people you are eating next to. The pilau chicken was quite tasty, and so was the curry chicken roti. The roti was nice and flaky.
The serving sizes were good, not gigantic, and not really two meals worth, but a good solid meal. I had no trouble finishing my dinner plate, and the roti looked to be a bit less than mine, but there are lots of other interesting things to order as well, so if you are still hungry go ahead and try a moss drink, which seems to be some seaweed smoothie/​milkshake.

Find a Penny… ok so out once again with the munchkins and I made myself go in after we’d played considerably long and hard at the park. Momma wasn’t making dinner tonight!
The Ginger Beer-​fantastic, slap yo momma (not MY Momma, Yo Momma) fantastic-​not for the weak!
Curried Shrimp-​whoa can you say she put her foot in it! I mean funky, not Bad meaning Bad but Bad meaning GOOD!!!
The Plantains-​perfection, just the perfect combo of soft and crispy.
Rice & Peas-​just bury me in them and let me eat my way out.
Penny was cool peoples (Trindadian), she was friendly, helpful and immediately made me want to come back. (I’m going back to try the Squash & Coconut Milk Rice… ummm!) I hope she has a booth planned for the San Pablo Park celebration. If not I’ll be stopping in on the walk over!
Oh and everyone hate’n on the hood– U Need 2 Chill. Me and babies walk it daily and folks give nothing but love. :)

this food was so good. I felt like I died and went to a heaven where my mama cooked jerk chicken and beans and rice.
the ginger beer I washed it all down with made my meal. made my day.
reminded me of how good it is to be alive.

So a friend of mine recently became addicted to Unilocal after I recommended it to her. She found this place and within quick order, we gathered another friend of ours and headed to Penny’s to try some Trinidadian food.
I skimmed over the reviews before hand and barely remember some saying «hole in the wall» and «in the ghetto» since I was more amazed by the reviews of the great food. Let me say that Unilocal has yet to fail me. Hole in the wall? Yes. In a ghetto neighborhood? Yes. All of that is completely drowned by the incredible food and feeling that my dinner was made for ME.
When we walked in, it felt like I was in my grandmothers kitchen. Hot, always food cooking, the smells of spices in the air, and the ghetto right out the door (my grandmother lives on 81^st street in Oakland). The music was a bit loud, but when my friend asked if he could turn it down, there was not an inkling of annoyance or attitude when Penny said, «of course!» I loved her already.
There was a bit of confusion on how we were to order, but basically, we read the menu then went up to the counter and told Penny what we’d like. I’m not sure this is the way things are done normally, but since no one was there beside our group, I’m sure we could’ve yelled our orders from the table without a fuss. There is enough room for approximately 10 people to sit in the whole restaurant, but hopefully, that many won’t fill up anytime soon because Penny (with a little help from her son) does pretty much everything herself. Be prepared to wait a little longer than at a normal restaurant.
After she takes our order and pretty much tells my friend to not order fried chicken at a Caribean restaurant, she walks into the kitchen and does her magic. During the time, we got to go over the menu in more detail and decided to add fried plantains and Mango bread to our order. The Mango bread wasn’t really realistic since we ordered it almost before our food came (a sign of freshness), but our fried plantains came out with our order and they were delicious. I had the chicken curry roti and WOW, soooo good. Chicken was tender and the bread it was on… I’ve never had anything like it. Watch your mouth because it is HOT when it arrives.
More patrons began to arrive as we were just getting our food and almost all of them seem to have been sneaky Unilocalers, always lurking around for that hidden gem. Well this is one of them, for now at least. I will hopefully make another run through this place before Unilocal blows it out of the water as it rightfully should be. Sometimes, when living in the Bay Area, we become destructed in restaurants and bars, by the décor, by the superficial art, the angle of lighting, the ease of parking. It takes a place like Penny’s to yank our snobby heads out of the clouds and bring us to Earth where good food simply comes from good chefs.

I really enjoyed Penny’s. The portions were generous, the chicken was flavorful, and Penny is great. Don’t let the appearance fool you. Expect a hole in the wall.

Delicious!
The street this place is on is so crappy, you may not want to leave anything valuable in your car… but the food is so delicious! I had spinich and coconut rice and an order of fried plaintains, and my friend had the veggi roti. Both were fabulous!
We went for lunch during the week, there was no one else in the restaurant (unbelivable), but it’s a good thing because there are only two or maybe three tables for two.
Penny is super-​nice and willing to answer all your questions about the food.

My boyfriend is half Trinidadian (Trini), and when we finally made it over to the East Bay I knew we had to stop by this place. The food was ALMOST as good as his Aunt’s, and that says A LOT!
We tried the curried goat roti, the shrimp roti, the alou pie, and the mango bread (swoon).
The goat was prefect and tender, the roti was wonderful (a little more dense than I was used to but still excellent!), the alou pie was perfection, and the mango bread was sinfully good!
What sealed the deal was talking to Penny and the other people in the restaurant. They were so friendly and patient while we struggled on what to order (we wanted everything!). It is such a wonderful place that truly feels like the Caribbean (or so my boyfriend tells me).
P. S. after my knees almost buckled from the wonder that is Penny’s mango bread, she hinted there may be a cookbook coming out in the future!

another MUST GO. =)
great caribean food (from trinidad to be exact) and according to the owner, the only local spot that serves rotis… and this is a damn good roti in my opinion.
the roti was so much food that i got two meals out of it and i’m a pretty big eater if i don’t say so myself. =P
lots of pesca-​veggie friendly items and can host parties up to 20 – 25 (though at 25 you’d be elbow to elbow… cozy spot yah). she opens up the buffet bar for parties like that and will prepare a rum punch on request. you must call some days ahead though.
and yes, listen to the other reviewers, the hot sauce is HOT and will get you sweating… penny will warn you so that you don’t ruin your meal so no worries.
and the owner, penny i’m presuming, was hella nice and we sat there with her getting a little bit of history of her and the restaurant…
another gauge to tell you this place is bomb… folks come from all over the place including sacramento and santa cruz just to get some of her good cooking.

If you’re not familiar with Trinidad, the best way to describe the culture is a blend of indigenous Caribbean (think Jamaican) and East Indian (think Bollywood). This cross-​culture is reflected in the people and thankfully, the country’s food.
Growing up in Boston, my parent’s best friends were from Trinidad and I have many many wonderful memories of going to Uncle Abid’s house for one of their gargantuan family gatherings and their absolutely amazing cuisine.
Living in SF for the last seven years, one of the things I missed most from the east coast was this unique flavor. So much in fact, that any visit home to Boston always includes a visit to a nearby Roti shop to get a temporary Trindadian food fix, sometimes to the chagrin of family members that sample it on a near daily basis.
Today I discovered Penny’s… and I think I just found a more local cure for that missing craving. I have a fever, and the only prescription is… Penny’s.