In the mid nineties, the Caribbean Gardens club in Burlingame and the Caribee in Oakland provided stable stomping grounds for West Indians in the bay. D’Midas International had a vibrant San Francisco carnival contingent with which I regularly played mas’, the Afribbean festival brought top notch bands like Krosfyah and Blue Ventures to Mountain View and San Jose and Carijama was an open air festival in Oakland where you caught up with Caribbean folk. Then the clubs, both Guyanese owned, closed, Afribbean abruptly ended and Carijama started to attract a restless crowd.

Things had reached a lull in Caribbean entertainment, some more experienced in the business advised that the West Indian crowd was not supportive and that we’d be better off doing other things. There was, however, a new breed of promoters on the scene and many a hip-hop party started to advertise dancehall and reggae on their flyers. DJ Toks, responsible for popularizing much of dancehall/reggae in the bay, no longer was the lone soldier holding it down for the party crowd. Over the past year there’s been an upsurge in Caribbean entertainment in the bay, or things marketed to Caribbean people. Through our business and website we continue to gather information of things Caribbean from San Francisco to Los Angeles and figured you might find the information valuable.

Trader Joes does stock Jamaican jerk seasoning, but Art’s Caribbean market on 40th and Broadway in Oakland provides a larger selection of Caribbean spices, foods, medicines (like Limacol and Buckleys) and toiletries. Irish moss, frozen and fresh patties, ginger beer or “Roots”, saltfish, pepper sauce and hard dough bread are all at Art’s. Then there’s the African Caribbean Food Market (547 8th Ave, Oakland (510) 444-2841) and Oriental Lucky Market (535 8th Ave, Oakland (510) 452-1556) which Antoine ranks as being the cheapest with the most extensive selection of products. According to Patricia, the Oriental market has a special Guyanese section of casareep, masala, geera and curry. The Mexican grocerias, especially on the Peninsula, do offer lower prices on goat meat, ox tail, plantains and dried sorrel (Xamaica). For the Guyanese looking for various ground provisions to make metegee, Berkeley Bowl and the Asian markets will dish up your eddoes and tanias. The international section of Albertsons markets (at least in LA according to bachanal.com) stocks Matouks's peppersauces, Milo, and other Caribbean favoured items.

Caribbean themed restaurants include Tropixx in Piedmont and Mango Café in Palo Alto (most West Indians don't like this one).

If you’re looking for fresh curry and roti or pelau on the weekends check Daniel’s Trinidadian food truck in the Berkeley Flea Market at the Ashby Bart station.

Jamaica Station Restaurant and Bar is in the process of relocating.

The owner of the Caribbean Spice in Berkeley relocated to a much smaller space and opened Caribee Island Cuisine (4708 J Valley View Road, El Sobrante (510) 222-1784).

J&J’s in Fruitvale recently closed, but thecaribbeancove.com will access their catering service.

Jamaica Place Jerk Chicken Express (5959 Shellmound St, Emeryville, CA (510) 654-0199) recently spiced things up in the Emoryville marketplace. Entrees like curry goat or stewed beef with peas go for no more than $8.50 with discounts on daily specials.

Claire’s Catering ((408) 529-0365) provides a wide selection of Caribbean dishes and pastries with an emphasis on Guyanese cuisine. Her roti and curry, phoulourie and sour were provided at our Feb 22nd party and many gave rave reviews.

Ital Calabash, an African Jamaican Vegetarian Food and Juice Explosion that comfortably seats around 10 (1405 Franklin St., Oakland, CA) is open weekdays. Their menu includes items like Smoothie Reggae and Negril Jerk Burger.

Lele’s Variety store (4923 3rd St., SF (415) 671-0266) recently opened in San Francisco. On the first Saturday of the month you’ll probably find black pudding and souse at her oldies party from 6pm-midnight.

The San Francisco Carnaval and Carijama in Oakland occur over Memorial day weekend. The carnaval is a huge street festival that begins on the Saturday of Memorial weekend in the Mission with 3 stages of performances plus the Jouvay.com DJ tent. The parade starts at 10 am on the Sunday with over 50 diverse contingents. Attendance is over 250,000 and the event is covered by KRON and Telemundo live. There are a few Caribbean contingents on the road and stages. Cool down on Monday May 26th at Oakland’s Carijama festival (venue subject to change. best place to find out what's going on with Carijama is on carnaval.com).

July 4th weekend the Jamaican Association of Northern California holds a free picnic with music, games and dancing. For this year they moved the picnic from Hayward to Rowell Ranch Rodeo Park, 9700 Dublin Canyon Road - a historic ranch located between the towns of Dublin and Castro Valley.

Caribbean Summerfest, now in its third year is the largest event where soca is the main attraction. Each year Byron Lee and the Dragonaires sing all of the big hits from the Caribbean, diversify the evening with a reggae and rock and roll set, and perform their own timeless song Tiny Winy accompanied by a wining competition which jouvay.com has always won. Sparrow and the Troubadores also performed in 2002 and for 2003 calypso superstar Scrunter joins the line up. Scrunter is known for hits like Jumbie, a favorite in 2002 that was remixed for the 2003 carnival with Trinidad’s newest craze Treason. The Summerfest is held the on July 26th and usually attracts a large West Indian crowd of all ages. Tickets cost $40 and can be bought on ticketweb.

Reggae on the River celebrates its 20th anniversary this year August 1st weekend. Set in a riverbed in Humboldt county, approximately 24,000 patrons camp from Friday through Sunday whilst being entertained by a star studded line up of bands from 11 am until midnight each day. Parking directors have everyone settled by early Friday morning, whilst the stage managers keep the show on a tight schedule. If you’re not a volunteer worker for the weekend you’ll fork out $145 for your entrance pass and a bit more for parking and a campsite. Though reggae dominates the stage line up, rap singer Mystic, rapso artists 3Canal, soca singers like Edwin Yearwood, Alison Hinds and Machel Montano, and dancehall superstars like Sean Paul have all graced the stages. This event is like an annual pilgrimage to many you’d meet there. They go to dip in the cool stream that runs through the camping ground, to see some of the best entertainers in the world, and to inhale the smoky air of one of California’s most notorious agricultural lands. The crowd is slightly diverse with most Caribbean folk hanging backstage. This year Machel Montano and Xtatic return for what will most likely be an exceptional performance.

For the Spanish speaking Caribbean islands, the culture of Cuba and Puerto Rico are strong in the bay mainly through the popularity of the music: the salsa, the son, the rumba. From Oakland to San Francisco and San Jose, there’s some hot salsa joint for every day of the week. During the warmer months the Ramp (855 Terry Francois St., San Francisco CA) and Jelly’s in China Basin way provide Saturday and Sunday afternoon hot spots respectively. On the last Friday of every month many Cuban dance instructors party at Il Pirata in San Francisco. Local bands light up the Elbo room on Thursdays and Saturday nights are huge at Café Cocomo.

Given our proximity to L.A. we also hang out down there where the Caribbean population is larger, and of recent has become much more active in terms of promoting and advertising events. There are quite a few Caribbean restaurants in LA. The Caribbean Treehouse is a Trinidadian restaurant (1226 Centinela Ave, Inglewood, CA (310) 330-1170) that has a regular Friday night lime with music, Carib beer and an impromptu rhythm section. Caricom Restaurant (726 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA) recently opened and hosts dance parties at least once a month. Coleys is a rather large and popular Jamaican restaurant in Inglewood with an extensive menu.

The links above will keep you updated on Caribbean events in LA. There is a Bob Marley Day Festival held over two days in February, Joyce Productions regularly sponsors concerts and parties throughout the year with one of the largest occurring during the first weekend in October, Ragamuffins productions presents an old school reggae jam in the summer, LA’s Carnival is held on the third Sunday in October. The parade is still very small and ends in a park with live stage entertainment. In Guyana Easter Monday is one of the largest holiday celebrations with people lining the seawall and parks to fly kites and party. Not surprisingly the Guyanese in LA have a large picnic on Easter Sunday. There are even Caribbean workout classes in LA. You can get a 40% discount to LA's ISLAND GROOVE 90 minute exercise workout when you wear your jouvay.com shirt. The Jamaican instructor teaches every 1st Sunday at Millennium Dance Complex and every 4th Sunday at Katnap Dance Center, Venice Beach. (310) 795-6274 for more information. 1st class free and $7 after for jouvay.commers.

Trinidadian musician Lemo who toured as the bass player for Atlantik (Ronnie Macintosh and Destra Garcia on vocals) in 2003 is ready to work on his own projects in the bay. The Calypsonians is a classy, fun musical set that focuses on the traditional music of Trinidad and Tobago. Hailing from St. Croix, Binghi Ghost was raised with all the ingredients to make him a reggae force to be reckoned with. The culture of the island and the direct linkage to old, west African customs and cultures, has given Binghi Ghost all the tools to develop his music.You'll probably catch Shabang (Harry Best) on Sundays at the ramp, and Pan Extasy with Ashton Chase and Russel Cadogan at the Caribbean Gardens. Soca Sisters beats the pan as if in Trinidad and sometimes performs with Caribbean Rhythms led by Anthony Hernandes. Luna Angel adds some fresh, energy to the bay area reggae scene. Sistas with Style is a young dance troupe in the bay who will challenge any limbo dancer around. There is the Elegant Flair Caribbean Dance Company in LA with Artistic Director, Lorna Smith (323) 493-4497. On Sundays in LA you will find Caribbean bands like Detour Posse performing for free at the Lighthouse on Hermosa beach. Upstream, Ras Shorty's son's band, performs at Patrick Malloy's on Wednesdays in Hermosa Pier. You will always hear reggae at the Jamaican owned Island Paradise Club (1436 Webster St., Alameda CA (510) 865-3225). There are many other reggae and soca promoters out west and we try our best to include their information on our events page or in our weekly emails.

This page will be updated as we find new Caribbean things in California. If you have any suggestions, please email Maya.