Local Flavors

Where To Eat The Best Trinidadian Food In New York City

Discover the Black-owned restaurants serving bold flavors of Trinidadian food in New York City, from doubles and roti to buss up shut and pelau.

By EatOkra

Last updated 30 Aug, 2025

Trinidad and Tobago food in New York is bold and vibrant. It celebrates unmatched flavors, rich spices, and island soul. The city’s Trinidadian kitchens offer the best comfort food you can find, from pillowy doubles stuffed with curried chickpeas to flaky roti wrapped around tender stews.

Think doubles dripping with tamarind, roti wrapped around rich curry goat, smoky pelau bubbling in one pot, or golden pholourie dunked in chutney.

Then add bake and shark piled high with toppings, and just like that you’ve got a food scene on your hands that knows how to feed both the stomach and the soul.

New York’s Black-owned restaurants are at the heart of it, and they’re keeping traditions alive while serving generations of hungry New Yorkers.

Here’s what to try (and where to find it):

Why New York Has a Great Trinidadian Food Scene

The reason Trinidadian food thrives in New York goes back to the waves of Caribbean migration that reshaped Brooklyn in the 20th century.

By the time the 1960s had rolled around, Trinidadian families were already planting their roots in neighborhoods like Crown Heights, Flatbush, Canarsie, and East New York. With them came Carnival traditions, music, and (of course), recipes that traveled all the way across the ocean.

Today, those neighborhoods are alive with flavor. Walk down Nostrand Avenue or Fulton Street and you’ll catch the scent of curry drifting out of kitchens. Street vendors also serve doubles on corners and bakeries sell coconut rolls still warm from the oven.

Dish Highlights

Doubles

What It Is: Trinidad’s most beloved street food! It’s two pieces of soft and fried bara that are stuffed with curried chickpeas, topped with chutneys, cucumber, and fiery pepper sauce. It’s messy, but also flavorful and worth every bite.

Where to Try It: Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop in Crown Heights is legendary for its doubles. TriniJam BK also serves them hot and fresh, with plenty of pepper sauce for anyone who’s brave enough!

Pro Tips: Skip the fork. This is finger food. You can also ask for extra tamarind sauce (if you like a sweet kick with your spice, that is).

Roti (Paratha / Buss up Shut)

What It Is: This is soft and flaky flatbread wrapped around curries or, in the “buss-up-shut” style, torn into pieces to scoop up food. You can fill it with curry chicken, goat, pumpkin, or spinach, and just like that it becomes a feast in itself.

Where to Try It: Trinidad Golden Place in Brooklyn is a real trusted favorite. Singh’s Roti Shop in Queens is worth the trip and it also draws crowds for good reason (or more good reasons than one, for that matter!).

Pro Tips: Roti portions can be massive. Split one…or don’t. Also, you should wash it down with a Solo soda or a cup of mauby for the full island effect.

Bake and Shark

What It Is: It’s a fried bake (a soft bread pocket) filled with crispy and well-seasoned shark and then loaded up with toppings like lettuce, tomato, garlic sauce, and tamarind. In Trinidad, you’ll find it by the beach. In New York, it’s the taste of home on a plate.

Where to Try It: Lakou Café gives New Yorkers a shot at this classic.

Pro Tip: The key is the toppings. You should pile on the garlic sauce and pepper. Messy is the right way to eat it!

Pelau

What It Is: This is the ultimate one-pot dish. Rice, pigeon peas, and caramelized chicken or beef simmer together in coconut milk and spices. It’s sweet and savory and smoky all at once.

Where to Try It: TriniJam BK makes a solid pelau, and Jamit Bistro in Red Hook gives it a modern spin, too.

Pro Tips: Pepper sauce makes it even better. You can pair with a Carib beer (if you want to feel like you’re in Port of Spain).

Pholourie

What It Is: Think fried split-pea fritters that are golden and fluffy, and then served with tamarind or mango chutney. It’s a snack that disappears way too fast.

Where to Try It: Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop keeps trays of them ready. 2 Girls & a Cookshop sometimes adds them to the menu, too.

Pro Tips: Dunk them generously in chutney. The wetter, the better!

Callaloo

What It Is: A velvety soup made with leafy greens (dasheen leaves or spinach here in New York), coconut milk, crab or salted meat, and plenty of seasoning. It’s a Trinidadian Sunday staple that feels like comfort in a bowl.

Where to Try It: Immaculee II Haitian Restaurant often makes a version with its own twist. Lees Jamaican American Buffet sometimes puts it out for weekend service as well.

Pro Tips: You should spoon it over rice or pair it with macaroni pie. That’s a Trinidadian-style Sunday dinner right there.

Explore Trinidadian Restaurants in New York

Trini Bites, Lynbrook

This is a food truck turned must-visit spot for Trini street eats. Their doubles and bake and shark are crowd favorites, and the menu (with some okra options, too) always hits.

TriniJam BK, Brooklyn

This spot is well-known for generous portions, bold spices, and dishes like pelau, curry goat, and doubles. It’s community-driven comfort food that really tastes like it was made at home.

Trinciti Roti Shop and Restaurant, Queens

This is a roti institution with a long menu of curries, buss up shut, and island classics. It’s one of those places that locals swear by for hearty meals in the area.

Ali’s Trinidad Roti Shop, Brooklyn

This Brooklyn institution has been serving doubles, pholourie, and roti for generations. If you want the real-deal Trini flavors, Ali’s is truly legendary!

Trinidad Golden Place, Brooklyn

This place is a neighborhood staple that’s most famous for roti, curries, and unmistakable home-style cooking.

Featured image: Trinciti Roti Shop and Restaurant