About Us

Sunrise Caribbean Restaurant serves various authentic Trinidadian and Caribbean dishes including Roti, Doubles, Jerk Chicken, Stewed Chicken, Oxtails, Fish, Vegan dishes, Caribbean drinks and many more. See our menu. It is a family owned business.

 

When she moved to the U.S. in 2003, Alisa Plaza, owner of Sunrise Caribbean, told herself that she would not cook for a living. “I did that in Trinidad and you don’t have a life when you cook-day and night-a restaurant, it’s no joke.” But she and her husband, Selwyn Mungo, needed to make ends meet and send four children to school, so she returned to the kitchen.

 

Plaza started small, selling roti by the dozen, and today she runs Sunrise on Georgia Ave NW Washington, DC. Plaza also offers catering, teaches cooking classes, and, most weekends in May through September, travels to cook at festivals around the Mid-Atlantic.

 

People tend to think that if they’ve had Jamaican food, they’ve had all Caribbean food, according to Plaza, who insists Trini food is different. Sunrise has the classics, including buss up shut (torn pieces of flaky flatbread used for dipping into various curries), and doubles (two fried bara, or mini flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas). “People build houses in Trinidad just on selling doubles,” Plaza says, explaining how ubiquitous vendors of the snack-zed street food are in Trinidad and Tobago. At Sunrise, they’re offered Fridays through Sundays.

 

Try any of the plentiful Caribbean dishes that also includes vegan.

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