TV Restaurants

What Happened to Marla's Caribbean Cuisine? (Minneapolis, MN)

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 14 Minneapolis, Minnesota Closed 2019

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Marla's Caribbean Cuisine has closed — confirmed via mprnews.org, June 17, 2019.

What the source shows: MPR News (2019-06-17) and the Star Tribune reported that Marla's Caribbean Cuisine's owner, Marla Jadoonanan, closed the restaurant after her landlord more than doubled the rent following a change in building ownership. How we decide a status →

What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Marla's Caribbean Cuisine in the 'Big Time Flavor' episode, aired 2012-04-30, spotlighting the restaurant's Trinidad and Tobago-style dishes. Marla's Caribbean Cuisine had operated for 14 years on Bloomington Avenue in south Minneapolis. According to MPR News (2019-06-17), owner Marla Jadoonanan closed the restaurant after a new landlord, who had purchased the building, more than doubled her rent. The Star Tribune reported around the same time that the closure was set for the end of June 2019, citing rising costs as the reason the owner gave for closing the location. KARE 11 also reported on the closure, describing Marla's as a longtime south Minneapolis spot known for its spice-forward Caribbean menu. No reports found indicate the business reopened elsewhere under the same name.

The episode Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 14

Episode 5
Aired
Title: Big Time Flavor · What was featured: Trinidad and Tobago-style Caribbean dishes
How Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 14 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season 14: 16 of 34 still open · 3 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 14 episodes →

Nearest open restaurants By distance from 3761 Bloomington Ave S

All 95 TV restaurants in Minnesota →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 2 references

  1. mprnews.org https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/06/17/south-minneapolis-gentrification-marlas-caribbean
  2. startribune.com https://www.startribune.com/spicy-food-mecca-marla-s-caribbean-cuisine-will-close-at-the-end-of-june/510567101
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Record ddd-0508 · checked by Cal Marchetti.