This Build-Your-Own Bowl Restaurant in Maryland is Putting Caribbean Flavors and Black Heritage in Every Bite

Many people have their favorite “build-your-own” bowl restaurant that they love; Chipotle, Cava, Honeygrow, Bibibop and many more. These build your own bowl restaurants span a wide variety of different cultures and cuisines, but one that you don’t see get a ton of representation is Caribbean/West African. Spiced Black in Upper Marlboro, MD is changing that with salads and bowls that take inspiration from southern soul food, Caribbean ingredients and West African flavors.

Mr. 8 That recently visited the brick and mortar location found in the Kettering Plaza in Upper Marlboro, MD. Mr. 8 That rates every restaurant using two simple categories: price and taste, each scored on a scale of 1-5. Add the two scores together, and if a restaurant reaches a total of 8 or higher, it officially “8 that.” Spiced Black is a fast-casual restaurant serving salads and grain bowls that draw from Caribbean, soul food and other black heritage flavors.

Mr. 8 That: “With this being my first time, we went with two of the signature bowls that are on their menu. The Pineapple Coconut Curry bowl, which we added salmon too, had a beautiful balance of slightly sweet and savory notes. Salmon on an assembly line usually scares me, but this one stayed tender and had a nice level of seasoning to it. The surprise was the earthiness that the black beans brought to the dish, and the cashews were a great textural add. We also got the Spicy Tomato Jollof and added shrimp and collard greens to it. I could eat a bowl of the collards by themselves, they were the right level of bitter and cooked down in a unctuous broth with deep flavor. The jollof was beautifully seasoned, and it had a nice level of heat throughout the entire dish.”

During his visit, Mr. 8 That tried the Pineapple Coconut Curry Bowl with grilled salmon and the Spicy Tomato Jollof Bowl with grilled shrimp. He gave the flavor a 4.5 and the price a 4.3 leading to a total score of 8.8, meaning that Spiced Black definitely 8 that!

Spiced Black is currently closed on Mondays, but open Tuesday – Sunday from 11 AM to 9 PM at 10420 Campus Way S, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.

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@mr.8.that Chipotle-style service, but they’re serving up some souls food from the heart 🥬 🥗 🍅 🫘 – Spiced Black – Upper Marlboro, MD #restaurantreview #foodreview #soulfood #blackownedbusiness #dmveats ♬ original sound – mr.8.that

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