Improved Crab Circle bringing in old and new customers

With their soup pots bubbling, hot crab steaming, and yam and corn roasting, there was significant support from both old and new customers at Thursday's reopening of the popular Crab Circle food spot.

The area was closed in October after a video of a vendor relieving herself at her stall went viral. Subsequent health inspections revealed various breaches. One long-time customer, recording artiste Stacious, stopped to purchase corn and soup. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she was introduced to Crab Circle by her sister, who is "obsessed" with the food.

"Suh she get me inna the thing wid the corn eating, corn and coconut, and I was actually nearby," Stacious said. She added that she was pleased with the changes.

"Is a good look, is a vibe and I mean they were out of basically ... working their hard, honest bread for a while, so you know it's a good look," she added. Stacious said she felt even more comfortable purchasing from the location because of the new facilities. Another long-time customer, Simone Ruff, was excited for the reopening.

"Me nah mek because weh happen me stop eat crab, me is a crab lova," Ruff said. "Mi been a drive a look crab a month now everywhere and a cah find any. I love crab and I want crab." Having bought four crabs, she did not hesitate to feast on them as she sat in her car.

"What am I supposed to do, stop eat crab because a one mistake?" she asked.

For Shanika Dockery and her co-workers, first time customers at Crab Circle, the crab was so good, they had to buy two servings. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she was on her lunch break when she passed the location and realised crabs were on sale. She decided to try two, but when she got to her office, co-workers decided they wanted some too. She said that despite the reasons for closure, the good should not suffer for the bad.

"Yuh cah use one person fat and fry everybody," Dockery said, adding that she will continue purchase from the location.

Gia Thomas, a resident of New York who left Jamaica at age 17, has not had crab from the spot in decades.

"It is very nostalgic. I used to live over on Conrad Lane with my family, my grandma and my siblings, and coming here was a childhood thing. So this is nostalgic for me. It's a good thing; I'm glad they're reopened," Thomas said.

As part of the renovation, the barriers that were once at the front of the stalls have been removed, so customers can clearly see what vendors are doing. Two bathrooms were also added as well as sinks at each stall for the vendors to wash their hands. Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams, who had three cups of soup, told the news team that the vendors will be responsible for cleaning the bathroom.

"That is a partnership worked out between ourselves and the vendors and the vendors understand what the situation is. They are willing to schedule to do maintenance and general clean-up on a daily basis," Williams said.

Chief Public Health Inspector Grayson Hutchinson, who arrived with his team shortly before the official reopening ceremony and inspected the location, told THE WEEKEND STAR that based on his observation and assessment, Crab Circle is safe for the public to purchase from.

"Based on what I have seen the breaches that were identified for the most part have been corrected. The issues that we were quite concerned about were the lack of sanitary facilities and two toilets have been erected, properly installed along with hand-washing facilities. In addition, the vendors are properly attired," Hutchinson said. He said that there will be multiple surprise inspections to ensure that the vendors do not breach protocols.