Caribbean restaurant and bar chain Turtle Bay is marking the opening of its second Bristol outlet today by asking diners to donate to the city’s Malcolm X Community Centre instead of paying their bill.
Guests eating in the Cheltenham Road restaurant until 9pm this evening will only be charged for their drinks and asked to pay whatever they think their food was worth. 
All the money raised from the ‘pay-as-you-feel’ donations left by guests will be matched by Turtle Bay and then be donated to the Malcolm X Centre in St Pauls.
Turtle Bay was launched by Bristol entrepreneur and co-founder of Las Iguanas, Ajith Jayawickrema.
The new 3,500 sq ft, 160-cover restaurant, in the former Plantation Caribbean restaurant, has created 50 jobs.
Bristol’s first Turtle Bay – on The Centre – opened in 2013 and was at the time only the fourth in the group. Today there are 27 branches across the UK.
Former owner and founder of Plantation Beverley Forbes said: “Plantation as a venue was great, and created a lot of happy memories for those involved. I am very happy to give Turtle Bay my blessing, and to hand the baton to them, particularly as the site will remain synonymous with Caribbean food and ethos.”
Ajith Jayawickrema added: “We’re proud to be opening our second site in Bristol – being the place we call home, it’s very special to us. We’re pleased that we’ve been able to keep the jerk pit BBQ burning on Cheltenham Road. This way the local community can still get their jerk fix seven days a week, and with our special Turtle Bay twist.”
The restaurant’s general manager, Chris Nash-Jones, said: “We can’t wait to open our second restaurant in Bristol, and especially to be working with an organisation like the Malcolm X Community Centre. The better we do on our opening day the more money we’ll raise for them so it’s a great idea all round.”
Malcolm X Community Centre vice chair Amirah Cole added: “We are grateful to Turtle Bay for picking the Malcolm X Community Centre, it is becoming extremely difficult for charities to survive in this climate especially when there is less funding, that’s what makes this so special.
“People are always asking how they can support the Centre it’s great to be able to tell them that all they have to do is to eat a meal at Turtle Bay on the July 8 and pay what you think it’s worth, how amazing.”
