The Jerk Joint

The best Caribbean food you can find in all of NE Wisconsin for a reasonable price.

Put down that fried chicken sandwich, and pick up a sandwich filled with smoky, spicy, moist jerk chicken. Most likely made from a family recipe. As national chicken restaurant chains have been moving into the Green Bay area and the Fox Cities, so have restaurateurs serving jerk chicken. While the national joints hold grand openings with long lines, the jerk joints have built a local taste for Caribbean flavors by word of mouth.

In the most traditional recipes, jerk chicken is smoked with a blend of seasonings that includes allspice, ginger and Scotch bonnet peppers. That’s the source of the heat most people associate with jerk chicken. But the term, jerk, has more to do with stabbing and poking — or jerking — the chicken before applying the seasoning and cooking, accordng to the owners of local restaurants and food trucks specializing in Caribbean fare.

The family recipes they use to make jerk chicken can be traced to Jamaica and Haiti and Trinidad. Customers can opt for meals with traditional sides of rice and peas with steamed cabbage or break with typical jerk chicken options for some decidedly Wisconsin tastes. A side of mac ‘n’ cheese with a jerk bratwurst anyone? Also, there are jerk chicken nachos. And tacos. And egg rolls. And … well you get the idea.

While jerk chicken’s popularity might draw in customers, it also serves as an introductory dish to a wider variety of Caribbean dishes.

This Business Supports “Minority Economic Development