"Jerk wouldn't be jerk without the heat." [Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger] Tropic Island Jerk Chicken 419 E. 79th Street, Chicago IL 60619 (map); 773-224-7766 The Short Order: Juicy jerk chicken, laced with spices. Want Fries with That? No, but you'll definitely get some rice and red beans. Want Ketchup? Just some mind-numbing hot sauce. I knew Tropic Island Jerk Chicken would be good the moment I walked inside. It's not like you can fake this kind of authenticity. Who needs any coherent design theme, level floors, or more than one rickety table that nobody uses? I mean, the owner was speaking in what sounded like a Jamaican accent, but that wasn't even necessary. All I needed was the unmistakable sent of...
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You know how some people play drinking games where they take a shot every time a character on a television show does a particular thing (for instance, every time Rachael Ray says yum-oh)? Well, let’s say you substituted bacon for a shot of alcohol. If you did and you threw down a rasher of crisp pork belly every time you saw a rib, hot dog, wing, or pizza shack that said they had the “best [insert food item] in the world”, you’d have had more massive coronaries than Dick Cheney by now. The sad thing is, I think this works at least once. I mean, how can you ignore such hyperbole? And what if they’re right and you just...
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Whoever coined the phrase, “Ain’t no thang, but a chicken wang” was clearly a careless philosopher. Because, after a lunch of jerk wings at Ja’s Jerk Chicken in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, I’ve found some wings that are quite clearly the thang. In fact, two hours after supping on them, my lips are still delighted, if not a touch inflamed, by the chili burn from their jerk sauce. Anyone considering collagen injections should just consider a weekly order of these instead. Ja’s has no tables or even the stainless steel chest-high counter—a Chicago staple found at beef stands and rib shacks everywhere. I had to dine with the styrofoam clamshell while holding the wings precariously perched on the console of...
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