Great pictures, Gary!

Definitely on my places to hit this weekend list, I'll have to see if my partner if crime, (and by crime, I mean stuffing ourselves silly) Q., is up for it. I haven't had great jerk in years!

Nothing like a little Ja's to heat up a winter night.... Sorry, that was bad.

But on a more serious note, hadn't seen this place bump back up on here and had been craving some jerk so we did up a proper order tonight.

We had wings, half chickens, and rib tips. The wings were nothing special, but the actual 1/2 chickens were very moist and flavorful. The rib tips were delicious as usual. Seasoning was good on both as we had a mixture of hot and mild.

Sides:
Beans and rice - Unbelievable! I don't know what it is but there is so much flavor and unison in these.
Mac n Cheese - OK
Greens - Not much here to draw me back
Cabbage - Fantastic
Mashed potatoes - Did the job
Sweet potatoes - Didn't have any but were said to be very good

Peach cobbler - Hit the spot on a cold winter night!

Overall the food was great and we got a ton for the money.

Anybody else been to Ja's lately? I was thinking about it yesterday again when thinking of other restaurants within striking distance of Felony Frank's, which has been claimed (both in press about the opening, and by a local to me yesterday) to be in a food desert.

I was at Ja's last week and thought it every bit as good as ever. As mentioned before, the jerk wings and chicken are not the familiar archetype, but a smoked-stewed hybrid that falls off the bone with a nudge, served in a little sea of their slow-cooked whole-spice hot or fruity mild sauce. Unlike other places that handle the wings separately (bought in bulk fresh or frozen, mechanically separated from the whole chicken), you can tell every wing from Ja's was just carved off of a whole smoky stewed bird, often with a nice chunk of thigh, and running all the way out to the tip. The sides are great, especially your basic beans and rice, which they hit with a ladle of sauce as well, and the plantains. The nicely burnt, complexly spiced tips, which they serve every day now, are also a type unto themselves, though best had from a fresh batch.

I particularly enjoy the Ting grapefruit soda and Old Jamaican Ginger Beer (my favorite version, I think), which allow you to add sweetness as needed to the chicken, the recipe of which goes easy on the salt and sugar to let the allspice, pepper, scotch bonnet, and vinegar (I think she may use wine as well) come through.

Ja's now has a few comfy leather chairs for waiting for your order and a stand-up counter for noshing. The building is carefully maintained (though they can use a little more ventilation in the waiting area) and the pride continues to be evident. This place is not going to remap any neurons but I find it rock solid and am happy they've had some success.

I've been cruising up and down Lake St. a lot this week a la R. Kelly in "Trapped in the Closet" and was reminded of a spot I've always been meaning to try. So, we hit up Ja's for the first time today and had a terrific lunch worthy of bumping this thread back into play. Truthfully, as a lover of all things Jamaican, I regret to say that I am only familiar with the Chicago style saucy jerk chicken (not totally sure if the style particular to these parts, but I've gotten the gist that island jerk is smoked and served dry with sauce on the side). Ja's chicken rendition was solid: fall-off-the-bone tender meat, mild smoke flavor, with a bright sauce of scotch bonnet notes and a bit of a sweet thing going on. I was actually more enamored with the sides- a rich, slow cooked cabbage and carrots that seemed to be pork- fortified and callaloo, a first for me that texturally reminded me of LSC'S "potherb", but slow cooked with an almost curry profile of up- front clove and a nice scotch bonnet kick. Beans and rice were just fine, I enjoyed the toothsome-ness of larger kidney beans. A well balanced and deeply satisfying lunch for just under $10.00. I'm anxious to explore around the menu- the tips, curry goat, and particularly the delightful sounding desserts such as the caramel cake that the charming woman who took our order tried to upsell me on.

Edit: forgot to note the Mon. and Tues. "Po Man Special, can't even afford the extra "o" or the "r"" two jerk legs and bread for $1.99, now that's recession friendly!

Jefe wrote:
Edit: forgot to note the Mon. and Tues. "Po Man Special, can't even afford the extra "o" or the "r"" two jerk legs and bread for $1.99, now that's recession friendly!

Thanks for the report, Jefe. The 'Po Man' is a better deal even than the 'Holla' I enjoyed several times right after they opened. Their jerk legs are excellent; I had some early last month.

Finally got a chance to try Ja's for lunch yesterday and I came away thinking it was just okay. I got the half chicken dinner "hot" with callaloo and sweet potatoes as my sides. As previously mentioned, the chicken is a smoked-stewed style which makes the skin unappetizingly soft/flimsy and falling off the chicken. This wouldn't have been so bad if so much of the spices and sauce weren't on the skin. The chicken itself was moist and had good flavor with the sauce possessing a nice slow burning heat, but the lack of crispy skin and the fact that my half chicken consisted of a lot of wings with little meat on them left me disappointed. I was really looking forward to the callaloo, but it was so damn salty that I could barely eat it...and I love salty foods. The sweet potatoes were tasty, and probably the best part of the meal...but I honestly don't think it's too difficult to make good sweet potatoes.

Service was nice and friendly and I am interested in trying the rib tips, but yesterday's visit doesn't have me rushing back.

Check out this post I found on Craigslist about Ja's Jerk @ 2806 W Lake Chicago.
http://qicbid.com/
Wunder whats up?

That is bad news. I am blaming pigOut.

I'd better get over there if it is not too late! Almost went last week.

Cbot wrote:Check out this post I found on Craigslist about Ja's Jerk @ 2806 W Lake Chicago.
http://qicbid.com/
Wunder whats up?

I don't know what was on this site, as the link appears to have changed, but my roommate and I drove over there for lunch today hoping to grab some chicken, and a sign on the door stated that they're only doing catering now. I mistakenly walked in before reading it and found myself confronted with a blank slate of a restaurant. Confused, I walked back out and it was then that I saw the sign. A lady (didn't get her name/affiliation) walked out after me and offered her apologies. Judging by some of the pictures in this thread, this is sad news indeed.

geno55 wrote:

Cbot wrote:Check out this post I found on Craigslist about Ja's Jerk @ 2806 W Lake Chicago.
http://qicbid.com/
Wunder whats up?

I don't know what was on this site, as the link appears to have changed, but my roommate and I drove over there for lunch today hoping to grab some chicken, and a sign on the door stated that they're only doing catering now. I mistakenly walked in before reading it and found myself confronted with a blank slate of a restaurant. Confused, I walked back out and it was then that I saw the sign. A lady (didn't get her name/affiliation) walked out after me and offered her apologies. Judging by some of the pictures in this thread, this is sad news indeed.

Aye (and sigh) that's what I hear as well. I had three top places in the hopper for my GNR nomination last year and this was one of them, to add a dot to a bare patch on the map. Good food, lovely people, and ginger beer. Some places are cursed by accolades; other places by the lack of them. It will be missed.

geno55 wrote:

Cbot wrote:Check out this post I found on Craigslist about Ja's Jerk @ 2806 W Lake Chicago.
http://qicbid.com/
Wunder whats up?

I don't know what was on this site, as the link appears to have changed, but my roommate and I drove over there for lunch today hoping to grab some chicken, and a sign on the door stated that they're only doing catering now. I mistakenly walked in before reading it and found myself confronted with a blank slate of a restaurant. Confused, I walked back out and it was then that I saw the sign. A lady (didn't get her name/affiliation) walked out after me and offered her apologies. Judging by some of the pictures in this thread, this is sad news indeed.

On that link above it listed Ja's as selling off all or most of its stuff. Sounded like a fire sale auction deal?