D's Irie Kitchen

The other day, I stopped for gas at about 112th and I-57. As I cut up Vincennes to get to the expressway, my nephew, who was with me and "starving" as usual, pointed out a small shack with a big sign reading "The Best Jerk Chicken". As we drove past, we noticed a big steel smoker beside the building. Upon seeing this, my nephew said, "Oh man, we gotta stop there". So we did.

D's Irie Kitchen is a small hot-dog type stand with bullet proof plexiglass. There is only a small stand-up counter to eat at. They do, however, have a large parking lot in front (complete with a sno-cone vendor) for dining al auto. I don't know if D's serves "the best" jerk chicken, but it is certainly the best I have ever eaten. The chicken is nicely smoked, but still juicy and moist. The marinade is spicy, but not to the point that it hides the wonderful smokey flavor, rather it is slightly sweet followed by a peppery aftertaste that builds in your mouth. What is very spicy is the pepper sauce that is served with the chicken, a malty vinegar containing what appears to be several varieties of minced peppers and thyme, as well as a boat-load of garlic. Very tasty. The order came with several pieces of that dense and slightly sweet Jamaican bread which was great for dipping in the sauce.

While we were waiting, the proprietor gave us a sample of his jerk catfish, which was out of this world. My nephew, who normally abhors catfish, said it was one of the best things he had ever eaten. I have to agree. The fresh moist fish had the same salty, sweet and spicy glaze and was served with a tangy tomato-based BBQ sauce (as were the fries we ordered).

I wanted to try the curried goat, but it was not quite ready. Aside from curried goat and jerk chicken, D's makes oxtails, brown stew chicken and jerk snapper (call ahead to order). Sides include beans & rice, steamed cabbage, plaintains, macaroni and cheese and beef or veggie "patties" (like empanadas). They have an assortment of Jamaican soft drinks. D's Irie Kitchen also sells inexpensive hot dogs, burgers and other fast-food items, no doubt to cater to the students from the high school across the street. They have lunch specials that run util 5pm (including 6 jerk chicken wings, 2 sides and a pop for $5).

Anyhow, if you find yourself in West Pullman, or travelling down I-57, D's is certainly worth stopping at. In fact, I think it is even worth a special trip.

D's Irie Kitchen
11137 South Vincennes
Chicago, IL 60643
773-881-7702

M-F 10am-9pm
Sat 12pm-10:30pm
Sun 12pm-8pm

We stopped at D's again today, and the jerk chicken was even better than the last time. Forget what I said above about the chicken not being that hot. Obviously, we got the newbie version the last time. Today it was fiery as hades. It was plumper and juicier also. I think it had just come out of the smoker (we got there at about PM). For the paltry sum of $5, I got half a chicken, candied yams and steamed cabbage with carrots and peppers. It was all good.

This sounds promising. Is the chicken served "dry" from the smoker or is it that wierd stew-like version served at so many Chicago area jerk places?

stevez wrote:This sounds promising. Is the chicken served "dry" from the smoker or is it that wierd stew-like version served at so many Chicago area jerk places?

It is basted with a sauce, but not at all stew-like. They serve the sauce on the side. They do make a brown-stew chicken.

Today I noticed they also make Lamb curry, but they didn't have any. It is sort of a weird place, they only serve things when they are "ready" at certain times. For instance today, we were told the catfish wouldn't be ready until 4pm. The last time we were there (at about 5:30), they had catfish, but we were told the goat curry wouldn't be ready for another 45 minutes. I guess that is better than holding food and reheating it.

I made a visit to D's today at around 11:45 AM. The place was locked up tighter than a drum and the smoker wasn't lit. Hopefully this is just a temporary situation and D's hasn't already gone under. the place has the look of a genuine jerk shack and I am really looking forward to trying it sometime. There are probably 3 weeks or so worth of watermelons before nearby Baylor's closes for the winter, so I'm going to try to get there before the melons dry up for the season.

Update: I had a lunch ala trunko today at D's Irie Kitchen. This place has the exact run-down-shack-by-the-side-of-the-road look you would hope for in a genuine jerk shack.

D's Irie Kitchen


As d4v3 said, you order through bullet proof glass and most of the menu is comprised of hot dog stand standards, but there is a good selection of Jamaican favorites, too. I didn't get a chance to try any of the stew items, of which there were several to choose from, because I was on a mission to try the jerk chicken to see how it stacks up to actual jerk chicken one might find in Jamaica (something very rare among all of the so-called jerk chicken served in Chicago or the suburbs). I asked the counter man if they had any jerk pork available and he said that all they had was tips. Jerk tips? Count me in. Unfortunately, the tips had been cooked some time in the not too recent past and were reheated to a mushy consistency before being doused with a somewhat sweet BBQish sauce. They were served with stewed cabbage, sweet potatoes and "rice with peas". The sides were better than the tips, unfortunately.

D's Irie Kitchen Rib Tips


My heart sunk a bit after tasting the tips, but the smell coming out of the container with the jerk chicken was just too good to dwell over a bad dish. The chicken turned out to be glorious. Fresh from the smoker with a very authentic and spicy jerk rub and a nice vinegary sauce on the side for dipping.

D's Irie Kitchen Jerk Chicken


The chicken was cooked in the exact style of the jerk I have gotten in Jamaica; rubbed and simply grilled over wood and served dry, with a little sauce on the side. The rub itself was one of the better spice combos I have ever tasted.

D's Irie Kitchen is in an area of the city that is particularly under reported on LTH Forum. It takes some extra effort for most of us to get there, but it is worth going out of your way to try. So far, I can only recommend the jerk chicken, but other dishes look very promising. The guy behind the counter said, "Spread the word" and I intend to.

I love that style of Jerk - my first experience (in Atlanta) was much more like that. Steve, how is the heat-o-meter on that spice blend? Do they have non-spicy food, or should we leave Sparky at home for this trip...as it turns out, the 'spouse was stationed at the house right up the street at 104th during his short stint in Chicago, so we know right where it is.

The name of the place brings Mozart to mind; nice cognitive dissonance, now the music has me thinking about chicken cravings.

Thanks for the heads-up and the road trip, guys.

Mhays wrote:I love that style of Jerk - my first experience (in Atlanta) was much more like that. Steve, how is the heat-o-meter on that spice blend? Do they have non-spicy food, or should we leave Sparky at home for this trip...as it turns out, the 'spouse was stationed at the house right up the street at 104th during his short stint in Chicago, so we know right where it is.

The name of the place brings Mozart to mind; nice cognitive dissonance, now the music has me thinking about chicken cravings.

Thanks for the heads-up and the road trip, guys.

It was good and spicy. I'd put it at around a 7.5 - 8 on the 10 point heat-O-meter. They have standard dogs, burgers, etc., too, so there's something for everyone. I don't think I'd go out of my way for the standard fare, but if you need to availability of a (probably) mediocre hot dog to make your jerk dreams come true, I completely understand. I think I saw a sign for a fried chicken special, too.

Looks good, Steve. How would you (or anyone else, feel free) compare with Ja's?

Santander wrote:Looks good, Steve. How would you (or anyone else, feel free) compare with Ja's?

I have not yet been to Ja's, but judging from the reports I have read here and the pictures posted, I'd say that D's is in a different league when it comes to the chicken. The stuff at Ja's appears to be the faux, stewey, oven baked style of chicken that is commonly passed off as jerk chicken in Chicago (although the pictures look better than most).

d4v3 wrote:Upon seeing this, my nephew said, "Oh man, we gotta stop there". So we did.

Dave,

Please thank your nephew for me, D's dry style jerk fills a delicious niche in the Chicago jerk repertoire.

D's Irie Kitchen Jerk Chicken



Perfectly cooked jerk chicken, juicy, spicy, 7 on a 10 point scale heat from the accompanying habanero based sauce, crisp jerk rub laden skin immediately filed away in the best bite memory banks.

Good as the moist verging on spicy hot chicken was I may have liked the jerk catfish even better, heavy on the spices, though not enough to overpower the inherent sweetness of the moist bone-in skin-on catfish.

D'd Irie Kitchen Jerk Catfish



D's Irie Kitchen not only looks the part of an out of the way Jerk Shack, it acts the part. Spicy hot fresh from the grill jerk, very friendly staff and reasonable prices, I'm looking forward to a return visit.

D's Irie Kitchen




Enjoy,
Gary

Gary, I am so glad that Steve dragged you to D's. From the day I first stopped there, I suspected it was special. I know some of their techniques conflict with your teachings, but I can't help but think with a little gentle coaxing they might be persuaded to abandon some of their more dubious practices (like soaking their wood) , but it is hard to argue with the end result. In fact, that stellar catfish may not be as moist if the wood wasn't soaked. On another note, my Nephew immediately noticed a subtle creosote flavor to the chicken (I did not). So I asked the grillmaster if he soaked his wood, and he said he did. Anyhow, minutia aside, D's does deliver some tasty bird and cat. Just be aware that once you place your order, you are on island time.

Anyhow, minutia aside, D's does deliver some tasty bird and cat. Just be aware that once you place your order, you are on island time.

True Dat, the bit about island time.. but well worth it anyway.

I havent gotten around to mentioning before, but Ive been to this place a few times, thanks to d4v3's rec (well, eaten at it about 3 or 4 times, but been 5 or 6 Thats kind of related to "Island time" too.. best to call before you go BTW - the first time I went on Sunday and it was closed, the guy said they were cleaning that particular Sunday, but were usually open... then a couple weeks later on a Sunday they were closed again, this time he said they were now closing most Sundays )

Anyway, barring that warning (ie call before you go).. the jerk is indeed very very good. Iam not yet completely ready to say it is the best in the city bar none, no one else close etc.. but its definitely up there. (My jerk standards are pretty high, my usual place used to be Uncle Joe's Jerk.. coincidentally the place the owner of D's himself recommended I go to, when I asked him for a substitute since he was closed on that Sunday .. and before I found Uncle Joe's it was Tropic Island). Ive had some outstanding meals at Joe's in the past, so have a bit of loyalty to them... but D's might well get the permanent vote after a couple more experiences.

The Jerk chicken is terrific and as mentioned above, the Jerk Catfish was very very good too. The rice-and-peas are solid, the fried plantians completely excellent. The mac-n-cheese was ordinary, but then one ought not to go to a Jerk stand for mac-n-cheese (to make it clear, I didnt actually *order* the mac-n-cheese.. I got the Jerk Catfish meal, 10 bucks, catfish plus 3 sides on weekends.. I asked for rice-n-peas, plantains, and candied yams, and was instead given rice-n-peas, plantains, candied yams, cabbage *and* mac-n-cheese! Iam not a cabbage fan, but actually ate all that was provided this time, it was that good)

Very friendly place, excellent jerk, genuine Jamaicans behind the counter. Highy recommended if youre in the neighbourhood (or even within driving distance... the 3-4 times Ive been were all after being in the Hyde Park area, for a northsider the extra drive from 55th to 111th was very much worth it).

c8w

So, it is 1:11 on a Sunday afternoon and I make the trek from Chicago. To my dismay they are not open. No sign or anything. After looking at those pictures I was really looking forward to that jerk chicken.

d4v3 wrote:In fact, that stellar catfish may not be as moist if the wood wasn't soaked. On another note, my Nephew immediately noticed a subtle creosote flavor to the chicken (I did not). So I asked the grillmaster if he soaked his wood, and he said he did.

Dave,

Soaking wood will not contribute to the moistness of the fish, if anything wet wood will cause the fire to smolder contributing to the hint of creosote your nephew noticed. Not overcooking and fresh from the cooker along with practice and skill seem the main factors in D's moist flavorful jerk catfish. Soaked wood or not, I did not detect creosote in our Jerk, and I am quite sensitive to the taste.

I should note, in reference to Island time, they were cognizant of the wait, the chicken was not quite ready, and kindly gave us a small free sample of jerk wings, catfish and sample sauces for noshing. One look at the dessicated wings and leathery fish and my heart sank into my growling stomach. I'm guessing the sample was from the day before as our paid for waited for Jerk chicken, wings and catfish were top of the game.

I did ask the young man behind the counter what they were using for fuel and he said charcoal from the blue and white bag, in other words Kingsford, no mention of wood, soaked or otherwise. The young man referenced his uncle, who I'm guessing is D's Irie pitman. Hopefully next time I am at D's Irie the uncle will be in residence.

I'm looking forward to a return visit to D's Irie Kitchen.

Enjoy,
Gary

D's Irie Kitchen (11137 South Vincennes) is boarded up.

PIGMON wrote:D's Irie Kitchen (11137 South Vincennes) is boarded up.

Sorry to hear that.

Oh, man! We've been trying to get down there all summer!