Nathan's Taste of Jamaica in Hyde Park

Only found one mention of this place, which is rapidly becoming my favorite lunch spot in Hyde Park. There's not much decor to speak of: there's a counter for eating and a smattering of stools and several menu boards around the place.



Nathan's offers most Chicago street-food/greasy diner staples (gyros, hot dogs, burgers, reubens, "super tacos") as well as a few Jamaican specialties. I've had both the jerk chicken and curry chicken dinners, which come with a generous helping of rice and beans and a basic salad.



Two-piece jerk chicken dinner, $6.75



Two-piece curry chicken dinner, $6.75

There's nothing earth-shattering about either of these, but the chicken is tender without being overcooked or mushy, which counts for something. Of the two, I prefer the jerk, which is drier (as it should be), with a more-peppery spice. Ask for the extra-hot sauce (as seen on the curry chicken); it's no spicier than sriracha, but it lends a bright, slightly vinegary tang.

They make their own ginger beer in-house. Pretty good ginger flavor, a fair amount of gritty sediment at the bottom. Just be prepared for it.

My friend reports that it's a decent, if slightly greasy, reuben.





Pretty good sweet potato pie

It's hard to spend much more than $10 here, and the guys are nice and seem to put more work into their food than a lot of places down here. I recommend it.

Nathan's Chicago Style and Taste of Jamaica
1372 East 53rd Street
Chicago, Illinois 60615
(773) 288-5353

If anyone heads down to 53rd street for Jamaican Gyros, make sure to try the Indo-Pak Soul Food across the street at Rajun Cajun. You might like to finish up the day back in the loop with Chicken Schnitzel Satay at the Berghoff.

Thanks for the post, ndg. I haven't tried Nathan's in years and will stop back through soon.

the beef patties are good, too.

It's great you mention a worthy little place that's almost always ignored (I briefly mentioned Nathan's here nearly four years ago). There ought to be more places to go for callaloo & codfish plus homemade ginger beer. As your photo shows their jerk chicken is the soupy style, with a thick sauce ladled over everything. A pretty good rendition of "dry style" (with thin sauce on the side) can be had a few blocks away at the new Uncle Joe's in Hyde Park, an offshoot of the Chatham place.

Uncle Joe's
1461 E Hyde Park Blvd (51st St)
Chicago
773-241-5550