Where to Get Jerk Chicken in NYC

What makes real jerk chicken, why pimento wood and scotch bonnet matter, how to spot the good spots by the smoke, and where to find the best jerk in New York City.

Jerk chicken is Jamaican, it is smoky, and when it is done right it will ruin every other grilled chicken for you. Here is what makes it good and where to get it in New York.

Jerk started in Jamaica as a way of seasoning and slow cooking meat over wood. The word covers both the spice blend and the method. Real jerk is not a sauce poured on at the end. It is a marinade rubbed in and a long, smoky cook.

What Makes Real Jerk

Three things separate real jerk from a sad marinated breast.

• Pimento wood. Pimento is the allspice tree, and Jamaican cooks burn the wood and use the leaves to smoke the meat. That smoke is the signature flavor. Many NYC spots use pimento wood or allspice to get close.
• Scotch bonnet pepper. This is the heat, fruity and fierce. It is in the marinade and often in the sauce on the side.
• The rub. Allspice, thyme, scallion, ginger, garlic, and more, blended and worked into the meat, sometimes overnight.

The result should be dark, charred at the edges, smoky through the middle, and hot enough to make you reach for a drink.

How to Spot a Good One

You can often tell before you taste it.

• Look for the drum. A halved steel drum with a grate, smoke pouring out, usually means someone is cooking jerk the traditional way.
• Follow the smoke and the line. A crowd around a jerk drum on a Brooklyn sidewalk is a good sign.
• Ask if it is spicy. A confident yes is a good sign.

Where to Get It in Brooklyn

Brooklyn's Little Caribbean is jerk central, especially along the Flatbush, Nostrand, and Church Avenue corridor. Weekend afternoons you will find drums going on the street.

Where to Get It in the Bronx

The Bronx has a strong Jamaican scene up in Wakefield and Williamsbridge, along White Plains Road and Gun Hill Road. Come hungry.

How to Order

Ordering jerk is simple once you know the shorthand.

1. Say jerk chicken and pick your size, usually small, medium, or large.
2. Choose your side. Rice and peas is standard. Festival, the slightly sweet fried dumpling, is the move.
3. Decide on the sauce. Extra jerk sauce on the side adds heat and moisture.
4. Get it chopped if you want it easy to eat, bone in pieces and all.

Jerk holds heat well and travels fine, so it is great for takeout. Pick a spot from the lists above and go get a plate while the drum is still smoking.

Written by See The Five · kept current from the directory, last checked 2026-09-07