Who doesn't love a spicy serving of jerk chicken? This traditional Jamaican dish is typically made with a dry jerk seasoning of allspice, Scotch Bonnet chili peppers, thyme, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It is then slowly cooked over pimento tree wood and branches.



The result is a sweet and smoky meat that's plain irresistible. Since we can't all jet off to Jamaica for the real thing, some of the places here in the U.S. should whet our appetites for the time being.

Boston Jerk City is considered by some folks to have some of NY's finest jerk chicken, while others prefer the fall-off-the-bone tenderness of Peppa's Jerk Chicken in Brooklyn. Still, other diners swear by Danny & Pepper Jerk Chicken Express.

Ja's Jerk Chicken in Chicago serves up all sorts of jerk dishes. They have jerk tilapia fish, jerk salmon, and jerk chicken wings. If that's not enough, Calypso Cafe has some tasty jerked baby back ribs and a jerk chicken caesar salad.

For the west-coasters, Sweet Fingers Restaurant in the SF Bay Area is supposed to have the best jerk chicken around. They tout themselves for having an award-winning jerk sauce, so it's worthy of a try. For the seafood lovers they also have a jerk shrimp entree that might rival the original jerk chicken.