If you had a nickel for every corner shack in Chicago that claims it has the best ribs, wings, fish, etc. – but didn’t – you’d be a richer girl than Gwen Stefani. In the case of D’s Irie Kitchen, which lauds itself as the home of the “best jerk chicken,” the claim might be true.

Most local spots try to pass off stewed pieces of chewy, rubbery or dried out chicken shrouded in limp skin and doused in liquid smoke and chili peppers as jerk style. In contrast, take one look at the plume of smoke rising from D’s neon green painted confines and you’ll know that the real smoke on the chicken here comes from big fat hunks of wood. Along with that smoke comes a fiery rub of allspice and pepper, sweet tones of BBQ sauce, crispy cracklin’ skin, and moist hunks of interior melt-in-your-mouth flesh.

If you only eat things from the sea, the catfish fillets here which flake off in buttery chunks feature the same fiery rub as the chicken. Other Jamaican specialties like tender goat stewed in yellow curry and deep fried plantains are also worthy island-fare.

One thing’s for sure, the cramped interior of the restaurant, featuring a black and white portrait of Bob Marley and a couple of rickety chairs, means you’ll likely be dining on the hood of your car or firmly ensconced in the front seat.

Centerstage Reviewer: Michael Nagrant