I had to mortgage my house in order to get the money to start the business,” she says. “I could barely afford to keep the restaurant open, much less keep staff.” The Jerk Pit took off as she ...

“Jerk food consists of jerk chicken, stew, oxtails and red snapper,” Wheat said. “The bestseller is the oxtails. I smoke them in-house and I put a lot of love on my gravy.” Hughes said ...

The flavors at The Jerk Spot took us straight to Jamaica — pineapple, plantains, tostones, jerk sauce and callaloo greens.

Lisa Nash, who is from Jamaica, opened The Jerk Pit in January 2005 and has run and grown the business ever since.