Taste the islands | Jamaican restaurant moves to Racine to be closer to loyal customers (2024)

RACINE — You might not be able to go somewhere warm this winter, but you can send your taste buds on a Jamaican getaway in Racine.

Jeffery Lewis, owner of Island Jam, 3408 Douglas Ave., moved his Jamaican food restaurant to Racine so his biggest fans can enjoy the flavors they have come to love since 2016.

In his time in a former South Milwaukee location, Lewis noticed that many of his returning customers had come from Racine, so he decided to move.

The chef behind the food

Lewis has been cooking ever since he could remember, saying he has been cooking for “too long.”

Lewis considers himself to be self-taught, saying he never learned how to cook specifically from anybody but picked it up as he went along.

“I didn’t go to school or anything like that,” Lewis said. “I’ve just been cooking and cooking and cooking,”

Lewis previously worked at his family restaurant, Uppa Yard in Milwaukee, which opened around 2006.

Island Jam is Lewis’ restaurant all on his own; 90% of the food cooked is made by Lewis, and all of it is made from scratch.

Island Jam features traditional Jamaican food, many of which is jerked. “Jerk” cooking is a method of cooking found in Jamaica that consists of dry rubbing or wet marinating meat in Jamaican jerk seasoning, made from allspice and scotch bonnet chili peppers.

The menu consists of Jamaican favorites such as jerk chicken, oxtail and seafood such as red snapper and curry shrimp.

The menu also features daily specials like pepper steak on Thursday and jerk pork on Fridays and Saturdays. A favorite of Lewis, to both cook and eat, is curry goat.

“I’ll drive an hour to eat this stuff,” Marwan “Mike” Otallah said to Lewis as he finished his oxtail dish.

Otallah, owner of Chubbie’s Pizzeria and Sandwich Shop, 619 High St., is good friends with Lewis and often visited his restaurant’s old location.

Saluting Jamaica

Jamaica, the island nation where Lewis is from, is not only represented in the cooking, but also in the restaurant’s decorations.

The walls of the restaurant, hand painted by Lewis himself, have a green, black and yellow motif, reminiscent of the Jamaican flag. A portrait of Ziggy Marley, singer and son of musical legend Bob Marley, which was painted by one of Lewis’ customers, also hangs on the walls.

The restaurant also includes a selection of drinks imported from Jamaica.

It was during a visit with Otallah that Lewis saw the Douglas Avenue location for sale, inspiring the move.

The location was previously Lety’s Mexican Restaurant. Lewis said the owner of the building was already a patron of his previous location, which made the sale easier. Lewis was even able to keep the tables and chairs from Lety’s.

“They came with the building. It was all ready,” Lewis said with a laugh.

Some of the food on the menu, like oxtail, takes a bit longer to cook. Lewis said that some people can be impatient about the time it takes for the food to cook, but the wait is well worth it to bring those flavors out.

“We cook everything from scratch, nothing premade,” Lewis said. “We have to take our time sometimes.”

Lewis also hopes to bring more options for kids to the menu eventually. Due to the spiciness of the food, he said he knows it might be too much for children.

“Jamaican food tends to be a little spicy,” Lewis said. “So I’m trying to add some fried chicken and chicken strips for the kids.”

The final remodeling of the dining room was finished in late December, and Lewis is ready to serve the community that has loved his food for years.

“I hope I do well,” Lewis said.